Kimono Breeze

I feel that when you make something, wether for yourself or for someone else, you either look at it and think, "Wow, I can't believe that came from my hands." or, "WOW!  I can't believe THAT came from my hands!!!"  I also feel that this is especially relevant when it comes to clothing articles of any kind.

Thankfully, my reaction this time was one of the latter.

I have made pullovers and hooded cowls and even a dress for myself, but these things have always been done up with yarn.  The furthest I can remember getting with sewn articles of clothing is skirts of all manners and styles.  So I was a bit apprehensive of how this sewn-kimono-jacket-thingy was going to turn out, especially since it was my first time using single fold bias tape ( I know, I'm a bit unexperienced when it come to clothes ).  I wasn't all that sure if it was going to be wearable or if I was inevitably headed down the path toward making a backwards tangled pile of fabric.

These fears were silly in the end though, because I think I might have actually done pretty good with it.

I made something that's breezy and summery and so comfy that I wish I could wear it always.  It looks great as part of an outfit to wear around in public or as a nice part of your lounging pajamas when you decide that human contact is something that you just can't do today and it really would be much better to sit around the house like a hermit to avoid it all together.

In other words, it fit all aspects of my life.

Pretty fabric, and pretty feeling.  Simple, yet elegant.  It flows as you walk with out any effort at all.  This flowing allows you to stride around your house imagining yourself to be Sherlock's partner in solving crime with your jacket billowing out behind you just as bad-assed-ly as his does.  Or, if you're out in public, it makes you feel all light and summery.

It took me a while to get here to the finished state.  If you remember seeing this in one of my older posts, you'll know just how long it took.  The problem was the single fold bias tape.  The pattern I could cut out and piece together just fine.  Then I stalled when I got to the last step, which involved using the fabric tape to finish off the edges all the way around.  I had never used it before, and I felt nervous.  Also, I had no clue what I was doing.  Instructions were unclear.

It took my wonderfully more experienced mother and some YouTube videos for me to finally understand how you're supposed to use the stuff.  Once I got it, it felt so simple that I could probably do it in my sleep.  The only problem was that all the edges around the outside of the jacket where I was using the tape are slightly curved.  If you have ever sewn, then you know that you have to cut notches into all the curved areas of your fabric in order to make it look nice when you fold the edges over.

I spent over 45 minuets on this part alone, and I had a pile of tiny fabric triangles from all the snipping covering my desk, my floor, and myself.  I vacuumed up as many as I could find, yet still, like glitter, they are magically appearing around my room after every time I think I have finally gotten them all cleaned up.

Being stalked by tiny snips of fabric for the rest of my life is worth it though.  That's how much I love this kimono jacket whatever you want to call it ( once again, pattern was unclear as to what this actually supposed to be called, aside from the word, kimono ).

More than happy with what I was able to do, I now feel confident enough to stride further into the world of making your own clothing.  Specifically, clothing that is not another skirt.  So we shall see what it is I make, or mess up, in the future ( whenever life decides it's going to give me the time ).

Em