A Little Sashiko on the Pockets
When I set out to make my first Haori, I did it with plain white cotton. I wanted to understand the construction. I found it so beautifully easy to sew and the result was so pleasing and practical, I wanted…
Sewing Kimonos with Cats
Sewing Kimonos with Cats
May 2025
My First Yukata
My very first attempt at making a kimono-like garment was inspired by seeing House of Kimono’s brilliant step-by-step tutorial. I didn’t buy his pattern at the time (I did buy it later, and you can purchase it for a very…
Formal Indigo Wave Lined Kimono
This was my first lined men’s kimono. I found a bolt of blue-black cotton fabric that was fairly thick and robust with the iconic seigaiha pattern on it executed in tiny dots. Even though I found this fabric at an…
Dramatic Haori in Mantón- Style Embroidered Fabric
When I get into a fabric store, sometimes the fabrics speak to me. They sometimes tell me what they want to be. When I saw this fabric, I knew it had to be a haori for someone very specific. At…
Mint Green with Cherry Sprigs Yukata
As I said in my post on the blue and white African print men’s yukata, this was also a housewarming gift for a friend. Yvonne told me she liked pale green as a colour and, I can tell you, it…
Ballet Pink Gauze and Print Haori
One of the creative decisions you can make with kimono is how to approach the collar. The structure is pretty much a fixed thing, but if you’re lining the garment, you can decide whether to make the collar from the…
Bold African Print Yukata
When my friends Mark and Yvonne said they were moving house to a new place they fell in love with that had a big terrace, I decided to make them yukatas as housewarming gifts. I could imagine them in the…
Blue Lined Haori with Dragonflies
This is the second serious garment I attempted, after the men’s kimono. I found this charming dark blue cotton fabric with a tiny dragonfly pattern, but it wasn’t in great shape. It had fade marks and bleached crease marks, but…
Plain White Haori
Making a first garment in cheap white cotton served me well when learning the structure and challenges of a yukata, so I decided to repeat the experiment when I embarked on sewing my first haori. Traditionally, a haori is a…
Shades of Grey
I should have known better than to buy fabric off the internet, untouched. But I saw it and thought it had a lovely soft texture and would work well for a lined yukata for me. I was delighted when it…