Spatterdash
A-List Customer
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- 310
Well, the gods of good taste have smiled on me. I finally have a material I'm happy with for a dressing gown or robe.
I've always liked the idea of a smoking jacket, frog closures and all, but smoking jackets are not nearly as versatile and useful as a good house coat or robe. So I began looking into historic robes and house coats, dressing gowns and even smoking jackets to determine what I wanted my lounge wear to be.
I finally landed 6 yards of burgundy herringbone wool, tropical weight.
I paid $8.75 a yard. Wonderful texture, good body, not overly fuzzy or shiny. This will be the body of the dressing gown, which will sport a full skirt down to just below the calves.
I originally intended to put frog closures on it, as I've seen some long robes and coats sporting these (victorian, mostly) and decided that was a feature more suited to a smoking jacket. A frog closure garment never looks good hanging open and lounge wear should be as snug or as loose as you wish, depending on temperature and the clothing worn underneath. I wanted something just as cozy over a dress shirt and slacks as over a bulky set of winter pajamas. So I'm going with a long sash for a belt, ending in points set with large ornate tassles.
silkconnection.com sells black 100% Habotai silk for four and a half bucks a yard, so I'll be using that for my lining. I'll also be making the large shawl collar and cuffs of the same silk, but these areas will be quilted and trimmed with black cord piping.
The sash will be black silk as well on the exterior but will have an inside facing of the burgundy herringbone for grip against the robe, form and for holding a knot.
Between silkconnection.com and places like denverfabrics.com, a lot of garments can be made from accurate and attractive fabrics, fabrics that are natural or blends, not all polyester or rayon or acetate. This is also a chance for me to use the sewing machine for something other than spats.
I'll keep you folks posted and will have pics once completed.
I've always liked the idea of a smoking jacket, frog closures and all, but smoking jackets are not nearly as versatile and useful as a good house coat or robe. So I began looking into historic robes and house coats, dressing gowns and even smoking jackets to determine what I wanted my lounge wear to be.
I finally landed 6 yards of burgundy herringbone wool, tropical weight.
I paid $8.75 a yard. Wonderful texture, good body, not overly fuzzy or shiny. This will be the body of the dressing gown, which will sport a full skirt down to just below the calves.
I originally intended to put frog closures on it, as I've seen some long robes and coats sporting these (victorian, mostly) and decided that was a feature more suited to a smoking jacket. A frog closure garment never looks good hanging open and lounge wear should be as snug or as loose as you wish, depending on temperature and the clothing worn underneath. I wanted something just as cozy over a dress shirt and slacks as over a bulky set of winter pajamas. So I'm going with a long sash for a belt, ending in points set with large ornate tassles.
silkconnection.com sells black 100% Habotai silk for four and a half bucks a yard, so I'll be using that for my lining. I'll also be making the large shawl collar and cuffs of the same silk, but these areas will be quilted and trimmed with black cord piping.
The sash will be black silk as well on the exterior but will have an inside facing of the burgundy herringbone for grip against the robe, form and for holding a knot.
Between silkconnection.com and places like denverfabrics.com, a lot of garments can be made from accurate and attractive fabrics, fabrics that are natural or blends, not all polyester or rayon or acetate. This is also a chance for me to use the sewing machine for something other than spats.
I'll keep you folks posted and will have pics once completed.
