Sew a bed sheet into a Kimono in under an hour

It’s my final Challenge with eBay Ireland. eBay have challenged me to create something new from something old. If you want to check out the other two challenges, you can find them HERE and HERE.

Even though these challenges were quite hard (they don’t call it a challenge for nothing!) It has really made me think outside the box and I have really enjoyed trying to come up with ideas and figure out what would work.

The sheet from ebay.ie was really good quality; it was a lot thicker than your normal cotton printed fabric that you can buy in fabric shops which makes it great to sew with and gives it more durability. It was a double sheet, so I have enough left to make another kimono robe, a cushion cover or I may attempt some PJs.

The scraps left over would be great for creating bunting, bows or hairbands.

In made this kimono in under an hour, its surprisingly quick and easy to make.

Materials Required:

A beautiful vintage sheet from http://www.ebay.ie

Thread

Sewing machine

Sew A Kimono

  • I measured how long I wanted my robe and I thought that one metre length would be a great option. You can make it longer or shorter if you wish.
  • I measured the whole way across my shoulders for width and added 5cm each side to take account of the hem.
  • I cut my measurement 2metres X shoulder width (plus 5cm hem)
  • Fold the fabric in half so that 1 metre was on top of 1 metre with the fold on the top.
  • Cut the fabric on the top half of the metre up the centre.
  • Fold the fabric in half and cut a triangle from the neck to 30cm down the front section.
  • Hem the end of the kimono
  • Hem the neck section, and the two sides of the front section.
  • Sew in the sleeves at the top of each side. (Sleeve instructions below)
  • Sew each side of the kimono and tidy up any loose threads.

Sleeves

  • I used the blue fabric from the top section of the sheet as the end of the sleeves as I really liked the detail. I cut 60cm x 30cm, with the 60cm section being on the blue detail section. (If you do not have a detail section, you need to hem up the edge of the sleeve.
  • Fold the fabric in half and sew up the 30cm side of the fabric.

Kimono Belt

  • Cut a strip of fabric the length of the sheet and 15 cm wide. Fold it in half with the back of the fabric facing me and ironed it.
  • Hem the edge together and turned it inside out.
  • Iron it again and fold in the two edges and sew them closed.

You can attach two loops with ribbon or with the same fabric to feed the belt through.

I absolutely love this upcycled kimono. It’s amazing quality for a robe, 100% sustainable, and the added bonus is the amazing funky pattern of the vintage fabric.

If you want to check out my last challenge with Ebay Ireland on Upcycling an old curtain into a chair please visit HERE