New Summer Robe

    I'm all in love with Clarissa, at NewDressADay, http://www.newdressaday.com .  Really I'm in love with what she's doing.  About a year ago, I discovered her blog (see above link), and have been following her and laughing since.  She began a year-long project of abstinence and creativity.  She decided to not buy any new clothes for a year, working instead with only what she had, was given or could buy for $1, and blog about the experience.  I might have those details wrong, but that was the general idea.  Please go to her blog, and admire her vision!

Our house has an outside shower, which I just love.  Yes, we do have indoor plumbing, but I prefer to shower outside, thank you.  And, even though we live in an isolated area, I still like to wear a robe between the back door and the shower.  I found this jungle-y print shirt at my favorite Vintage Values Thrift Shop in Wilmington (sales support victims of domestic violence), a silk broadcloth shirt.  A little large for me, which made it perfect for my project.  It was on sale:  $1.75.












First, I ripped out the hem, and pressed it flat...
















Then, I ripped out the side vent hems, and stitched up the side seams.

I looked in my stash of hand-dyed cottons and chose lemon yellow yardage to add to the length and to make the new front bands.  Using the rotary cutter, I cut off the collar and fold-back, to create the shawl-collar neckline line I wanted.

 I cut front and neck bands from the yellow cotton, on the fold, to stitch from the center back neck to the hem.

 The front bands, shown here, ready to stitch.

I hemmed it, made a belt and belt loops, and hit the shower!  OK, I decided it was a little short, so after my shower, I ripped out the doubled-hem, making it exactly the correct length.  I'm pleased with the result!