Historical Sew Monthly

February, or, "The Blue Kimono"

Challenge 2: Blue

Let's begin with this statement. I love dressing gowns. I love dressing gowns of all sorts, from the slinky silk and lace affairs to the cosy fleece ones for snuggling up in of a winter evening. The strange thing is that, despite my love of this garment, I don't currently own a dressing gown. I moved countries last August, and when packing my suitcase, a dressing gown didn't quite make the cut. 

So when this month of Historical Sew Monthly rolled round, I wanted to make a dressing gown, and I wanted to use some blue fabric I bought a couple of months ago, thinking that at some point it would come in handy (and so it has done!)

I have been doing some research into 1920s patterns (because who doesn't love a bit of 1920s?) and was inspired by the fact that many of them are not so much patterns as guides for cutting and assembling rectangles. I also found some 1920s Japanese inspired 'patterns' (by which I mean rectangle instructions). And off we went...

The pattern I made is extremely simple, and is basically a rectangle split halfway up the middle and sewn up the sides. It really has no business being so stylish.

 These two photos show the nice drape, from the back and the side. With such huge armholes it's not really a suitable winter dressing gown (not that that hasn't stopped me wearing it - I just get chilly), but will be great once the weather warms up a bit. 

Here are another two from the front with various attempts at belting (currently with a scarf but I'll make a sash thing at some point). The natural waist belting is pleasingly Japanese-esque (definitely not a real word) but not very 20s. It also looks fine without a belt, which is how I normally wear it...

In general I am quite pleased with this project. I'm getting better at hand sewing, and the french seams are nice and even and neat. The fabric isn’t quite suited to the period, or rather, it doesn’t look like the other sorts of things you see in fashion plates. It’s also a bit stiff and at the moment is tending to billow instead of drape, but I am hoping it will soften as it washes. I quite like the billow as well though, even though it wasn't what I was planning originally.

So here's the summary...

The Challenge: Blue

Fabric: Blue and white printed cotton

Pattern: Guessed./invented using rectangles. Inspired by 1920s dressing gowns.

Year: 1920(ish)

Notions: Navy blue Gutermann all purpose thread

How historically accurate is it? Probably not very. It would be more accurate to say it was “Inspired by.” Then again, the method of making the pattern is quite authentic...

Hours to complete: 6ish (I should start actually taking notes on how long things take)

First worn: Almost every morning and evening since it was completed.

Total cost: £4/40yuan for the fabric, thread from sewing box.