Homemade spa robes

Last summer, we bought a hottub on deep discount and I even made a new spa bikini to enjoy while lounging in it. It’s a bit of luxury, but it means we can just pop up there (it’s on our top deck) after work and relax. The only problem is, even though we only run it during the summer to keep electric costs down, it’s still freezing as soon as you step out afterwards!

We had just been wrapping a towel around ourselves, but that leaves a lot of wet skin still exposed and they kept falling down while we put the cover back on the hottub, tidied up, and climbed back down inside the boat. I felt I could address this with a sewing solution – a sort of spa/dry robe that we could easily slip on and then wear while we put everything away.

I was going to self-draft these but then I saw this free pattern from Do It Yourself Better, which had basically all the features we both wanted, so I just used it instead.

Black ramie Pietra trousers

You know a pattern is a good’un when you not only find yourself making it multiple times, but feel a deep need in your wardrobe to make even more. This is my 5th time making the Closet Core Patterns “Pietra Pants” pattern – twice before as trousers and twice also as shorts.

My very first time sewing this pattern was a pair of trousers in black linen, almost exactly two years ago, which since then I’ve worn so much that the inner thighs literally disintegrated (even after patching). Thankfully my second pair, in grey wool, are still going strong (probably by virtue of only being worn in winter rather than all year round like the linen ones).

The perfect pandemic trousers – for him!

I was encouraged by the effect that sewing for my mom had had on my own sewing mojo, so I decided to stick with the theme of sewing for others and I turned my attention to my husband instead.

I’d bought La Maison Victor‘s special Menswear issue back in 2018 (which I bought first in French when it was originally released, and then, later, again when it was finally released in English). There were so many good menswear patterns in this issue – lots of interesting and different (but still wearable!) designs, but I thought that the “Jeff Trousers” in particular would be perfect for J’s new work from home lifestyle.

Yellow satin cocktail dress

I fell in love with the yellow cocktail dress in the 11/07 Burda WOF magazine, with its wide, square neckline and fabulous 90 degree front darts, and it just so happened that I had just the right amount of butter-yellow duchess satin leftover from James’s pirate coat lining to sew this up. Since the satin was so thick I opted to omit the lining and just go for facings instead, which made this an even quicker project.

Together with my matching fascinator and steel grey satin gloves from the V&A gift shop, I rather overfulfilled the “glam attire” required for my neighbour’s lighting up party on Friday night.