DIY / 10 MINUTE SUMMER KIMONO

Even in summer, I can’t really say goodbye to the silhouette of ankle length coats trainers.
This long kimono has an entire other function than those winter coats though; providing some shade. I wouldn’t have survived Melt festival (where temperatures were often higher than 30 °C) last weekend without it.

Eventhough I accidentally cut through my tendons last week and wasn’t able to use my left hand, I got behind the sewing machine anyway to put together this kimono. The Idea had to be simplified and made as easy as possible because of that. I got some help from my daughter Lois, who sat on my lap and held the fabric. She does that more often, but because I really needed her this time she was extra proud of herself.

Fabric choice and measurements:
Look for a flowy, delicate fabric. I used a thin, almost transparent light grey silk blend. Spread your arms and measure from wrist to wrist; this should approximately be the width of your fabric. The length should be twice the measurement of the length of your kimono, in my case from my shoulder down to a little above the ankle.

1/ Fold the fabric in half. And cut right down the middle of the front fold.

2/ Cut off two rectangles on each side, creating two sleeves. It’s going to be a very wide garment which will fall around you so this measurements will not correspond to that of your arms. The width of my sleeves are 25cm and the length is 30cm.

3/ Sew together the ‘sleeves’ as the marked lines #3 on the gif. Don’t sew them down all the way to leave two high slits on the sides.