The weather is finally out of the 90’s here in Tucson, so that means it’s officially fall!! Granted, we’re still hovering in the 80’s, but a desert girl’s gotta take what she can get.
I’ve noticed the kimono trend running rampant in the sewing blogosphere. I love all things Asian, so I’m down with the trend even if it does sometimes look like pajamas. Simplicity came out with a super cute kimono pattern and I had to snatch it up!
You might recognize this fabric from my wedding guest dress of doom. I had just enough fabric left to eke out view D with a scrap left over for the front or back of a cami. I am in loooove with this fabric, so I’m going to use as much of it as possible!
I used plain black satin for the trim and interfaced it with a lightweight fusible interfacing. It makes it a little stiff, but at least it doesn’t flop around.
So… why is this the Kimono of Doom? This fabric was a beast to work with and I royally screwed up while attaching the black trim. I sewed the trim on upside-down. When I noticed it was wonky, I thought it was a problem with the pattern and proceeded to hack away at it to make it lay flat and trimmed all of my seam allowances. Oh, how wrong I was! I ended up cutting another trim piece and swapped out the upside-down one. It’s not very pretty on the inside, but I figure not many people will see it.
This is the first time I sewed French seams. The fabric frays like crazy, so there really was no other alternative. It was a challenge sewing these seams with such a shifty fabric, but I like how the end result turned out.
I think this piece is a great compliment to who I am. The kimono is Japanese on the outside, and French [seams] on the inside, whereas I’m French on the outside and Japanese on the inside. そうですよ!
If you have an easy fabric to sew with, this is a fast and super easy project. If you choose fabric of doom, then I’ll pray for you and your sanity.
By the way, DD likes to tease me and say that I’m wearing pajamas in public… what do you think? Are kimono tops passable as outerwear, or should they stay indoors as very stylish pajamas?
-RED
I really love the proportions of this kimono, and of course the fabric! And re: the pajamas comment: if wearing silk pajamas wherever/whenever I want is wrong, I don’t wanna live on this planet anymore! =)
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Thanks! Not-so-secret secret pajamas FTW! 😀
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In the UK they were everywhere last Summer and Autumn and I think they have another fashion season in them. So easy to wear as a dress up or dress down item….. Don’t let yours be confined to the house with furry slippers give it an outing and be the best dressed lovely in town 😉
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🙂
I’ve been waiting for the weather to warm up a little so I can wear this again. Gotta get some wear out of it before our looooong summer starts!
I wonder if the kimono look will be popular again this year. If it’s not in fashion anymore then oh well, I guess I’ll be a rebel, haha!
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I’m just now making this pattern and was looking for inspiration. Your version looks great! Love the print.
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Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to the weather cooling down again so I can wear this. 🙂 Good luck with yours!
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For all you went through, it looks beautiful on you!
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Thank you! It was well worth all of the effort! 🙂
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