Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Summer beach/bath Robes

Summer is officially begun, so what was my first summer project you ask...Beach Robes! I'm fairly new to the sewing world, but since my recent purchases I have been getting back into it and loving every minute of it! With my newest addiction I've found alot of great blogs out there that are so inspirational...one of my favorites is Made she has alot of great tutorials out there, so when I saw the Beach Robe Pattern I figured I would give it a shot. Plus extra bonus it had alot of surging, so I was able to test run my newest toy...
New Toy

Ok so cutting out the pattern wasn't challenging, because there really isn't alot of pieces...but, trying to ensure you have the nap right when cutting out was kinda challenging, for 3 of the robes I ended up going with short sleeves because I just didn't have a towel big enough. I should have taken measurements of the towels I used, just to be mindful of my next towel purchases. Although, I think the short sleeves here in FL are the best solution, it's just too dang hot here sometimes for long sleeves. I also had to modify the pattern for the ties, I just couldn't get one long length for the ties, but I loved how that looked going around the whole body, so I did them in pieces...as you can tell from the picture. Some turned out better then others, but I think that was my lack of pinning ;o).
Robe Craziness

So sewing them together was a breeze and the pattern directions were clear and alot of great illustrations, this was the first time for me setting in a sleeve. I still have some work to do on getting that just right as some of my sleeves ended up smaller then the sleeve opening. But, that was because I wasn't mindful of my needle position and moving it back and forth when I was attaching the bias tape. So I was excited to get to work with my serger on a real project, boy did I have my challenges. Surging in the round is just not easy, any tips from the experts out there in the blogging world?? I couldn't find one video or tutorial about this, so my first one was the blue one and I didn't do a perfect job, but some stitches where looser in some areas then others. Next one up...green one and I totally cut a hold...ugh and had to do some repair work. For those keen seamstresses you can probably spot the patch job. But I still love it and I know my friends little girl will get great use out of it.
Millies Frogs
Overall I love this pattern and will be making more. Guaranteed I will be back to make some more patterns released by Made. Next item is her tutorial on the kid-shorts, plan on using seersucker material I picked up on sale.

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Creations!

8 comments:

Jackie's Stitches said...

The robes came out beautifully! The shorts should be a breeze compared to the robes. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your serger experiences. T

Jess said...

They are adorable robes! Love it!

Katy said...

I really like the blue & white one with red trim. I'm jealous of your new toy ;)

chris said...

I love how your robes came together! I'm also completely jealous of your serger...how exciting. Enjoy that work horse. :)

Bloom said...

Hi Jen! I'm wondering whether you might be the Jen who purchased a pattern for a sewing machine cover and accessories from me recently. If you did, could you please contact me. If not, please disregard this message. Kind regards, Ros Mirrington.

Anonymous said...

How cute are those? I love all the different color combos for the robes. It's kind of inspiring me to finally invest in a serger!

Robin (RsIslandCrafts) said...

Your robes are adorable! Your new serger is going to be great for making shorts.

Michele said...

So cute! What a fun new toy :-)