Cut Apart Your Old Bathrobe to Make a Pattern for a New One.

Hi Everyone, I hope everyone is shifting into Fall…   I’ve gotten into the routine of going to visit my Mom and Dad every Tuesday (when I’m not traveling).  I have to admit, it’s my favorite day of the week most weeks.   My Mom likes to hang out with pjs and a robe when she’s home with no plans.  A couple of weeks ago we went looking for a new one.   I can sum up what we found at the Mall in one word… Frightening!  Either the fabric was yucky or the design was yucky.

I decided that I would make her a new one.  Last week we went to Joann Fabrics (the only store within a reasonable distance from her house).   As luck would have it, we found a light gray double knit that was perfect for a new robe.   I assigned the job of pre-washing the fabric to my Dad because I think he likes being involved in the process.  We were going to use a Vogue Pattern, but when I got there today, my Mom suggested that I cut apart her old bathrobe to make a pattern for a new one.      That really upped the ante… If I cut apart the old one, I didn’t want to leave until the new one was finished.

I used a rotary cutter to cut along the stitching line to separate the pieces.  I needed the full back (no CB seam), one front, a sleeve and facing pieces.   I carefully cut off all the seam allowances, except for the hem.  Here’s a close-up of the back armhole.

The one piece that I could  not cut out was the back neckline facing.  I traced a copy of it.

Position the cut out robe pieces on the new fabric.  I used a Sharpie Marker to add seam allowances around all the edges.

Cut out the pieces.

When I cut out the front pieces, I used a ruler to make sure that the CF edges were straight

The front facing was a long skinny piece.  Here’s a close-up.

 

Fabric pattern pieces can be a little wonky, so I used a ruler to make sure that the facing was 2 1/2″ wide from the top to the hem.

After all the pieces were cut out, I sewed the new robe together.  Because I needed to get it finished, I stopped taking photos.  The steps to sew it together are:

1. Sew front and back facings together at the shoulder seams.
2. Sew front and back pieces of robe together along shoulder seams.
3. Position the facing right sides together with robe.  Match shoulder seams and align neckline front edges.
4. Sew facing to robe.
5. Understitch along the facing.  You will be stitching close to the seam through the facing and both seam allowances.   It’s not possible to understitch close to the corners a the base of the front neckline.  So, I got as close as I could.
6. Topstitch around the edge of the back neckline facing to secure it in place.  You can also topstitch along the inner edge of the front facing.  I decided that the buttonholes and hem would hold it place.
7. Sew side seams
8. Sew underarm seams
9. Set sleeves into armholes
10. Hem
11. I used my Mom’s Janome Jem to sew the Buttonholes… Love it because you put the button into the buttonhole foot so it stitches the perfect size hole for the button!

Here’s a pic of my Mom in her new robe <3.  We couldn’t decide if she needed buttons above and below the ones that I sewed on.  So, she’s going to wear it for a week and let me know next Tuesday!