Bespoke - Kimono Wrap

This is a make that I actually did in September/October time for a friend I met through the anime folk in Cambridge (so many anime enthusiasts and artists in the Cambridge area: it's awesome).  She had a kimono-style wrap/robe she loved the style of but not so much the fabric.  It was a bit too polyester and while she liked the pattern of the fabric she preferred different colours.

I mentioned on Facebook that I could copy any existing garment without damaging it and that was just what she was after - she didn't want to risk losing the one she had, but she wanted something just like it.

The Original

She didn't know exactly the fabric she wanted so I offered to have a trawl around for something appropriate: kimono/japanese style, but in cotton or poly-cotton for breathe-ability and preferably turquoise.


To make a direct copy - same fit, same facings round the edges, same everything - I used a technique called the "rub off method" (though the version of the method I use uses pins instead of chalk so no rubbing is actually involved).  The basic principle is to stick pins in the original garment on each seam, one piece at a time, into a sheet of paper, thereby creating an outline of the piece, though it's not as easy as it sounds.  I don't have any in progress pics of this particular make, but here are a couple I just did for one piece of a pair of pants (for reasons which will become clear in a subsequent post).

The setup

I use the floor for most of my cutting out as it's the only space I have that's big enough, but it has an extra benefit for this method as I can stick the pins all the way into the carpet and they stay put...probably shouldn't, but it's really handy.  My son's blocks are the best pattern weights I've ever come across.

With pins

Sorry this isn't the clearest photo, but hopefully you can see the pins stuck round the back piece including the curve in the back seam.

Final pattern piece

I thought black pen on brown paper would show up better than this...that's a learning experience for later photos...  But here's the final pattern piece: once you take the piece and the original garment of the paper it's just a matter of connect the dots as long as you haven't had to move them around too much.  I have to put a big notice to myself though - no seam allowance!  I'm used to using patterns with seam allowances included so I actually tend to add a 10mm seam allowance to the pattern pieces I create before I cut them out, but for these pants I wanted the ability to add a variety of seam allowances on different cuttings.

Looks pretty easy right?  And for a pair of pants it is - where it gets complicated is when your garment has darts, or pleats, or cuffs, or awkward inner curves, or anything else that makes a garment a garment.  For the kimono wrap it was relatively straight-forward in terms of the shapes of the pattern pieces (kimonos are typically made with straight seams, although western copies like this one one take some license with this and add some minimal shaping with curved armholes and sleeve caps), but the fabric was very drapey.  Fantastic for a lovely look when worn, but determined to bend and twist and stretch when trying to pin it to floor.

And the final wrap?

Newer and bluer

Not quite turquoise, but a lovely fabric nonetheless.  The photo doesn't quite do it justice - it actually has accents of gold on the edges of the flowers and some lovely rich colours.  I'm pleased to say the owner of the original was very happy with it.

If you have a garment you would like a copy of please contact me at jen.m.denton@gmail.com or Skype name jen.m.denton.