The issue about going on holiday at the end of summer? By the time you finish blogging your summer holiday wardrobe everyone is well into autumn (I’m counting on some readers from the southern hemisphere here!). This week it really hit me that autumn has started, we even put on the heating for the first time yesterday.

Nevertheless, I quickly wanted to share this little robe that I drafted the week before I went on holiday. I had gotten this linen fabric already in July back in Germany together with other linen and denim fabric. The fabric has a subtle floral/cloudy print and I actually got for free as a remnant. As I was flying only with hand luggage I had to post it and nervously waited for it to arrive as I knew I wanted to make a simple beach robe for my holiday. It arrived just in time and luckily the robe was a very quick make.

I didn’t have any robe/kimono patterns in my stash (or at least none that I liked) so I decided to draft my own. It was fairly straight-forward. Basically I cut a piece twice as long as I wanted the robe to be (plus seam allowance for the hem) and as wide as half my hip measurements + some overlap at the front + seam allowance. Then I took a strip of fabric (ca. 7cm) out of the centre front up until roughly the middle of the whole length. Draping it over my dressform, I then scooped out the neck until the front and the back were at the same level. For the side seams I decided to use the shape of my Tea House Dress where I loved the kimono sleeve shape. Once assembled, I hemmed the dress and added a band around the front opening to give the neck more of a kimono style. The sleeves are finished by simply serging the edges and folding them up twice. They are secured in place with a couple of hand stitches. I added belt loops and a sash to close the robe and put patch pockets on the front. The shape and size of these pockets was actually determined by my Kindle, as I planned to do a lot of reading at the beach. Isn’t it just the best when you can customise your garments to meet exactly your needs?

I’m quite happy with how it turned out. The crumpled linen look has its charm and without shoulder seams its super comfortable to wear. It was really the perfect thing to wear over my swim suits (here my new Noelle Swim Suit) on the way to and from the beach. I actually wore it every single time. Now that I’m back to real life, I’m not quite sure how I’ll incorporate it into my wardrobe. It’s too short and revealing to wear as a dress, but I always fancied having a morning robe, maybe I should just get used to wearing it around the house…