In October I’m going to be at the Fibreswest residential retreat in Narrogin, a country town in the wheatbelt and I keep hearing about how freezing it is (thermals are mentioned), so I decided that new pyjamas were in order. I have been meaning to make another hooded robe from Liz Haywood’s excellent book “Zero Waste Sewing”, so thought it was time for both.

I fished another one of my late MiL’s 1960s blankets from out of the trunk they live in, as I wanted the robe to be really warm, and began cutting.

I’ve made eleven of these robes now, and this is the third one from a blanket. I like to line the blankets as they are a bit scratchy and the lining makes them even warmer. My first two are lined with a doona cover – my husband got one side in his, and I got the other side in mine. I went hunting in my stash and found a flanelette double bed sheet, which is covered in dinosaurs! I originally bought it to make something for my grandson, but my dressing gown need was greater.

I took these photos in the middle of the day and I did enjoy swanning round in my dressing gown.

The making of the bathrobe went very smoothly, but when I put it on I found the sleeves were too short and I remembered that I had added to the sleeves in the other versions. So I had to unpick the sleeves, add a few centimetres to the blanket and the lining and then sew the sleeve back together. Sounds simple? Well somehow I got it all twisted and finished up with an unholy mess. The only way I could truly show the horror was to hang the dressing gown over the bannister.

I unpicked. fussed and fiddled and got it all back together as it should be. So much better with longer sleeves.

The only other issue I had, and I only had it with the blanket side, is that the lower back was wider than the upper back, which I had to remedy with a pleat. It’s a bit odd as the belt sits across it, but at least it fits.

I had quite a bit of the sheet left over, so pyjamas were in order. I used the Pattern Union Cora blouse for the top, but eliminated the dart by slightly gathering the side into the seam where the dart leg would sit. I think this is much more comfortable and I think I can credit Lindy from Stokx Patterns with this idea. I designed the bottoms myself and they are zero waste – or would be if I put pockets resulting from the crotch cut out, in them. I found matching ribbing and am looking forward to wearing these at the retreat.

Of course this photo had to be taken

I finished up with a deep hem on the dressing gown, rather than chopping it off and making the whole thing shorter.

I made another pair of pyjamas, but this time from some cotton flannelette scraps left over from making a Grainline Archer shirt back in 2014. I still wear this shirt.

I made this pair exactly like the previous pair, except I had to do a bit of piecing. If you look at the sleeve in the middle photo you’ll see an example. I also had to cut the legs shorter due to fabric shortage so the cuffs are deeper, but these pj bottoms are still shorter than the previous pair.

I added a string of hearts as I’m taking part in a challenge to promote women’s heart health.

These will also be coming to Narrogin with me, so if I’m caught in my pjs, at least they won’t be tatty.

Speaking of heart appliqués, I cut one out of the satin binding that came off the blanket and stitched it to the pocket.

I’ve hurried finishing the dressing gown as I wanted to put it forward in the SewOver50 Tried n True pattern challenge. I noticed I hadn’t got round to stitching down the hem opening.

After all this manic sewing and posing I thought I’d lay on the lawn and absorb some of the spring sunshine. I hadn’t realised that my phone was recording my inert figure, and I was amused to see Pepper’s antics. Here is an exerpt.

I was doing some breathing exercises and look like I’m hyperventilating and then I look as though I’ve passed out, but be assured that all is well.