Sewing: Maternity and Beyond Silk Kimono

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When in LA earlier this summer, I found the most gorgeous silk print for $5 a yard. I snatched up two yards for the sole purpose to make a kimono out of it. After seeing Leanne’s amazing kimono (tutorial here), I’ve been on the hunt for the right fabric to make one. The stars aligned!

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Because of the nature of the print, instead of only using a yard to construct the kimono, I ended up needing all two yards and even then I barely had enough to match up the patterns symmetrically.

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I wish I took a photo of the front, but the patterns match up perfectly along the front as well for the perfect balance.

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Between the the print and the silk, this piece took significantly more time to cut than to construct. Instead of just measuring out the pieces and cutting directly on the fabric as it instructs in the tutorial, I made pattern pieces so I could get perfect placement of the print. It also proved to be helpful when cutting the layers of silk out as the pattern pieces and weights provided stability while cutting.

I was stoked Leanne published her measurements for her pattern pieces. I ended up using those measurements exactly to put together the kimono. It’s sort of a one-size-fits-all piece, so I figure it would work well. And it did!

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It’s the perfect layering piece without adding warmth to my outfits. The fewer layers I can wear, the better!

I didn’t mean to have such an annoyed look on my face when I took pictures today, but 99% of them came out looking like this. Perhaps I’m a little impatient to get this little one out of my belly and into my arms? I’m hoping this weekend is the weekend. Thursday would be perfect because it’s my grandma’s birthday. And that would be pretty sweet for the two of them to share a birthday. I share a birthday with my aunt, and it’s pretty awesome.

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Outfit details:

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Was that a contraction I just felt?!? Oh don’t get my hopes up little one!

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    1. maddie says:

      At 39 weeks Melissa, you look amazing!

    2. Sara says:

      That silk print is AMAZING! Such a beautiful Kimono. I wish it wasn’t so incredibly fall here because I definitely missed the summer kimono train… ah well, guess there’s always next year!

    3. Jen says:

      This is by far, my favorite project of yours…like, ridiculously amazing. You are gorgeous, and you did an amazing job constructing this kimono!

    4. Polly says:

      I LOVE this! Looks so comfortable! Perfect for 39 weeks:)!

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