Pattern drafting from an old dressing gown

A comfy dressing gown is worth keeping for years. But when the white fleece is far from white and you've already altered it once, why not keep it on the hook as 'gardening clothes' and try making one! This hefty gown will definitely keep me warm in the winter as it's made from soft cotton waffle from Good Fabric, lined with organic cotton fleece from Empress Mills.

I used my current dressing gown to create a pattern by flattening it and placing it on top of the fabric, and added length. One difficulty was converting the hood into a collar, and the original neckline I created didn't work at all as it followed the curve of the front panels and therefore lacked a lot of fabric for a nice fold-over collar! I had a look at my husband's dressing gown and realised I should have done that a lot sooner to understand the shape. I only had enough fabric left in the fleece rather than the waffle, so a slightly new design emerged.

The finished dressing gown certainly has a lot of weight! I know I'll be happy with that come the colder months.