I have what some would call an obsessive personality.  For the most part that is good.  I find something I like or am interested in and then I am all gung ho.  I research and plan and research and plan and eventually either that thing happens or I move onto something new.

If you follow me on Instagram you have seen the first part of the week I was obsessed with leggings, if you don’t follow me you really should my life is totally interesting :).  I loved the pair I made so much I wanted to sew through my whole stash of knits making leggings.  I made two pairs but already have 3 more fabrics lined up to make more.  They are just so comfortable and I know something I will wear all the time.

Here is the thing with leggings, I didn’t wear them for years.  I never thought I had the right body for leggings.  Silly I know but we can all be self conscious at times.  Eventually I borrowed a pair of my sisters and only wore them with really long sweaters.  I then bought  a few pairs and got lazy and started wearing them occasionally like pants.

I decided one day I just didn’t care what people thought about me in leggings, they are comfortable and that is all the matters.  And lets be honest we can more about it then a stranger on the street who isn’t even going to notice or care that I am wearing leggings as pants.

Now that I have embraced leggings fully I needed some fun tops to wear over my leggings.  One quick search of the internet and some fashion blogs told me that kimonos are totally ‘in’ right now, whatever that means.  And because I am totally at the peak of fashion I thought why not make one and see what I thought.

I did a bit of reading through a variety of tutorials and patterns and thought well heck these seem more complicated than they need to be.  So I winged it and surprisingly it turned out pretty well!  Usually when I wing things they end up in the trash because I didn’t really think through it enough, this is usually the case with dinner on a whim.

When I put on this first kimono I was instantly in love.  I couldn’t believe I have never made one of these.  And believe it or not it took 10 minutes; 1 cut and two seams and you are done.  So easy I made 3 🙂

It is seriously so comfortable and cozy and can be worn with anything.  The best part is that since it is a knit you don’t need to hem anything!  In fact one of the versions I made has almost a fringe detail at the selvage so it adds to the look on the bottom edge.

The possibilities are endless with this ‘pattern’ because with the change of fabric or size you can have a completely different look.  I decided to make one that was slightly shorter and more fitted and it works just as well.  I could see this paired with black skinny jeans and ankle boots for a night out.  Or your favourite moccasins and some leggings for preschool.

I have said this for awhile, just because you are a mom and spend your day running errands and going to preschool or chasing kids around doesn’t mean you can’t look cute doing it.  Why not sew something for yourself that makes you feel pretty because I am telling you if you take that extra second when getting dressed in the morning you will feel so much better through out the day.

 

I am by no means an expert, I am LAZY most of the time.  Do you see the top knot situation going on?  While I love having my hair down as soon as I discovered a top knot like a week ago I have been obsessed 🙂  I also have contacts but can’t seem to get up the energy to put them in.  What I am trying to say is my daily uniform involves jeans or leggings, moccasins and a comfy top which is usually a t-shirt.  I rarely deviate from that.  But if throwing on a fun print kimono changes my attitude about the day you better believe I am going to wear it all the time.  Plus I feel totally fashionable and that makes me happy so I am totally going for it.

Okay are you ready to learn how to make your own kimono, it is 5 easy steps and you are done!  Once you have made one I am positive you can cut it down to 5 minutes to make one.

1. Take your knit fabric and cut a square 60″ by 45″.  For most knit fabric 60″ is the standard width so you can just measure out the 45 inches.  This is going to leave you with the slouchy roomy look of the kimono like the one in beige above.

2. Fold your fabric in half by taking the 45″ ends and matching them up.  You will be left with a piece that is 30″ by 45″.

3.  Here is the key with this step, you are only cutting through one of the layers from the bottom open end to the fold.  Make this cut up the middle of the top layer of fabric.

4. This is what your fabric will look like after you have made the cut in step 3.

5. Put your fabric right sides together as you had it in step 3 and sew up the side seams from the bottom opening until you are 10″ from the fold.  Repeat on the opposite side.  This will create the arm holes in your kimono.

* if you want your kimono slimmer adjust the 45″ side and if you want it shorter adjust the 60″ side.

Voila you now have a kimono.

Something funny to note, I spent all that time talking about my obsession with leggings and then took the pictures in jeans.  Oh well you get the idea 🙂