Kimono Shirt

I've noticed many bloggers achieve great success using the Love Sewing Magazine Kimono Wrap Dress pattern. Described by many as the easiest dress they had ever made, I thought this pattern seemed like just the project to ease myself into after a bad week.

Holding my breath I made the risky decision to use the crepe-y Prada fabric I'd fallen in love with a few weeks back in Abakhan. At £11.99 p/m I didn't want to bodge it up, so cut everything singly (not on the fold) so I could match that pattern up as best I could. I decided to layout crossgrain, simply because I prefered the print vertically rather than horizontally...

And let's just look at that print! I love it- kind of like little eyes full of stars, but also resembling gemstones and sort of columns and architecture with its linear design. Trippy!! It's colour tones are quite muted, but somehow still striking. Its drape-factor made it the ideal fabric to use for the kimono pattern.

I took cutting out and sewing up very slowly, keen to be as precise as I could. Once having sewn the two front pieces to the back all you really have to to is turn under the whole outer edge and topstitch. It seemed to all be going really well. I'd assembled my belt from the same fabric to pinch it in at the waist and went for a try on. That's when I realised... The dress did not suit me.

Was it something about the billowy sleeves and my lack of chest? Or the floatyness of the belt around my middle? Or maybe the length- it must be the length I told myself and hastily chopped a chunk off of the bottom. I tried on again full of hope but it did not look as good as any of the Kimono Wrap dresses I'd seen online. And I really couldn't work out why. I had the perfect fabric, both in design and drape. I'd taken my time to pattern match. I'd stitched precisely and my topstitching was even. There was no shaping in the dress to have gone adrift that I needed to alter. I looked into the mirror fairly despondently wondering how much worse this week could get. That's when I pulled out a typical Holland.... And tied a knot in it.

Automatically I'd turned a (let's face it) shitty dress into something I felt good in, just by knotting up the front. The billowy sleeves no longer irritated me, but more complimented my tucked in waist. The colours and the style suddenly had this 60s/70s thing going on and I was pretty impressed.

To finish off I stitched on three sets of delicate poppers down the front opening. The 'dress' no longer needed to be wrapped over, but instead meets perfectly down the centre. I absolutely adore the neckline and how even it is. Somehow I'd achieved a kimono shirt without even realising my life was missing one.

Has anyone else ever made a really great garment only to find it really doesn't suit their body shape? Were you able to turn it round?

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Location: Whinfell Quarry Garden, Sheffield


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