Back in the 60s there was a very popular way of making a robe out of two bath towels and a hand towel, or maybe three bath towels, I can't remember how I did it. One towel each for the front and back, then the third towel was folded length wise and cut to make a yoke. Does anyone have the directions for these? I don't know what I'm doing wrong with Google today but I can't find it on the net :-(
Fold one towel in half, length-wise. Make slit for your head - bind the cut edges. This should be large enough to fit over your head, but not larger. You can shape it if you like. The other two towels are gathered and sewn to the edges of the first towel. Gather just enough so that when they are joined, they go around you comfortably. Then you sew the side seams, from the bottom of the gathered towels up to the folded one, then out the folded (making sleeves) to the edge.
A lot depends on the size of the towels you are using. Don't cut the towels (except for the neck slit) and if the sleeves are too long, just fold back for a cuff. You might have to baste and play with it to get the right proportions for you. IIRC, the gathered part is 1/3 to 1/2 of the length of the top towel.
If you could see my hands, you'd understand better. ;-)
I had forgotten all about that robe. I don't have instructions but as I remember it, it was 3 towels. The first was folded lengthwise and made the yoke and the sleeves. I sewed the other two towels to the middle of the yoke/sleeve piece and then seamed the side and sleeve in one seam. Think of a "T". Cut a hole for the head and finish it either with a serger or with bias tape.
How nice is this robe when it is done? I need a new robe and this sounds like a good way to get one. Of course, it could get expensive when using Egyptian cotton towels : ).
Thank you all for refreshing my memory!! I'm going to make a few for Christmas gifts and two of them I'll make short for bathing suit cover-ups for friends who swim everyday. As I remember the less expensive towels work best because they don't have the bulk and weight of 'premium grade'. I'm going to put zippers in the two full length robes. I think I'll make 3 of my little friends beach cover-ups from hand and guest towels. I have a pile of those I NEVER use. I'll just tuck them away in my "Done Stuff" box until summer shows up. Good way to get some use out of them.
At an open house that I went to, a woman was making these, but with openings for nursing...it was the first time I had ever seen them and I thought it was such a cool idea......so, was there a website that I could go to so that I could check these out???
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