baby kimono

May 15th, 2009

I wish I could say I just whipped this up, but it actually was kind of a pain with my pregnancy brain. It’s from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross which I was lucky enough to get at the library–the wait for it now is a year, I think, and for good reason it’s an awesome pattern book. I tried to make a kimono like this from Martha Stewart when my kids were infants and I could not for the life of me figure out the directions. I think the pieces are still cut out somewhere waiting for me to get a clue. These directions had a little mistake in them and the more I looked at them the more confused I got.  Finally I gave up and then of course I figured it out: all it needed was a tie on the inside (the directions make it so all the ties go on the outside).

And voila! The fabric is a really lightweight denim or chambray maybe–is chambray just a really lightweight denim? And it’s this lovely gray/black/navy bluey color. I got tons of it at a mill end shop and I love the way it drapes and wrinkles a little like linen.  It’s supposed to be gender neutral, but I think it looks a little on the boy side, so I may just whip another up because I could whip it up this time.  I made the bias tape  (another reason this project took longer than it should have) and while I was at it I made more to finish the dress I started last year.  Well at least it still fits her.  Just.

Posted in sewing clothes.

13 Responses to baby kimono

  1. Jen says:

    love the bias tape. i’ve tried Martha’s version of the kimono and also found it difficult to interpret. Luckily I only made a muslin with the pattern and decided I didn’t like it. Then I found Habitual’s kimono tutorial : http://habitual.wordpress.com/kimono/
    It is SOOO much easier to follow, cut, piece, and sew. I was really amazed at how fast I was able to put it together.

    I love the dress too!!

  2. mama-pan says:

    oooh, both of these are great. The bias tape cinches it, of course. Haha, I just made a little unintentional kimono pun–score one for mama-pan!

  3. stephanie says:

    I love them and cannot wait for this book! I am next in line for it on the Hold list (1 of 52)…did you return your copy yet? ;)

  4. dana says:

    love the fabric choice. beautiful, both of them.

  5. marielle says:

    What a sweet little baby garment! I love the ruffled dress too and empathize with the delay but yay that it still fits.

  6. Ellen says:

    I’m so jealous of baby pundsack! :)

  7. Ali says:

    Oh, the sweetest. I may have to make this for my colleague’s grandson-to-be. Just because it is so darn cute.

  8. Megan says:

    I’m so glad that someone else had the same problem with this pattern. I tried to whip it up as a quick baby present and ended up getting so, so frustrated – it was the kind of thing that, had I not been in a hurry, I would have thought through and figured out, but instead I was trying to follow the pattern quickly without having to think too much, and I ended up with a mess. Out of curiosity, how did you end up inserting the inside tie? I couldn’t figure out a pretty way to do it, and just sewed it on to the seam allowance. Functional, but kind of ugly. It really is a beautiful book, but I walked away feeling kind of resentful that I’d paid so much for a book that is full of so many errors (the list of errata is on the web site, and has grown a lot). The notions list for the pattern is wrong, as well – there’s no way that the photo in the book is using 1/4″ bias tape.

  9. Karin says:

    Kimonos are so great for babies. They last so long. I knitted kimono sweaters for my babe that he wore his entire first summer. They turned into short sleeve.

    Sewing pattern: Check out habitual’s. So easy. So great. Even I sewed a kimono shirt for my 10-month old guy that he wore to a wedding that got compliments! I’m planning to make myself a robe based on her pattern, which you can find here:

    http://habitual.wordpress.com/kimono/

  10. These are just lovely. I so admire your stick-to-it-iveness to head back to the kimonos for such a beautiful success! Thanks for sharing with us.

  11. Rach says:

    Great minds…! I just picked up a kimono pattern last week and a tool to make bias tape – I will tackle it one of these days.

  12. The Martha Stewart one was the first thing that I sewed – by hand, as I didn’t have a machine at that time. Kimonos are so great for baby wear. I love that denim / chambray too.

  13. Elspeth says:

    I too struggled with the Martha Stewart pattern. I thought the shoulder ties were a bit much as far as work goes. I cheated and sewed snaps on the underside of the shoulder and tacked down some false ties. What I hated about it was the lack of instruction on how to construct the darn thing. I kept mine long since I plan on it being my wee one’s coming home outfit. Also I didn’t bother with any inner ties since I made it for a newborn and that my husband doesn’t very fine motor skills with his fingers. He’s just clumsy and all thumbs. When I decide to make another one, I may put an inside tie, but I’m still cheating and will use ribbon and not struggle to turn out bias tape. No one will see it any way.