Not actually a kimono

I have been loving all the kimono fashions around lately.  I have been on the look out for suitable fabric for a few months, and as you know, good things come to those who wait!

So then I set off to find a kimono pattern.  There are plenty of instructions to make your own pattern on the internet, but I thought that I would flip through my pattern magazines to see if there was anything suitable there first.  It turns out that I do have a few variations on kimonos (well, it is a rather large pattern collection), but in the end I was more taken by the line drawing for Burdastyle 9/2010 #117 & #118.

Never mind that the originals were in heavy wool. 






So it is not a kimono.  It does not have kimono sleeves.  Actually, these ones are better because they do not fall in my cooking or my washing or whatever else I am doing.  Mostly, I liked the inset panels.  I made mine up in a floaty silk, somewhere between the two in length and sleeve length and without the collar or pockets.

The back, so that you can see the inset panels at the back.

 

This is what it looks like pinned closed (excuse the death stare!).  I'm not planning on wearing it this way, but I could, and it shows off the angled hem.

 Today I wore it with jeans (duh), but I also like kimonos styled over shorts or summery dresses. 

I must admit though, the first few times I wore this out of the house I had to shake off the feeling that I was stepping out in a bathrobe :).