Tibetan Robe Finished

I finally finished the Tibetan Robe. There were a lot of facings to be hand sewn down and that was what was taking me so long to get going on. I am not a big fan of handwork. I am pretty happy with how it turned out but it was much too hot out there to spend time taking a better photo.

Modeling the Robe

Here is the Tibetan robe being modeled by a reluctant model but there was no one else available. The sun was shining in my eyes and I was being jabbed by several pins. I still have to hand sew down the slit facings, and collar facings, add facings to the bottom and hand sew on the brocade shoulder decorations. The next one will definitely not be quilted. It's quite heavy and cumbersome.
I'm standing in front of our wild flower garden which is in bloom right now.

Tibetan Robe Coming Along

Front

Here's the Tibetan Robe so far. I got the quilting done this morning, not exactly the way I had planned with the chalk. It was too wide a pattern for my mid-arm so I revised it as I went. The blue decorative shoulder parts are just pinned on. There will be a collar that is brown on one side and blue on the other that goes all the way down the front. It will also have facing at the bottom and around the side slit.

Back
Things I learned.
1. It's pretty heavy when quilted. It would probably be fine with just a lining or else quilted with no lining.
2. I knew this but forgot. Draw the pattern pieces on after quilting. I forgot to account for shrinkage when quilted. It's not much but made it a bit hard to fit the underarms. I'll have to cut a bit off the lining at the bottom.
3. Be careful of the straight side of the pieces that get narrow at the top. I think I have one or two wrong and it may not hang exactly straight.

Maybe that's why it's good to work in a series.

More on the Robe

I went to Fabricland this morning and got a nice piece of burgundy cotton. This afternoon I stamped it with the leaf stamp I made a few weeks ago. Here I have marked the shape of the pieces and chalked the quilting lines. I'll quilt it with yellow or gold thread. I couldn't quilt it today because the paint has to dry for 24 hours before it is ironed to fix it.
The lining is made so it won't take long to assemble once I get it quilted. Stay tuned.

Tibetan Robe

Here is my newest project. I have had this pattern for years and never got around to making it. I love those Folkwear patterns. I got the Moroccan robe one and made lots of robes to wear at our art party. People love them. Now I want to try something a bit more complex. I have the fabrics chosen, but the burgundy is just a sample of what I want. I don't have enough of it and will get some tomorrow. The gold leaves are stamped on. The blue is a silk brocade I got in China when we were there a few years ago. On my monitor it's hard to see the dark brown piece on the left but it will be the plain strips in the picture. I sandwiched and quilted it this morning. The pink is the lining. I have sewn the lining together and can see that the whole thing will be very nice to assemble once I get the rest of the fabric and get it stamped and quilted. I will be looking for some interesting way to fasten it in the front.
Now, where can I get some of those neat Tibetan boots? Maybe I'll have to go to Tibet soon.