When I recently posted about needing more tops in my me-made wardrobe, one of the great suggestions you guys gave me as to top patterns to try was the Kabuki Tee from Paper Theory Patterns.

The moment I laid eyes on it, I just adored those clean, minimalist lines. The square shoulders are a simple but lovely feature. In a solid fabric, it looks the epitome of understated elegance. And in a print, there are all kinds of fascinating effects which could be achieved.

The Kabuki Tee is a simple pattern but so full of potential.

It actually reminds me a lot of a RTW top which I bought in Japan, although on that one, the squared-off kimono sleeve actually forms part of the front pattern piece. That RTW piece is actually the top that I tried to recreate for myself last year, but I failed dismally when I erroneously cut the whole thing on the bias!!

So I was very excited to see the Kabuki Tee pattern and realise that Paper Theory Patterns had done all the work for me!

Boxy-ness

It is made very clear that the Kabuki Tee is designed to be boxy and oversized. If you prefer your tops less roomy, you may need to size down. My measurements placed me between a 12 and a 14, but I decided to cut a size 10. I think this is about right for me because I’m really not a fan of too boxy.

Word of warning though, a size 10 is the second smallest size the pattern comes in and I am never the second smallest size of anything. So it really is designed to be very roomy.

The only other little thing to pay attention to when putting your Kabuki tee together is that different seams in the pattern include different seam allowances. No cause for concern though, as this is all clearly marked and not at all difficult.

And speaking of seam allowances, I really like the fact that most of the seams use a small 1cm seam allowance, I feel that it really helps with my accuracy.

Simple but perfect

I found this pattern to be extremely well-drafted and fun to sew.

I have this theory that sometimes when a pattern is very simple (like this one or the Ogden Cami), it is actually even more important that it be expertly drafted. When you only have a handful of unique pattern pieces, it’s really noticeable if anything is off!

Well, with the Kabuki tee, nothing was off.

Everything came together beautifully, all notches lined up and I felt like I was using a very high quality product.

I have to say that when I saw the price of the Kabuki tee PDF, I thought it was maybe a tad pricey, but, in the end, I am highly satisfied with the level of design contained in this pattern. Plus, I’ve already made two versions, which makes a sewing pattern a major winner on the economy-front in my books!

Sewing in these square shoulders was a new experience for me, but it was really fun. Actually, it’s one of the most fun little sewing skills I’ve ever mastered. This step is just sooooo oddly satisfying.

Paper Theory Patterns have a great little post (and video, if that’s your thing) about how to achieve sharp corners while doing this step.  I really wish I’d known this when trying to sew that self-drafted top I mentioned above!!!!

Apart from reading up on sewing in the right angles at the shoulders, I didn’t pay much attention to the instructions, as the Kabuki tee is such a simple pattern. But the instructions seemed clear and detailed from my cursory glance!

It’s fabric time…

My first version is made in a light blue cotton chambray from The Fabric Store. As with everything from them, the chambray is high quality and a pleasure to sew and wear.

But, the pièce de résistance is my second version, which I made in this Nani Iro Ripple linen.

I can’t describe how beautiful this fabric is. From admiring it online, I had thought it was a series of pretty lines and splotches, but close up, it is even more spectacular. Even the white part, which I had thought of as just being the plain “in-between” part, has amazing textures and highlights. It sounds strange but I never thought splotches could be so beautiful and evocative. This is going to sound super weird, but I could stare at this fabric for hours…

I’d been obsessed with this fabric since I saw it earlier this year as the prize in a “Win a Bolt of Nani Iro” competition on instagram. Seriously, could you imagine having a bolt of this to work with!!

Me, I only had one metre!

Pattern Placement Woes

This posed certain problems.

You see, the Kabuki Tee only requires about a metre – when your fabric is about 145cm wide.

Ooops!

This fabric, of course, is only 110cm wide. Which I didn’t really pay much attention to until it arrived.

It was ridiculously challenging to squeeze this Kabuki Tee out of only 1 metre of 110cm wide fabric. I had to add a centre seam to the back. In the end, I just managed like this:

But, I didn’t have enough to make self bias binding for the neckline so I had to use store-made (which is also what I did on the blue version as well, just cuz I’m kind of lazy and I found it considerably easier…)

This design isn’t exactly how I had hoped to position the different colours and elements of the fabric. But, this was the only configuration I could come up with that actually fit the pattern pieces onto the fabric! In the end, I quite like the effect its created, so it’s something of a happy accident.

And this project definitely had the least amount of leftovers I have every had after cutting a project!!

A very Kabuki Tee Future

I expect that these two tops will be on high wardrobe rotation. The overall boxy shape of the design also has me thinking that in more winter-like tones, they could also look lovely layered over turtlenecks.

What do you think?

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.