I love the effortless look of a drapey kimono shrug. A versatile piece for all occasions from the pool to an evening cover up it’s a wardrobe essential. Lucky for us, it’s also an easy project to sew. For this kimono, I went with a chiffon and white fringe trim that I added along the arm openings and the bottom. All you need to sew a kimono is 2 yards of fabric and 3 yards of trim. See the full tutorial below and sew your own kimono shrug.
Supplies:
- 2 yards of chiffon or fabric that has drape
- 3-4 yards of trim (optional)
- thread
- sheers
- measuring tools
- iron away marking pen
- iron
For this kimono shrug you will need a piece of fabric that measures 60 inches in length and 38 inches in width. If you’d like trim you’ll need enough to cover the bottom and sleeves front to back. It was about 3.5 yards for mine.
Fold you piece of fabric in half.
Find the midpoint of your fabric and use a marking pen and ruler to draw a straight line to the fold.
Cut the line all the way up to the fold. Be sure to only cut the front portion.
Now cut a little key hole 2.5 inches up from the fold line. Refer to the pattern template if you’re confused here.
Now cut a little key hole 2.5 inches up from the fold line. Refer to the pattern template if you’re confused here.
It should look like this when finished.
Now measure the length you’d like your armhole to be. Mine was 13 inches (front to back 26″). Fold your fabric right sides together, lining up your bottom edges and pin all the way up till you hit your measurement for your armhole. Then sew the part you pinned using a 5/8″ seams allowance. Repeat for the other side as well.
Tip: If you don’t want any fraying of the chiffon use your serger or a French seam for the interior.
Finish your armhole edges. I folded mine over 3/8″, pressed, and then another 3/8″ and top stitched into place.
Add your trim to the bottom edge. My bottom was the selvage edge so I didn’t finish it. Pin the trim into place and topstitch along the trim edging.
- Repeat for the armhole openings as well.
That’s it! See how easy and fun it is to sew a kimono shrug! Now you can have one for all occasions. Try this with knits too for a more casual look.
