My son had his fourth birthday at the beginning of the week. I decided to spare no expense on him and made him a bathrobe using both a pattern and fabric that someone else passed on to me. Red is his favorite color and he loves fuzzy things, so this fleece had his name all over it.
The pattern is McCall's 4643, toddler pajamas and robe. I made a size 4 with no changes. I was hoping it would be too big so it would last for awhile, but it isn't really.
The robe has a hood and bound front edges and sleeve hems. The instructions suggest using purchased bias binding, but I made my own from a red plaid print that I had. I did everything besides the bottom hem on the serger.
I also cut the tie from the red print rather than from the fleece. The thought of turning and topstitching a fleece tie was not at all appealing to me. The tie is attached at CB.
I'm glad I didn't invest a great deal in this because this robe did not get a second look after he opened the box. I don't think he even pulled it out of the box, actually. His response went something like, "Oh. It's clothes. Can I open the next present?" It was pretty funny. However, his younger sister had a great time with the robe - she wore it by the hood only, like a cape and ran around pretending she was a superhero.
But, if you were a four-year-old boy and your other presents looked like this:
would you give a robe a second look? I probably wouldn't. I'm just hoping it cuts down on some of the post-bath streaking that goes on here.
The pattern is McCall's 4643, toddler pajamas and robe. I made a size 4 with no changes. I was hoping it would be too big so it would last for awhile, but it isn't really.
The robe has a hood and bound front edges and sleeve hems. The instructions suggest using purchased bias binding, but I made my own from a red plaid print that I had. I did everything besides the bottom hem on the serger.
I also cut the tie from the red print rather than from the fleece. The thought of turning and topstitching a fleece tie was not at all appealing to me. The tie is attached at CB.
I'm glad I didn't invest a great deal in this because this robe did not get a second look after he opened the box. I don't think he even pulled it out of the box, actually. His response went something like, "Oh. It's clothes. Can I open the next present?" It was pretty funny. However, his younger sister had a great time with the robe - she wore it by the hood only, like a cape and ran around pretending she was a superhero.
But, if you were a four-year-old boy and your other presents looked like this:
That sounds about like the reception my ds gave the clothes I made for his birthday!! I've decided no clothes as presents - it's too hard on me to compete with Lightning McQueen! The robe looks great though, and I bet after the present excitement wears off he'll love it.
ReplyDeleteThe robe is adorable. I love the trim. Speaking from experience, there is just something about boys and "no clothes"!!!
ReplyDeleteAbout two Christmas's ago I decided my eldest needed some male dress-up clothes after a trip to a girlfriend's house where he tried all of her daughter's princess outfits on. I slaved over those outfits right before the holiday and stressed out about finishing them, and he totally tossed the package aside on Christmas morning without a second look! I was crushed. They do get played with now, but it took another year and interest from little brother for that. I've learned my lesson and don't bother with clothes for them anymore. I'm sure that cute robe will get used, and he'll probably decide he loves it in a week or two. I can relate about the streaking too!
ReplyDeleteI really think it looks fantastic to make your own binding. My boys all got robes too and I didn't "turn" the belts either. I just serged the edges, but also used your technique of tacking down in the center back. My boys would be off using those belts for play time and would surely lose them, or muck them up if they weren't attached. Great job!
ReplyDelete