Kimono Style Sleeveless Shirt

 This is an original design I made using fabric I got from my sister for Christmas. Woo! I decided this fabric would make a good kimono top, but I didn't have enough of it to do a full kimono top. Since I wanted something I could wear with normal clothes I decided to make it into a cool tank top with a kimono style closure instead. :)

I started off with a mockup. The pattern I drafted myself, modified from a basic block. It was a bit of a challenge to get the princess seams to work.

Once I was happy with my pattern I cut it out of my cool fabric. It's asymmetrical so I only cut 1 of each different front piece, making sure that I was cutting a right and left side (not 2 rights or two lefts by mistake!).

Above you can see the different pieces all laid out together!

First I sewed the collar pieces together at the shoulder seams. Then I sewed the inner collar to the outer collar along the outer edge, right sides together--this way the outer edge was finished nicely. I clipped the curves and flipped it right way out, then ironed it flat.

I sewed my front pieces together along the princess seam and sewed the darts in the back. Then I attached my front and back pieces at the side seams and shoulders. I then finished all inner seams.
I made my inner collar accent piece the same way as the outer collar. The inner collar is about 3/8" wider so it is visible in behind. The inner collar is made out of leftover fabric from my Suppi costume!

I attached the collar along the front edge and back up around the neck. The outer collar is layered underneath. This was then flipped right way out, the seam was finished, ironed to one side and then topstitched neatly in place.

Then I hemmed the bottom edge. I finished the sleeve holes which was flipped to the inside and top stitched in place.

Lastly I stitched on the ties. The inner ties were made of a twill tape to hold the under flap closed, the eternal tie was stitched between the two collar layers, and into the side seam (I had to unpick it to do this). This was done with leftover fabric from my Forest Guardian costume!

This shirt is nice and comfortable. The cotton breathes well in summer!