We enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home and when things slow down, my heart wants to sew, so I started recycling and repurposing this flannel robe.
It, along with another one, was given to me by a dear friend who had purchased them new but, they just didn't work for her. Thank you, my dear, dear friend ... you know who you are!
For a robe, it would not work for me either, but I immediately knew what I could do with it ...
I set to work by cutting off the bodice part and laying it aside. If you'll notice in the first picture, the robe is closed via snaps all the way down. I didn't want to have to deal with snaps coming unsnapped on a skirt, so I removed the snap placket and sewed the opening up using a French seam being careful to match the plaids.
Next, I folded down 1/4 inch at the top and pressed it down. Then I measured down 1 1/2 inches (I used 1-inch-wide elastic), folded and pressed again. I stitched all the way around approximately 1/8 from the top of the fold. Next, I went to the bottom of the fold and again stitched 1/8 inch all the way around leaving a 2-inch opening to put the elastic through. I inserted the elastic and stitched closed the opening. The skirt was completed.
Here's how I styled it ...
I knew I wanted to accent the really small white lines in the fabric of the skirt and the pockets, so I went to my closet and pulled out the white slip I made from a thrifted sheet. I tried them together and viola ... I liked the way they paired together. My vision was to use a white sweater for the top that was short enough not to cover the pockets, but I didn't have a white sweater at all. I looked at some other options, but nothing really felt right. I decided to just 'sit on it for a day or two' and think about it.
Fast forward a couple of days and my hubby got a phone call from a friend who had a friend who knew my hubby, but didn't have his phone number. He had several bags of men's clothing he wanted to get rid of and thought of my husband, did he want them? Hubby went to get them and when he got home, I immediately started going through all 9 bags! (I am on a mission to declutter my home and the last thing I wanted was to have 9 really big bags of clothing sitting around.) I pulled each item out of each bag and hubby, and I made a decision about whether to keep it, recycle it, or donate it. When we were finished, we had a small pile to keep and bagged the rest to be donated. (I'm happy to report that that has already been done!) Long story short, in the 'keep pile' was the white sweater you see in the picture above. It was perfect ... shhhh! I won't tell anyone it's a man's sweater if you won't!!!
mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine
