This is the second silk dressing gown (because it seriously looks like a dressing gown with that rolled collar) that was made from stash because…. well, because my girls need robes for walking around the house.
The pattern is Vogue 8888, a well-loved much-made pattern in all corners of the sewing online world. I made View A for DD3.
The sleeves were a lot longer than they look on the model. I had to trim off 15 cm from the length so they would not drag through breakfast. Definitely more a ‘dressing’ gown, not an all-around-the-house robe with the longer sleeve length.
DD3 chose this purple silk charmeuse from deep stash that I had purchased several years ago with the hope of purple silk pajamas for myself, but I have no regrets sewing this up for her. It has gotten a tremendous amount of use.
The pattern was sewn up out of the package with the exception of a 3cm square shoulder adjustment, as DD3 is a swimmer, and her shoulders bear testament to that. As a note, I made the garment two sizes larger than what Vogue’s size tables recommended at my young client’s request. It fits her well with room for swanning.
Since handing it over, finished, it has not come off. And I have to say I am so pleased to meet DD3, walking down the hallway, in a pretty purple robe rather than her schleppy tank top and fleece Christmas print pajama bottoms. I’ve got two more of this pattern in the longer length scheduled, selfishly both for me, and am hoping there will be another one in her future, perhaps in a Liberty tana lawn print or some other stash-busting fabric choice.
Have you made any robes or dressing gowns?
I chose to use the longer length (model 112), but finish it as per the instructions for model 114 (above) with neckline and armscye facings. I didn’t want raw edges.
I managed to cut the front and back with a length 3 inches below the drafted waistline, which was a little short. So I pieced together bias pieces for a band around the lower edge.
It’s a pretty simple make, but I made it more complicated – because I didn’t want it to be form-fitting – and added about 2 inches down the CF and CB. I ended up with a tent. My lovely darling DD1 walked in the door from school and said, “What’s up with the nightgown, mom?” Wait. Nightgown? I know this is stay-at-home wear, but I wasn’t wanting this to look like a nightgown. So I took out the width that I’d added and I must say that I like it a lot better. Just for fun, here’s a tent picture.
It’s a nice idea, but I think I over-thought this top. After tracing the pattern, I decided it needed an FBA to keep the deep V neckline from pulling askew. And that wonked up the fit through the sides. But let’s be honest here. This is a schlep-around-the-house (notice I didn’t say lounge-around-the-house) because it just is… well.. it’s a bit too sporty or yoga-ish or yay-team looking for me. I feel like I need to be 20 years younger with my hair in a perky pony tail, so I really didn’t care to tweak it more than what was necessary to keep it from looking like the definitive visual definition of ill-fitting. Here’s the back.
Not much to say. The only changes I made to the pattern were to taper from waist to hip to make the skirt piece fit into the rectangular waistband. The pattern is a bit on the straight side, and I require a larger hip:waist ratio than what was drafted. Here’s a pic of the skirt’s waistband with the tee tucked in.
This is the “scarf jacket” from Burda 1/2013 #114. It’s an easy and quick sew, apart from hemming the chiffon. Burda suggests a tight overcast stitch, but I used a baby hem. The bottom is only slightly curved, and I cut the long front/collar edge on the selvedge, which made turning and stitching it simple. The back neck is supposed to be bound with a bias strip, but I decided to fold over the chiffon and stitch it to the back neck edge and leave off the bias binding. The fit isn’t snug, and fits well over a long-sleeved shirt. Here’s the back view.
3. dress with chiffon in light purple (Burda 1/2013 #110)
Mezzo Couture 
