01.06.12 :: #DIY Fringe Benefits | How to bring your wardrobe upto Season with a little help from eBay and a spot of stitching.

I bought this Oriental Paisley Print Kimono, £50, from Topshop about a year ago I think… Judging by these photos…  as I’m still a brunette.

I bought it using some gift vouchers I’d received off a family member and so didn’t feel too guilty splurging a rather indulgent fifty quid on one little, yet very beautiful, kimono.

However, a year has passed and what do I see popping up in the shops again? Kimono’s.

Rather than buy another one, as tempting as that may be, I opted to search eBay for some black fringing, or trimming as it is also known, which I could cut to size and stitch quite easily around the edges of the sleeves and the bottom of the Kimono to bring it bang unto date. 

Here is the fringing that I bought.

I needed 3 metres of the stuff to do both sleeves and the bottom edge. It costs £3.99 per metre length, and so for under £15 I was able to re-vamp my trusty kimono into something that I could wear again this summer, and autumn and winter.

The fringed tassels are around 8" (20cm) in length and are perfect for adding a little extra length to the bottom of your existing kimono, top, dress, skirt, shorts, belt, etc.

I used dress-maker pins to make-do-and-mend my very own fringing to my kimono. I decided to handstitch the trim from the inside, and try and not stitch through both layers of fabric so that the stitches looked invisible, neater and did not pucker the lovely fabric.

It took quite a while, a couple of hours I’d say, to pin and handstitch, it’d obviously be much quicker to use a sewing machine… but I enjoyed the challenge.

I wore mine over a simple taupe racerback jersey dress, a tan plaited waist belt, light blue denim leggings and studded Vectra black pumps from Topshop.

Photography: © Lucie Kerley