on the beach robe bandwagon

i think it’s really funny that there’s a sewing blogger bandwagon. a certain thing (color, theme, pattern) seems to just sweep through every so often. i’m not judging, i’m totally guilty too! owls, mug rugs, bucket hats…you get the picture).

the current “everybody’s doing it” pattern is dana’s beach robe. perfect timing for summer! my sister had asked me to make her 2.5 year old daughter a bathrobe a few months ago, but i hadn’t gotten around to it because i didn’t know what pattern to use. dana’s popped up, and i bought it! then…i had trouble figuring out which fabric to use, had other projects, yada. kind of glad i didn’t get around to it, though, because i had time to be inspired by my fellow bloggers. first dana did a roundup and i loved this one by kristina of sir bubbadoo, then anna of noodlehead made a couple not-too-sweet girly ones, then gail of probably actually made a lovely one, plus many more. i really loved how kristina and gail put the hood contrast fabric on one side of the tie, so i did that.

a few notes on how i made this harder on myself than it had to be:

i used a regular weight towel. my sewing machine and serger were a little mad at me for that, but it is SUPER cozy.
i picked a STRIPED towel, which meant i had to match those up.
i chose to use a scrap from my picnic blanket to make my bias tape, but it was kind of a long and narrow strip and i needed to piece many short parts together (nevermind the fact that i made my own bias tape).

none of these issues related to the pattern, which is great, but i did find i needed to deviate from the instructions in how i did the bias binding. the “sandwich and sew” method doesn’t work for me, and i found that the “traditional” method (open up the tape, sew right sides together along the crease, wrap binding around to back, and topstitch catching both sides) worked better with the thicker towel. it may seem to take longer, but for me the pinning is quicker and ripping out stitches from terry cloth on one of the ties after messing up the sandwich method is a VERY slow process (from experience). i used a similar method around the bottoms of the sleeves.

other items of note for sewing nerds. i made a size medium, which fits perfectly (the arms are supposed to be long to keep little hands warm). the towel is from target (two bath towels), the binding is kona jade, and the contrast print is patty young’s flora and fauna (a fat quarter). i love how the colors came together, and em has now asked for a robe too…she would like to help me pick fabrics for it, and i have a feeling pink will be involved.

how can i resist a request from my gal? especially when she seals the deal with a leg hug.

10 thoughts on “on the beach robe bandwagon”

gail says:

July 25, 2011 at 5:54 am

well you already know how i feel about this robe – but just for the record, I LOVE IT! great colors, great stripe matching – all around fabulous, i’d say. i hear ya about ripping out stitches on terry cloth – no fun. and seeing how well a medium fits your three year old makes me extra confused about why my hood turned out short….

jessica says:

July 25, 2011 at 6:05 am

I really want to get on this bandwagon too. But who knows if it will happen before summer is over!

kristin says:
July 25, 2011 at 12:18 pm

Reply

i hear ya there. we haven’t gotten much summer here this year, so the plan is for it to be mostly a bathrobe rather than a pool/beach robe!