This post is a collaboration with JOANN. All opinions and ideas are my own.
This diy kimono is a fun, short sewing project! You’re only pattern piece is one rectangle used to make a large back piece, and two smaller front pieces. My pattern rectangle was 18 inches wide, by 40 inches long. You’ll cut one piece on the center fold, and two additional pieces not on the center fold. The back piece will be twice as big as the front pieces. So the back piece is 32″ wide by 40″ long. While the two front pieces are each 18″ wide by 40″ long. All of the cutting steps can be seen in the embedded “DIY Kimono” video at the end of this post.
I believe the trick to making this kimono look professional, is using a narrow hem foot (sometimes called a “rolled hem foot”.) This is a special sewing machine foot that folds the raw edge of your fabric in on itself twice as you sew. It creates beautiful finished edges and hems, and is pretty easy to use. I recommend practicing a few times with some scraps of the fabric you will be working with, before you begin on your actual garment. The hardest part is starting it, but there are some great tutorials online to help you with this. JOANN also doesn’t carry them in stores, but you can grab one online here.
You can see the kind of hem it makes below.
In case you are interested to see what it looks like, I’ve included an image of the rolled hem foot below. You’ll note that in my default stitch, the needle would go down to hit the foot. This happened to me twice because I wasn’t paying attention, and I ended up breaking two needles during the super short time I was actually sewing this project. PSA: BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR NEEDLE POSITION!
My fabric is a new silky print offered exclusively at JOANN. I love the elegant crane print that perfectly lends itself to a kimono style. I bought about 3 yards to be safe. Since the pattern does have an orientation, I figured a little extra room could be helpful. If you are an excellent and precise fabric-cutter, you can probably get away with buying 2.5 yards.
I’m about 5’9″ and somewhere between a US size 8-10, and the measurements I included worked great for me. I’d say this is pretty close to being a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. If you are super petite, or vice versa, you can alter it however you see fit. Since it’s not supposed to be a fitted garment, there’s lots of flexibility when it comes to measurements.
I’ve created a step-by-step video to help you sew along with me. If you have any feedback or questions for me about this project, please leave a comment below. Let me know if you feel like it’s too face-paced or not. And if you make one, feel free to share it with me and tag @karametta so I can see it! Good luck sewing!
