Now, I get to show you why my jacket has been taking forever for me to finish. I stopped working on it to make some Christmas presents, including a bathrobe for my mother-in-law.

Materials
 
She wanted the bathrobe to be in velour, so I decided to make it extra fancy. I found some lovely stretch velvet and added gold piping around the collar.

The only other materials were interfacing and thread.

Pattern

McCall's 5248

The pattern is very easy. I made the robe, but not the pajamas (maybe that can be next year's Christmas gift?...hmmm...). I would definitely recommend it for beginners, since there are only a few pieces and fitting is not too important.

Besides adding piping, I made a few other alterations. I added two large lower pockets, with gold piping (of course). 


I also added a smaller breast pocket. I had my friend with an embroidery machine add my mother-in-law's name to it.


I also increased the length by 12cm (~4.5"). Now, my mother-in-law can feel like royalty while walking around her house.

The only challenge I had was making sure the nap of the velvet all went in the same direction. It wasn't a problem when I cut out the pieces, but when I was busy struggling with piping on one of the pockets, I went and put it together upside-down. Boo... Luckily, it's not very noticeable.

I would post pictures of my mother-in-law wearing it, but they are all very blurry; she couldn't stop twirling when she put it on. This bathrobe really is more of a 'dressing gown'. It's just that fancy!