Staying Cozy in a Quilted Robe

This fall, I decided I needed a new robe to wear around the house in the winter. I knew I wanted it to be warm and floor length. Of course, I could have purchased something that met those requirements online, but I wondered if I could make it myself. I looked through my vintage patterns and found a few robe/house dress patterns. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any material in a large enough quantity that would be suitable for a robe. I didn’t really want to buy anything new when I had so much fabric in my stash already.

I’d also been looking at patchwork dresses and house robes on Pinterest. I decided to use fabric scraps to make a patchwork topper to the size I needed and then quilt it. This would ensure the robe was warm if it had three layers with cotton quilting batting in the middle, but it would also mean I could use fabric I already have. And…it means I had a challenge! I did some very mad cap math to figure out how many triangles I needed and began. I took lots of pictures of the process…but this one of prepping the quilt layers for a sleeve piece is the only one I could find. Woops!

This robe essentially was one project for the time and effort of two! I had to make a patchwork topper and quilt it. Then, I had to use the quilted fabric to assemble it into a garment. It took a long time, but it was a fun, unique project to work on. I was also pleased that I was able to use up so many things from my stash that wouldn’t quite be useful in any other project. For the lining fabric, I had material I liked, but it had some sun fading so I wouldn’t be using it on the outside of anything. For the patchwork, I was able to use lots of fabric that I liked but didn’t have enough of for a bigger project. I also used leftover scraps from projects I’d completed.

I felt like I was really following the spirit of early patchwork quilting! I used what I had to make something beautiful instead of purchasing new supplies. The fabric for the patchwork included left over bits of pretty bed sheets, small sections of fabric less than a yard which I couldn’t use for clothing, vintage scraps which someone else had cut out for a garment but never sewn together, pin stripe from a skirt I loved but had stains, a gingham curtain valance, and scraps from my own projects, including my pink dress, a yellow blouse, a night gown, and a purple checked blouse (which I’ve neglected to make a separate post about so I’ll include a picture here).

Can you spot the different projects represented here?

As I was assembling everything, I realized the patchwork ended up being a showcase of some of my favorite things in fabrics! You can notice the pattern of soft pastel colors, florals, pin stripes, and checks.

I used McCalls 4721 as inspiration and used some of the basic pattern pieces to get a general shape. However, because I was going to use thick quilted fabric, I did have to adjust the pattern significantly. I may try this pattern again with a lightweight fabric at a shorter length for a summer robe someday.

Though my great grandmother’s trusty 1960s sewing machine did a great job with the piecing and some of the quilting, a friend was kind enough to lend me their quilting sewing machine for the thick seams, so I didn’t have to put too much stress on the old machine. When the machine work was done, I also had a lot of hand sewing to do to finish the seams and binding neatly.

I absolutely love how it looks! I just started wearing it this weekend (and since we were snowed in with an ice storm, it was good timing! One negative thing I realized is that in making the robe floor length, it’s a bit of a trip hazard on the stairs. I’ll need to be conscientious about keeping at least one hand free on the stairs. Other than that, I am very happy with this project and will be wearing it every day this winter. Stay warm!