KCW Days 6, 7, and beyond: Cozy Flannel Robe

I started this robe during Kids Clothes Week, but after the week ended, robe unfinished, I kind of lost some momentum. Finally, it's done and I love it! I want one for me!

I really wanted to make Adelaide a fully lined flannel robe. Guess how easy it is to find a pattern for that, especially in her teeny size 2? Yeah, not easy. Burda 2662 was all I found, and as small as it goes is size 3. I went with it, and it's kind of huge on the kid, but I think it's big and cozy in a good way. Plus, now it'll last a couple of years.

Fabric was another challenge. This robe calls for nearly 3 yards of each fabric. So, looking at all the nice flannels that kept catching my eye, we were talking somewhere upward of $50 in fabric for a two-year-old's bathrobe. But then I stumbled upon a sale bin of precut flannel at JoAnn's, $5 for each three-yard bundle, making the total a beyond reasonable $10 of fabric. And I am really happy with this flannel so far. It feels substantial and is incredibly soft. I wanted to cozy up with it while I was working with it.

This was my first time sewing from a Burda pattern. It was a very simple, basic pattern, but I was a bit thrown by the pattern markings since they aren't quite the same as what I'm used to. I only sort of followed the instructions but, with something this basic, that worked out fine. Honestly, the worst part of this project was tracing the pattern pieces. It seemed like it took forever and, because the markings weren't my usual, I was always wondering if I'd traced all the correct markings for the size. But the sewing itself was easy as pie.

As you may or may not know, depending on your personal life experiences, trying to get photos of kids at all in handmade stuff can be a challenge. On the one hand, I want some documentation before my work is all wrinkly (because I don't iron unless I'm sewing) and stained (because children). On the other hand, I don't want sobbing children who grow up to tell their therapists all about how my sewing and blogging ruined their childhoods. (I kid. Sort of.) So it's always a compromise. What I get: her standing somewhat still while wearing whatever it is that I made. What she gets: everything else. And Adelaide had some strong opinions about this one. She felt strongly about the wearing of bunny ears. She also insisted that she hold her brother's Raggedy Andy. Furthermore, no photos would be taken without "a treat" immediately following the shoot. Well played, Adelaide, well played. After about 100 photos, she was willing to try a few sans ears so that the hood could be pulled up, and when she put the doll down to mess with the hood, she forgot about it. And I got a few photos styled a bit less awesomely more simply. Mama patience for the win.