Lavender fleece bathrobe (Blank Slate Sora hack)

For Christmas, I made my daughter a new bathrobe!

She really needed one; she was still wearing one that I’d made for her in 2015… and she’s quite a bit taller these days, haha!

I decided to do some hacking and use the Blank Slate Sora cardigan (<–affiliate link) as my starting point. I used a size larger than my daughter’s measurements indicated so that it would have a more oversized fit. I’d seen Melissa’s tutorial on converting the Sora cardigan into a “grandpa” sweater, so I used the same steps to straighten the side seams and remove the gussets. I also added 12″ of length to bring the hem long enough to cover her legs past her knees. I added loops at the side seams for a belt (in retrospect, they should be higher, but I was guessing, since this was a surprise!). Finally, I widened and lengthened the sleeves instead of using the cuff piece.

There’s a funny story about this fabric. I was given this fleece yardage by a neighbor, but I didn’t realize that they had a cat (or maybe more than one!). I prewashed the fleece as per my usual habit, and spent an hour or so one evening cutting out all the pieces. The next morning, I woke up feeling very sniffly and exhausted. Of course, I worried that I was sick, but it felt more like allergies. Christmas was approaching quickly, so after taking a nap to fortify myself, I headed back to the sewing machine to get going on construction. I powered through about three-quarters of the way through the project (sniffling and sneezing the entire time) before realizing that I was occasionally seeing a cat hair in my fabric– and that perhaps I was having an allergic reaction! That explained everything. I stopped sewing, took allergy medication (which makes me so sleepy in and of itself!), and was good for nothing the rest of the evening. But I had to finish the robe before I could wash it again! The next morning, I will admit I was feeling some trepidation. I did NOT want to have another day of allergy-induced stupor, but I really wanted to finish the project. I put on one of my masks and was able to finish the robe without any more complications! I washed it twice before wrapping it for my daughter to open on Christmas morning!

Thankfully there have been no more allergy incidents, and my daughter is loving her cozy new robe!