Robes in progress and Bath Tea Recipe

Yesterday I spent a nice afternoon working on two of three more robes that'll go up in my store soon. And since I went through an inexplicable blue period last November and STILL haven't sold off any of that stuff (what's with the blue hate, people?) I went with a round of pretty, feminine pink. 'Sides, it ties in well with Valentines day and I'm all about taking advantage of a materialistic, gift oriented holiday. And, yes, I'm a bit of an unromantic cynic. It's probably some level of a cosmic joke that DH and I first started dating on Valentine's Day - payback for my past criticisms of the day. I'll take it, I figure I won in the end. :) But on with the robes, these are the first mediums I've made and they went together without a problem. Thank goodness, I'm always a little worried that my math, mesurements, and all other precautions are all somehow off. It's happened before.

I went with a soft coral pink and white with one robe - very restful, I thought. The pink is from fabric.com (LOVE that place!) and the white is oooooold stash from Joann's finally getting used up. It has the faintest of patterns embossed on it which seems to give it some nice depth, not that you can see it from here.



This is my favorite. The body fabric is from a cute little quilting store near Austin that we stopped in on while visiting my grandparents over Thanksgiving. Sooo soft and smooth and great colors. The red velvet was a freebie from a friend getting rid of extra fabric and, while the backside isn't that great, the face is so very soft and, with the way the collar, tie, and cuffs are designed only the face side shows. Works!



I still have to press, hem, and topstitch them and clean up the threads but at least you can see what they look like! I'm proud of them.

And in honor of me actually getting those done, here's a bath tea recipe I recently concocted (thinking of adding a few of those to the shop) and am now completely in love with. It's good for aches, dry skin, clearing out sinuses, and generally feeling better about cold, cloudy days.

Winter Remedy Bath Tea

1 cup instant oatmeal
1 T ginger (dried best, powdered works, fresh adds a great zing but doesn't store so, if you use it, keep it separate and add right before putting in bath)
1 T basil
10 drops Lemon Eucalyptus essential oil (similar essential oil may be used, if you don't have any olive oil might work as a substitute. Worth trying.)

Mix together and store in airtight container. To use put ~ 1/4 cup of the mix in the center of a square of scrap fabric (unbleached, loose weave muslin is best) and tie it up securely. Throw in a newly drawn bath and enjoy! While you can just let it sit in the tub it's rather fun to "squish" it since the oatmeal gets wonderfully mushy inside the little bag.