Sew: Three Rectangles Kimono Tee {The Most Simple Tee You’ll Ever Make & It’s Retro Cute!}

Sometimes, I toy around with ideas for an age before I actually make them – even if they are straight forward and easy ideas. I’d been fooling with this idea for a while but then I realized Christmas was going to happen. Then I panicked and in the months leading up to Christmas last year I got busy and busted out a bunch of DIY gifts and other seasonal posts. One of those posts, Summer Christmas Outfits Sorted, featured a striped top and red skirt combo with glittery shoes and a blue and diamante brooch accent. I put that outfit there because that was what I was going to wear. I had the brooch and the shoes and I had a super awesome striped top too. I had to make the skirt but I’ve made tonnes of half circle skirts – easy breezy!

Of course that’s when disaster always strikes. Right when you are nice and confident. Somehow, my fave striped tee, the only one that would work for this outfit, had a bad boo boo. It was washed in our washer/dryer (like the same machine washes and then goes on to dry it right away) with a brooch attached. The glue that held the brooch to the brooch pin melted into the tee, leaving a big mark. Rescue efforts were made but this ancient piece of RTW would not resuscitate. My stripe tee was air lifted to my refashioning pile, where it was pronounced dead. RIP.

And that’s how I found myself making this last minute piece of magic! I adore this top like nothing else. It manages to have a low front and low back but yet it’s almost demure. It has just enough arm coverage for me and it’s not a bra showing top. This is made of win! But best of all its super easy to cut and sew. Like easy beginner. Seriously, its three rectangles.  The bad news is that I didn’t take making of pics. I have tried to explain it but pics were needed. So I made a little swatch version for explanatory purposes. I will do my best to be clear and if I fail, comment or email and I’ll do my best!

I used some striped stretch fabric I found in an op shop for my version (no idea what it is but maybe a cotton/poly/lycra) so you want something nice and stretchy. How much is dependent on your size but if I remember correctly, I needed just over a metre for my size but I had good left overs. The thing is, you’ll have to cut everything so the greatest stretch is going around you. This means cutting two long rectangles out of your fabric. I stitched my whole thing with the ‘lightning bolt’ stitch on my machine but use any stretch stitch.  Add whatever seam allowance you like, I went with 1cm on the original version and the edge of my pressor foot in these display pics. Got all that? Let’s make this….

First you need some measurements. You’ll need your under bust measurement and to work out how long you want the top, measure from under bust, down to your hip (or wherever  you want the top to stop). You’ll also need a measurement for the ‘straps’, the two pieces that go from the under bust and over the shoulder. Otherwise known as the boob covering bits. Let’s just call them straps because boob covers doesn’t sound good. Place the tape measure at the bottom of your bra at the front, go over the boob at apex and the shoulder until you find under bust level on your back. We shall call this ‘strap length’. Take your underbust measurement and divide by 4. This we can call ‘strap width’. You can add a centremetre or two if you feel you need it but I wear a 38FF and didn’t bother.

Now, there really is no pattern to this. It’s actually three rectangles. But they need to be the right dimensions for you. I like my tops pretty fitted and rectangles work just fine for me in the lower bodice but you can always shape the lower bodice based on a tee you love. But then it will be two rectangles and a shaped, two piece bodice. That’s cool with me. The only rule here is that the lower bodice section and the upper ‘straps’ section are basically the same or close in circumference (no more than a 1” difference) when we come to join them together. If you are mildly confused, the sewing pics should clear things up!

Cut 2 x straps to your exact measurements, plus seam allowance.
Cut 1 x rectangle that is your under bust plus seam allowance by your desired length (or two pieces cut to a tee of your choice. Whatever)

Now, take the lower bodice rectangle and stitch it into a tube, right sides together. As these pics from a previous tutorial  sort of demonstrate. Or if you are using a tee, sew both side seams. Hem the bottom now, that way when you are done, it’s fully finished. Set it aside.

Now we are onto the mock up pics. Take your two straps/boob rectangles and lay them right sides together and sew a little way up each end. You’re making the centre front (CF) and centre back (CB) seam now. I sewed 5” up the back and 5 ½” up the front. It’s okay if you are not sure. You can change up the sewing order if you need a fit check.

Press those seams open, all the way along the middle, between the stitching. Skip this bit if you want to fit check, you can come back to it. But if you are confident, top stitch a box around the open area in the centre.

Okay, now we are going to make our under arm seam. Fold the whole thing, right sides together, so the outer raw edges are aligned. CF meets CB. Now, sew up little way up each side. I sewed 5” up on mine. If you are big busted, don’t try to come right up to your arm pit here, you will be fighting the tensile strength of the fabric. Less busty girls may be cool there. If you have waited on that top stitching, you can now put it on at see where things are at. Just remember that when the lower bodice joins this top bit, there will be good, strong tensions pulling this bit of the top down.

Press that arm seam too and we are also going to stitch a box. I made my mock super tiny and from a woven (what was I thinking?) so please accept my sharpie dots in lieu of stitching. You can tell what to do there, right? If you haven’t done all the top stitching, do it now!

Now all that’s left is to join top to bottom! You know how that works – bottom bit right side out, top bit inside out, make the raw edges meet. If you have a size difference, pin till they meet and sew that shit together. This collage of stuff should show you how that goes.

And because you were good and awesome, you hemmed at the beginning! So you are done and dusted and well, rectangular! I am super into this tee and I foresee so many more because anything that looks this good but is this easy is magic! If you make one of these please hit me up on social media because I want to see your awesome versions xxxxxxxx