A Linen Look Suki

I’ve wanted a proper Suki Robe from Helen’s Closet for the longest time and so when I received this linen look print from Minerva it just begged to be made into a Suki!

I knew I’d like the fabric – it’s exactly the same as the fabric I used for my Closet Core Patterns Amy Jumpsuit. It’s just the lighter colourway. I had toyed with the idea of making a Charlie Caftan with it, but I felt that in the lighter colour it might prove to be a bit too see through for my liking. I didn’t want to have to wear a slip underneath if I made the caftan because I’d likely be wearing it on hot days, and who wants and extra layer in the heat of summer. Not me!! So I went back to my robe idea.

I really love this fabric with its light, breezy feel. It’s got a slightly gauzy, crinkle texture to it which mean that it won’t appear wrinkled which is a great bonus for a robe, because ironing a robe would be ridiculous!

The fabric is so easy to work with. Having learned some lessons with the Amy Jumpsuit, I cut my fabric out on the floor of my sewing room instead of my dining table and made sure to use plenty of pattern weights (aka washers). I didn’t have any of the problems I’d experience previously with fabric shifting or slipping. My only problem was kneeling on the hard floor. Ouch! My knees were not thanking me. LOL! I did still use quite a few pins in sewing my robe together, just for extra insurance against any fabric going rogue on me.

Sewing the robe went so easily! Helen’s Closet patterns are amazing for their instructions. Helen explains everything so well that even a beginner sewist could jump right in and be successful I think! The fabric behaved beautifully but is prone to fraying so I made sure to finish off my seam edges with my serger to nip any future wear and tear issues in the bud. The Suki would probably be great with French seams if you didn’t have a serger at hand.

I am so darn pleased with my robe! I made it exactly as the pattern is written, with one teeny tiny change. My robe does not have a hanging loop at the back neckline. It did, but darn it all, I sewed the thing so that it was on the outside of the robe and didn’t notice until I’d sewn, serged and topstitched the neckband. (I noticed as I was top stitching. AGGGGHHHHHHHHH) Some very bad words were said and then I grabbed the scissors and trimmed that loop right off and didn’t give it another thought. There was absolutely NO WAY I was unpicking all of that for the sake of a loop I’d likely never use.

My robe is the perfect weight for year round use for me. It’ll be lovely in the warmer months, but also great for those nights in the winter in which I lose the “who gets to determine the temperature” game in our house – the one in which my husband cranks the heat up to tropical worthy temps and I sit grumbling and sweating and contemplating diving head first into a snowbank. (That is until he’s not looking and I run and turn down the thermostat anyways. LOL).

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