Asymmetrical Apron Skirt Refashion

I’m so loving our weather here lately- it’s finally warm enough to spend the day at the beach and actually take a dip in the water!  Granted only the kids are going in all the way to swim, still a bit cold for me, but still so wonderful!  Here you can see my version of the asymmetrical apron skirt from Shape, Shape pattern book by Natsuno Hiraiwa. I really love these patterns- I’ve made about half in the book so far!  I was looking for a project to refashion out of my kimono.  I love the print on this kimono that I’ve had for quite a few years now, but it’s just not practical.  I rarely wear a robe in the house and the sleeves are so long to make it pretty useless- I always end up having to do some dishes and getting soaked arms or just too much material in my way:(

This project gave me a pretty and more practical way to wear this piece I love with just enough material!  I added quite a bit of length to this skirt-maybe 6 inches or so- and it’s still really short as you can see.  I made this to be a beach/pool skirt to wear as a cover-up so that wasn’t an issue, but if I was going to wear this anywhere else I’d probably double that.

I played around with the pattern a bit to get the best placement on the floral and butterflies.  I used the original collar of the kimono as my waistband with added rows of stitching and added a buttonhole to loop my wraps( the original belt) through around the waist.  I then serged all my pieces together and did a narrow folded hem around the sides and bottom with mitered corners.

Here’s some pics of the kimono before:

And after:

I love the way the hem curves and you can change the way it looks just by turning it!  Great design and so easy and quick to sew up.  I’ll definitely be making another soon. Yay Spring!