Hi guys! Can you believe it's almost the end of the month? The days literally flew by. I hope it has been good for you. I'm finally getting into the groove of documenting these DIY tutorials and it's a lot of work. I have a new found level of respect for the pros who have been doing it for years. But it's fun and I'm loving it so here's 🥂 to staying consistent. This week I'm sharing details on how I made this DIY kimono style dress.

Between you and me, I'll confess that it turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Thank God! At some point, I thought I miscalculated and screwed up my pattern, but it was all good. It turned out pretty good, don't you think? It's relatively quick and so easy to make, and you can make it with almost any fabric. I used a plain red cotton fabric that's a little stiff because I didn't want a casual flowy dress. I wanted it to be more fitting and it worked out just fine.

Things You'll Need

Pattern Pieces

Cut out your fabric using a pattern piece of your bodice. You can create by using a loose fitting top as a guide to give you the bodice section on the left in the first image below. The bodice will serve as a template for cutting out your top pattern.

For the new sleeves, starting from the top of the side seam, extend a perpendicular line out, its length being your desired sleeve length (mine are 25cm /10 inches). Basically this will be a kimono shaped top with both front pieces overlapping like a wrap top the usual ties in the front section.

All in all, you should end up with the following pieces:

Two mirrored top back panels (plus zipper allowance)
Two mirrored top front panels
One complete bottom front panel
Two mirrored bottom back panels (plus zipper allowance)

And a waist band piece if you want.

DIY Kimono Style Dress Tutorial

Bottom Part Tutorial

Put Parts (Top & Bottom) Together

PS: If you use invisible zippers often, I’ll suggest you invest in some invisible zipper foot to make your sewing process easier and faster. Once you add the zipper, you’re pretty much done.