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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!

The Medlow Robe is the latest pattern from Leila and I at Muna and Broad! I knew I was going to be making this up in silk, which I assumed would be tricky to cut out, tricky to sew, and tricky to photograph…. No pressure!

Not sure if you can tell from the pictures below, but I actually had a relatively pain-free experience, and I’m THRILLED with the results!

Pattern details: Okay, so I’m obviously biased here since I get a say in what the pattern looks like, but some things that I love about the Medlow include:

• The back neck has a curved seam (same as the Belmore Jacket) which lets the neckline sit flush with my rounded back neck/hump and stops cool breezes from entering- Genius!
• DEEP Pockets are a delight for hankies (keeping it real), your phone, snacks.. They’re deep enough to carry actual stuff.
• The waist-tie is sewn on at the back. I don’t know about you, but I’m forever losing un-attached waist ties. Or dragging them on the ground, tripping on them, accidentally draping them into the toilet.. Well, this is not a problem here.
• The long length of this robe adds to the luxury- I could absolutely fold myself up on the couch and arrange the robe over my legs so that I was entirely covered, but it’s not long enough that I’d be dragging it in mud if I was somehow outside and near mud. You could shorten it if you want something shorter, but I’m not really sure why you’d want that.

The Medlow is available in the standard M&B sizes, 40-64″ (102-162cm) Bust and 41.5-71.5″ (105-182cm) Hip, and Leila will grade up if the sizes are too small to accommodate you, etc. etc.

My measurements: My current measurements are a 54″ low hip and I’m 57″ at my roundest point (around my belly). I am relatively short through the body, and have narrow shoulders compared to my other measurements.

Size details: I made a Size F, which is the usual size I make in Muna and Broad patterns. Although I have narrow shoulders and could get lost down the rabbit hole of grading between sizes in order to militantly adhere to the size chart, I just make the size that accommodates my hip.

Fabric details: This is silk that was given to me by sewing buddy (and long-time photography collaborator), Naomi (4 metres of it, no less)! The fabric was only just wide enough to accommodate the two front pieces cut mirrored and I ended piecing together one of the pockets, and also the waist tie.

I was really worried that this would be slippery to sew, that my machine would chew on it, and that I’d have tension issues. Actually, the matte silk gripped to itself nicely when sewing, so it was actually a delight to work with. I used a brand-new Size 70 needle, and only had tension issues on 1 sleeve (life isn’t perfect). The whole robe did keep slipping off my table while I was sewing, but some folks on the ‘gram suggested towels and non-slip draw liners to help it stay put (not tested, just passing on the news).

I’m wearing my very luxurious and slinky Medlow Robe with my Spinifex PJs (read about them on the blog)! It’s possible that if you print with ChCh sews and come round to collect your patterns on a Saturday morning, I might be greeting you at the door like this!