This Medlow Robe from Muna and Broad is made from cutting into my favourite waffle blanket to make myself a cosy & delightfully textured robe!
Since making, I’ve been intending to wash the robe, to get it back to peak squishy/waffleness.
I bought this blanket back in 2020 with the intention of sewing with it, but then it arrived and the texture was so lovely and it was such a great throw for the couch that I never did anything with it. A robe is a bit like a blanket for just 1 person, so it seemed like an appropriate use. The blanket came from Briscoes in NZ (no longer available), and it cost me $35. I did the math on various sizes of blanket to work out the best price per metre, and the small size blanket was it (though I can’t remember the actual dimensions now)!
Fabric consumption: so my size in the Medlow calls for 3.9m/4.3yds (150cm/60” wide) or 5.2m/5.7yds (115cm/45” wide), but I just had this blanket. I lay the whole blanket out on the floor and realised I didn’t have enough to make the robe as intended. I reduced the length of both the front and back pieces by maybe 5″ and that gave me space below which was big enough for the sleeves. From there, I figured I would be able to piece together what I needed to get the pockets, neckline and waist ties.
Pattern changes: Because of fabric constraints, the robe is shorter than intended, the neckline is less wide than intended and the waist ties might be too. I skipped the interfacing (because I didn’t want to iron the waffle), and I didn’t press most of my seams. The edge of the blanket had a matching pink cotton (look) binding. I used that at the top of the pockets so that I could skip topstitching down the top of the pocket (you can see it in the first picture back at the top of the page)!
Sewing with waffle: The sleeves stretched out a bit while I was sewing them, so they look a bit more bell-like than my silk robe. I think that if I threw this in the wash, and then in the dryer, it would shrink up nicely and bring the sleeve ends back in (maybe).. One benefit of having used the blanket is that I did wash it about 6 months ago, and it was very squishy and plush afterwards. But, in the 6 months it spent draped over the back of my couch, it stretched itself out to be less bunched up, which made it much easier to cut than a fresh washed waffle. It also meant that I didn’t have to choose between ironing the waffle (and totally flattening it out) or having it super squished up and stretching out while I was trying to sew it! There are a lot of little pink threads in my carpet, but I’m pretty certain the overlocking on the seams means that I won’t be creating more.
I started cutting this out in the afternoon yesterday, I whipped it up while watching netflix last night, and I’m writing this blog post on the couch while I’m wearing this waffley robe to protect myself from the dreary Christchurch chill. Although my luscious red silk Medlow Robe is an absolute delight, I think I’ll probably be pretty precious about protecting that one. Since this is a $35 wonder, I imagine I’ll be eating breakfast and washing dishes in this bad boy without an iota of guilt or concern!
