A friend had a Sari that she had received quite some time ago. She had no idea what she wanted to do with it until she saw my personal approach to the Chinese/Japanese/Indian Fusion Kimono (and I really need to figure out a name for the things) . She apparently loved it, as she asked me to make a kimono robe for her out of the sari.

I have never had such a hard time making something. It kept trying to run away from the machine. I would have to grab it, club it into submission, sew about two inches at a time, nearly bleeding on the fabric because it was trying to run away and having to chase it under the needle. I was playing music and it was trying to dance.

Seriously, I can usually make a kimono from cutting to finish in about 3 hours. This however, was not even remotely like anything I have worked with before, and was worth every minute of aggravation.

I'm quite proud of it, at this time.

I'll be posting a front and a back view. Other views can be seen in my scraps: [link]

Materials:

Six yards of silk - One sari
Enough thread to kill something

Time: About 10 hours

Details:

Full pleats on the back and front so the garment is very, very roomy
One size fits most
Palav length for sleeves
Rolled hems on every hem - have I mentioned how much I hate messy lines?
Slits in sides for ease of movement
24" train
Traditional Japanese Sleeves - Connected at shoulder but with vents under the arms

UPDATE: I have replaced the picture with the one here, so that I could show more details in the single image. If you want to see the photos that led to this, please look in the Scraps sections:

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