Upcycling: Tablecloth becomes chic dressing gown

Holiday series with creative suggestions,
sewing patterns and fabrics

Let's talk about a unique upcycling project. We were lucky enough to come across a beautiful silk tablecloth in a thrift store that we transformed into a luxurious robe. The tablecloth wasn't big, but the amount of fabric was just good enough. A nice tip for the holidays, because such a chic (easy to make) dressing gown you will certainly make your mother, girlfriend, boyfriend, niece or yourself extra happy.

A luxurious dressing gown versus bathrobe
The difference between a bathrobe and a luxurious robe is often that a bathrobe is made of heavier terry cloth or velor and a luxurious rob (sometimes called a dressing gown) is made of luxurious satin, silk or cotton with lace. A dressing gown is chic and you certainly don't have to be ashamed if you walk around in it for a while in the morning. Or even longer than that ....

A dressing gown is also more convenient for traveling when you are going to stay with someone else or in a hotel. It has much less volume and real silk does not crease.

Another difference is that a bathrobe is often made with a thick shawl collar or capucon (hoodie). This gives an extra warm feeling and that is nice if you just got out of the bath, got out of the shower or are walking around in a sauna. A bathrobe is therefore always made with the principle: a lot of fabric. A dressing gown is more made with the idea of ​​looking beautiful. Sexy and well-groomed, even if you just got out of bed. A dressing gown often does not have a shawl collar but a band collar and is shorter than a bathrobe.

Thrift store
We found the fabric for the robe at a thrift store. In a thrift store, it is important that you know where to look. You can read tips for finding 'treasures' in this blog. In a thrift store, also take a look at the curtains, sometimes you will also find very beautiful pieces of fabric there that were accidentally bought wrong, or are far from worn out. The great thing about curtains and net curtains is often: they have a label attached. This allows you to see the composition of the fabric and estimate whether it is suitable for clothing.

There is also undoubtedly a container with tablecloths in the household department. This container is often messy, everything is crumpled and it is difficult to estimate what kind of fabric it is. How do you recognize real silk? Read this blog for this, and you now have a little more knowledge to recognize beautiful silk between polyester fabrics.

Tablecloth becomes dressing gown
Our dressing gown was therefore born from as a tablecloth. The ultimate upcycling idea! Upcycling means that you make something from a raw material (the tablecloth) in a completely different concept (the dressing gown). Upcycling is sustainable and a good idea if you want to participate more in the ZERO WASTE lifestyle.

The sewing pattern we used is: NEW LOOK 6233. An easy sewing pattern for a bathrobe or dressing gown without a shawl collar, but with a band collar. It is a sewing pattern for a UNISEX bathrobe in sizes XS to XL.  The bathrobe or dressing gown is easy to make and you can make it as beautiful or sophisticated as you want.

Tip: if you are a little short of fabric: make the straps or the belt from a different fabric, or for example in contrasting colors. You can also make the robe a bit shorter and put a big, nice lace border around it.

Summarized:
Sometimes you will find really beautiful clothes or fabrics in thrift stores to use it for an upcycling project. Or, for example, a tablecloth or in-between curtain that is suitable for a beautiful, chic dressing gown.

Upcycling clothing also gives you a good feeling: it costs almost nothing and you have solved the problem of waste... just a little bit... 

And last but not least: A very nice gift, this dressing gown, for a beloved mother, girlfriend, friend or neighbor during the holidays!