Hobbit robe: edition one

Years ago I stumbled across Ivy, otherwise known as the Sewlo Artist on Instagram. Ivy is an incredibly talented sewist, who makes and wears historical clothing. The specific piece that caught my eye is her Hobbit robe, inspired by the dressing gown worn by Bilbo at the start of the Hobbit films. You can see her version at the start of this video and midway through this one. For those not on Instagram, check out this YouTube video and jump to 08:16 to see the robe reveal.

The image above is Martin Freeman in the robe in question, as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from 2012. It’s an excellent piece of costume design in my amateur opinion, capturing the essence of Hobbits. From the perfect palette of Hobbit-y colours, to the rich, sumptuous velvet collar, and the different textures and patterns of the fabric patch pieces, it’s exactly what I would imagine Bilbo wearing to read a book, smoke a pipe and eat a scone. The Hobbits’ focus on cosy, comfortable, seasonal living has always inspired me and they’re definitely the fictitious people with whom I most empathise. My five year plan definitely involves a garden, a veg patch, a chicken run, and a beehive, so I can finally realise my Hobbit dreams.

Using the Sew Diy Improv Quilting course as a starting point, I began with a practice run. I pieced together two small lengths of fabric, then used them to cut out and sew a zippered pouch. I use it as a pencil case, it’s the perfect size for my essentials. As a side note, these would make super cute gifts, and a great way to use up small remnants!

Once I felt comfortable piecing, I pulled out all the scraps and remnants of wool and velvet in my stash. This course guides you through how to piece together different sizes and shapes of fabric remnants, to create cohesive, beautiful fabric. It talks about picking colour stories and making aesthetically pleasing design choices, so you end up with a quilted piece that looks intentional, rather than handmade. I personally appreciate this discussion, I’ve always loved quilts and the concept of quilting as a way to use up scraps and remnants, but I’m not a huge fan of how ‘handmade’ some of the final pieces can look. I mean, to each their own, I don’t mean to yuck anyone’s yum, but equally the ‘Becky HomeEcky’ aesthetic is not for me personally. To that end, I focused on fabric of similar weights and within a cohesive colour palette. I wasn’t too prescriptive about it, instead taking a more organic approach by lying pieces beside each other and deciding as I went which worked well together. Luckily it seems, having a fairly well defined colour palette of my own, meant most of my scraps work well together aesthetically. 

I wrote about this project recently, in my Winter joy list, but I thought it deserved it’s own post. It’s a big, ongoing project, so I thought it would be best split into sections, lest it be unreadably long by the time I finish. My plan is to piece together enough of these scraps and remnants to make a dressing gown. I’m going to have it quilted onto a piece of thrifted brushed cotton, by Deborah of Dastardly Line. Once it’s quilted, I’m going to cut out the pieces of the Wiksten Unfolding jacket, in whatever the longest length of robe I can manage from the resultant fabric. My plan is to source some burgundy wool or velvet for the collar, and bind the inside seams with vintage kimono silk. It’s a big project but I’m hoping, by writing about it on my Winter joy list, I’m more likely to prioritise finishing it. I started it in December 2022 and I would like to have it finished in the next 3 months!

The lovely thing about this project, is ultimately I can imagine this robe being in my life for the foreseeable future. A dressing gown is the kind of piece that doesn’t easily wear out, it’s not being exposed to the elements, you’re only wearing it for portions of the day, and it’s not going through the tumble dryer on a regular basis. Some of the fabrics I’m incorporating are sentimental or special in some way; wool from my Grandad’s sweaters, fabric from my parents dining chairs from my teenage years, cashmere from my early Craft & Thrift trips to Dastardly Line, when I was trying to build a range of recycled fabric project bags. I’m excited to have a wearable piece of my personal history, including some of the remnants coming from well loved (and some failed!) personal sewing projects. It will be a functional exhibit and journal of my most precious fabrics and projects.

Deborah’s long arm quilting machine in action

This post is scheduled to go live on Hogmanay, and it feels appropriate for it to be the last post of the year. It was one of the projects I brought with me from 2022 and I’m hoping to close it out in 2024. I’m excited to share my progress as I go!

Wherever you are, I hope your end of year celebrations are joyful! I’ll be on the sofa with a boy and two dogs, eating Christmas cake and watching films, the perfect peaceful end to the year.