How to Make a Kimono from T-Shirts
Upcycling clothing is one of the most rewarding ways to refresh your wardrobe, reduce textile waste, and express your personal style. In a world of fast fashion, creating something unique and lasting with your own hands offers a special kind of satisfaction. One of the most accessible and versatile garments you can create is a kimono. Its loose, flowing silhouette makes it a perfect layering piece for any season, and its simple construction is ideal for beginner sewers. This project takes the concept one step further by using a stack of old, forgotten T-shirts as the primary material. By transforming these well-loved items, you can create a beautiful, comfortable, and completely one-of-a-kind patchwork kimono that tells a story. This detailed guide will walk you through every step of the process, from selecting your shirts to the final stitch, empowering you to turn closet clutter into a wearable work of art.
1. Gathering Your Materials and Tools
Before you begin cutting and sewing, it is essential to gather all the necessary supplies. Being prepared will make the entire process smoother and more enjoyable. The beauty of this project lies in its use of readily available materials, but a few specific tools will ensure a professional-looking result.
| Category | Item | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | Old T-Shirts (5-8) | Choose shirts made from similar weight fabrics (e.g., all cotton jersey). Mix colors and graphics. |
| All-Purpose Thread | Select a neutral color like grey or a color that matches the dominant tone of your T-shirts. | |
| Tools | Fabric Scissors or Rotary Cutter | A rotary cutter with a self-healing mat will provide cleaner, straighter cuts, especially for knit fabric. |
| Measuring Tape | Essential for accurate measurements of your body and the fabric pieces. | |
| Ruler or Yardstick | A clear acrylic quilting ruler is particularly helpful for cutting precise squares and rectangles. | |
| Sewing Machine | While possible by hand, a machine makes the process faster. Use a ballpoint or stretch needle. | |
| Pins or Fabric Clips | To hold fabric pieces together securely before and during sewing. Clips are great for knit fabrics. | |
| Iron and Ironing Board | Crucial for pressing seams open and achieving a crisp, finished look. | |
| Fabric Marker or Tailor’s Chalk | For marking your cutting lines on the fabric. |
2. Selecting and Preparing Your T-Shirts
The T-shirts you choose will define the character of your kimono. Look through your wardrobe, your family’s cast-offs, or thrift store racks for candidates. The ideal shirts are 100% cotton or a cotton-poly blend, as they are stable and easy to sew. Avoid very thin, overly stretchy, or slub-knit fabrics, as they can be difficult to manage.
Think about the color story and overall aesthetic. Do you want a vibrant, eclectic mix of concert tees and brightly colored shirts? Or would you prefer a more subdued, monochromatic palette using shades of grey, black, and white? Lay your potential shirts out on the floor to see how the colors and any graphic elements work together. Pay attention to the placement of logos or designs; a cool graphic can become a fantastic focal point on the back panel or a sleeve.
Once you have selected your T-shirts, the most important preparation step is to wash and dry them. This pre-shrinks the fabric, ensuring that your finished kimono won’t warp or pucker after its first wash. After they are dry, give each T-shirt a thorough press with a hot iron to remove all wrinkles. This will make measuring and cutting much more accurate.
3. Cutting the T-Shirt Pieces
This is where your T-shirts begin their transformation. The goal is to create uniform rectangular pieces that you will later stitch together into larger panels for the kimono’s body and sleeves.
First, deconstruct each T-shirt. Lay a shirt flat and carefully cut off the bottom hem, the collar, and both sleeves along the seams. You will be left with a fabric tube. Cut up one side seam of the tube to open it into a single large, flat piece of fabric. You can also save the sleeves, as they can be opened up and used for smaller patchwork pieces or for the front band.
Next, decide on the size of your patchwork rectangles. A good starting size is around 8×10 inches (20×25 cm), but you can adjust this based on the size of your T-shirts and your design preference. Using your ruler and fabric marker, carefully measure and mark your cutting lines on the flat T-shirt pieces. Cut as many rectangles as you can from each shirt. Aim for straight lines and consistent dimensions to make sewing easier.
To create the main body, you will need one large back panel and two front panels. The table below provides sample finished dimensions for these core pieces. You will sew your smaller rectangles together to achieve these sizes.
| Kimono Size | Back Panel (Width x Length) | Two Front Panels (Each, Width x Length) | Sleeve (Width x Length) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 24″ x 30″ (61 x 76 cm) | 12″ x 30″ (30.5 x 76 cm) | 18″ x 14″ (46 x 35.5 cm) |
| Medium | 26″ x 32″ (66 x 81 cm) | 13″ x 32″ (33 x 81 cm) | 20″ x 15″ (51 x 38 cm) |
| Large | 28″ x 34″ (71 x 86 cm) | 14″ x 34″ (35.5 x 86 cm) | 22″ x 16″ (56 x 40.5 cm) |
Note: These are approximate dimensions. Feel free to adjust the length for a shorter or longer kimono.
4. Assembling the Main Body Panels
With your rectangles cut, it’s time to create the patchwork fabric. Arrange the pieces for your back panel on a large, flat surface. Play with the layout until you are happy with the combination of colors and graphics.
Take two adjacent rectangles and place them right sides together, pinning along the edge you intend to sew. When sewing T-shirt knits, it’s best to use a zigzag stitch or a special stretch stitch on your sewing machine. This allows the seam to stretch with the fabric, preventing the thread from breaking. Use a seam allowance of about 1/4 to 3/8 inch (0.6 to 1 cm).
Continue sewing your rectangles together in rows. Once you have a row completed, press the seams open with your iron. This is a critical step that reduces bulk and makes the finished garment look much more professional. After you have completed all your rows, sew the rows together to form the large back panel. Press these long seams open as well. Repeat this entire process to create your two front panels.
5. Creating and Attaching the Sleeves
The sleeves for this style of kimono are typically simple rectangles, giving them a relaxed, dropped-shoulder look. Assemble your patchwork pieces to create two identical rectangular sleeve panels using the dimensions from the table above as a guide.
Once your main body panels and sleeve panels are complete, you can join them. Lay your back panel right side up. Place your two front panels on top, right sides down, aligning the outer shoulder and side edges. Pin and sew the shoulder seams.
Now, press the shoulder seams open. Lay the kimono open, right side up. Find the center point of the long edge of one sleeve panel and match it to the shoulder seam, right sides together. Pin the sleeve to the body, working your way out from the center. Sew this seam, creating the armhole opening. Repeat for the other sleeve.
Finally, fold the kimono in half along the shoulder seams with the right sides facing inward. Align the front and back panels. Pin all the way from the sleeve cuff, down the underarm, and along the side seam to the bottom hem. Sew this entire length in one continuous seam. Repeat on the other side. Turn your kimono right side out to see its shape emerge.
6. Constructing and Attaching the Front Band
The front band, or lapel, is the finishing touch that elevates your project from a patchwork robe to a stylish kimono. To create it, use leftover T-shirt material. Cut long strips of fabric, all the same width. A good width to start with is 4-5 inches (10-12.5 cm). Sew these strips together end-to-end to create one very long band. It needs to be long enough to go all the way down one front side, around the back of the neck, and up the other front side.
Fold the long band in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press it with your iron to create a sharp crease. You will now have a long, double-layered band with one folded edge and one raw edge.
Starting at the bottom hem of one front panel, pin the raw edge of your band to the raw edge of the kimono opening, right sides together. Continue pinning up the front, around the neckline, and down the other side to the opposite hem. You may need to gently stretch the band as you go around the curve of the neck to ensure it lays flat. Sew the band to the kimono.
To finish, fold the band over to the inside of the kimono, enclosing the raw seam allowance. You can either press and topstitch this down from the front for a clean look, or you can “stitch in the ditch” (sew directly in the seam line on the right side) to catch the folded edge on the inside for an invisible finish.
7. Hemming and Final Touches
The last step is to hem the bottom of the kimono and the sleeve cuffs. The easiest way to do this is to fold the raw edge under by about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm), press it, then fold it under again to create a clean double-fold hem. Pin in place and stitch it down. Using a twin needle on your sewing machine for hemming knit fabrics can create a professional, durable finish that mimics the look of store-bought T-shirts.
Consider adding a simple tie belt made from a leftover strip of T-shirt fabric. You can also add belt loops to the side seams if you wish. This is your chance to add any final personal touches that make the kimono truly yours.
Creating a kimono from old T-shirts is more than just a sewing project; it’s an act of sustainable creativity. You have saved textiles from the landfill and created a comfortable, stylish, and meaningful garment that holds the memories of the shirts it was made from. Each time you wear it, you’ll be wrapped in a piece of your own history, redesigned for a new purpose. Now that you have mastered the basic technique, you can experiment with different shirt combinations, cuts, and embellishments to create a whole collection of unique, upcycled kimonos.
