Patriotic Kimono

Here in the US, we celebrated Memorial Day this weekend. It's a day of remembrance for all the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom. I decided to whip up a little something red, white, and blue for the occasion using this old skirt, which I brought home from a clothes swap two years ago when no one else wanted it at the end of the night. Apart from the... interesting print on that pure polyester fabric, the elastic waistband was also completely shot (hence the pinned loop to keep it on my dress form).

First I cut off that waistband and salvaged the hanging straps as well. Then I pressed out all the pleats, which took quite a lot of steam and patience, but it allowed me to see how much fabric I had to deal with. Once I saw it all laid out flat, a tube about 29" tall by 78" around, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it - a kimono!

Next I cut up one side seam, leaving the other seam to become the center back of my kimono. Then I serged all the raw edges.

The edges of the cut side seam, which will become the front opening of my kimono, got a hemming. Then I folded them in toward the center back seam, wrong sides out, leaving about 6 inches in between, which will be the back neck of the kimono.

I folded the serged edge under along the back neck and even added back the hanging straps I salvaged from the waistband, then gave it a little top-stitching.

Next I pinned down the folds along each side to keep them in place while I serged the new side seams, with a little curve outward to the edge at the 8-inch mark, which will become the sleeves.

Finally, I cut open the side folds for the armholes and serged and hemmed the edges.

It's a bit wacky for everyday wear, but sometimes I'm okay with wacky.

And of course, I paired my new kimono with my patriotic Converse sneakers I got from Yerdle last year.