The Moomin's kimono

8.05pm: The Moomin gives me a letter that says it's world-themed fancy dress day at school tomorrow.

8.06: Go into panic mode. We don't own any ethnic fancy dress, and I doubt we can get away with sending her in a Charlie and Lola dressing gown with a tea towel on her head.

8.07: Realise I'm going to have to sew something.

‎8.08: Decide on what is hopefully the easiest thing to sew, a kimono. After all, it's just strips of fabric sewn together, right?

8.10: Finally get the Moomin to stay stood still so I can measure her by lassooing her with the tape measure.

8.12: Go back into panic mode when it dawns on me that I don't have the first clue how to sew a kimono, and that the Moomin's not in bed yet.

8.30: Come back down after getting the Moomin to bed. Lay out fabric on the floor ready to cut.

8.32: Shout at Mr Deravelled for putting his feet on the fabric i have so carefully laid out, and mutter about him always getting his feet in the way every time I try and sew a kimono for the Moomin for school.

8.40: Plan out my pattern. Try and do calculations in my head, and go mad.

8.42: Get calculator, and figure out pattern.

8.46: Measure and draw pattern onto fabric with biro, as someone has eaten my tailor's chalk.

9.45: Finish cutting out all the pattern pieces (it took so long because Mr Deravelled made me spaghetti hoops on toast for supper, the sweetie).

9.46: Go into panic mode about how late it is already. Decide to pull myself together and press and pin the pieces instead.

10.08: Start sewing.

10.29: More pressing.

10.35: More sewing.

10.54: Pressing.

10.59: Sewing.

11.45: Pressing.

11.52: Sewing.

12.28am: Mr Deravelled shows his support for my struggle by going to bed.

12.46: Run out of thread in the bobbin. Search for another bobbin with some thread already wound on it. Eventually locate one - but the new thread's a different colour! Decide that I don't care.

12.50: Put new bobbin into machine. Continue.

01.25: More pressing.

01.29 More sewing.

01.30: I manage to bend the needle in quite a spectacular fashion. Spend time marvelling at the amazingness of the bent needle.

01.34: Replace bent needle with shiny new one that isn't bent. Continue sewing.

02.04am: Finished! Bed time!

Do you like it? I used one metre of Laura Ashley cotton/linen fabric. It's gorgeous and stiff, so was the perfect fabric for this project. I quickly sewed her a red cotton Obi to go around her waist, and finished it all off with a metre and a half of pink velvet ribbon.

Underneath the kimono, the Moomin is wearing an authentic light cotton under kimono, all the way from Japan. It goes with my 1940s sillk kimono that I've had for years.

What do you think?