Last minute...

When we were preparing for our fairly spontaneous trip to Fuerteventura last month (huge grin :-D), I decided to do some last-minute sewing. The boys needed new bathrobes, as the ones I made for them nearly two years ago were definitely too small now. I was a little surprised how long they actually lasted - the pattern is just fabulous! So again, I chose one size up to accommodate for the next growth spurt or two.

I had been planning to make a second set of these bathrobes for a while, so when I found those striped beach towels
in blue and green on a crazy discount at our local supermarket last fall, I knew they were just perfect. When I cut the pattern pieces, I found out how just perfect the towels were: I was just about able to place all the pieces on the fabric. The next time around, I'll have to switch to even bigger towels or use two (note to self...). And would you believe that I had just the perfect piece of Hilco happy fish jersey knit in my stash to match both colors???

The pattern is lillesol basic no. 6 by lillesol & pelle. I really like it, not just for its perfect fit, but also for the detailed instructions with lots of pictures. Some tips for sewing with terry cloth (which is the most likely fabric for this project) would have been great, but a quick Pinterest search did the trick. It wouldn't be me if I hadn't made some changes to the pattern, though ;-) I cut the front and back pieces in one, leaving out the side seam. This made setting in the sleeve a little more difficult, but worked out well. I also lined the hood. The construction was quite tricky, but made for a really neat finish.

Using the same pattern a second time showed me how much my sewing has improved over the last two years. I interpreted the exact same instructions quite differently back then than I did this time around. The finishing is much more professional now, without any unfinished or rough looking seam allowances showing on the inside. And instead of taking six weeks (if I remember correctly), it now only took me 2 days to finish the new set, that is cutting Wednesday night, sewing Thursday morning and night, packing on Friday and going on holiday on Saturday. Does it sound boastful if I say I'm a little impressed myself? ;-)

And just for comparison, here's the first set I made in 2013 (minus the not-so-neatly-finished inside ;-)):

For these, I used beach towels I found at IKEA and happened to have some stars jersey knit in matching colors at home. Have I mentioned that I just love my fabric stash? And of course those two cutie pies in the pictures :-D