Toddler Kimono (and Matching Family Outfits)

Here's an idea for matching family outfits that include a toddler kimono, a men's button-up shirt, and a women's kimono-sleeved top.

Ever since my son outgrew his baby kimono that I sewed for him when he was just 3 months old, I had been wanting to make another one for him.

Toddler Kimono

Toddler kimono that I sewed for my son.

Fabric is a quilting cotton fabric with Japanese-themed blue fish on white background, which I got from Spotlight. The hems are finished with bias binding that I made myself using dark blue cotton fabric.

My son was just over a year old at the time, and the free pattern I had for the baby kimono was only in sizes 3 to 9 months. So I had to either size it up or find another pattern for larger sizes. Since the kimono is loose-fitted and rather simple in pattern, I decided to try to size it up.

There is no hard rule or method here. I simply added width and length, and adjusted the neck hole and sleeves based on gut feel (and some shirts as guides). Once I had my sized-up pattern drawn out, the sewing process was exactly the same as that of the baby kimono, which is described in this tutorial by Sew In Love.

With the pattern ready, what I needed next was a suitable fabric. Off to Spotlight I went and I found this treasure of a fabric with Japanese-themed blue fish on white background – on sale!

Button-Up Shirt for the Husband

Since the husband seemed to love this fabric so much, I thought I should make a shirt for him with the same fabric.

Men's button up shirt with mandarin collar, Japanese themed blue and white fish fabric. Hanging on a coat stand. — Button-up shirt that I sewed for my husband using the same fabric.

To make the husband’s shirt, I traced the pattern pieces from an existing well-fitting button-up shirt that he owned. It being a Japanese-themed fabric, I thought a Mandarin collar (which is essentially a normal shirt collar without the top portion that gets folded down) would be apt. I also referred to a number of tutorials on the internet (some of which I list down below) on how to sew the pattern pieces together (men’s button-up shirts have a very standard set of pattern pieces, so there are plenty of very similar tutorials with standard sewing steps).

Top with Kimono Sleeves for Myself

While I was at it, I thought I might as well make a top for myself too, to make it a family set!

Woman's blouse with kimono sleeves with Japanese blue and white fabric hanging on a coat stand. — Kimono-sleeves top that I sewed for myself using the same fabric. Hems are finished using the same dark blue bias binding.

For my own top, I traced the pattern pieces from an existing top with kimono sleeves that I owned. The sewing process was very simple because there were no set-in sleeves, so basically it was just sewing the front and back pieces together, apply bias binding on all hems, and I was done.