Back in January I wrote about how I had gone to CHA. One of the highlights was meeting Emi Fukushima and learning a new way to fold a kimono from her. Today I am going to show you how to make one of these adorable Kimono Dolls for yourself.

Today I am also debuting a new feature on this blog. My daughter found a cool Wordpress plugin called lightbox and suggested that I start using it. You will now be able to click on many of the photos to see a larger view.

Let’s get to the tutorial, shall we. Oh by the way, let’s just pretend that we don’t notice the messy work surface or the fact that I’ve been biting my nails again. Just keep your eyes on the project.

PAPER KIMONO #2

In this example the finished doll is 4 1/8″ tall.

Cut a 1″ circle and a 1/4″ x 3″ strip from card stock. Glue the circle onto one end of the strip. It looks like a lollipop, doesn’t it?

Take two 1 3/4″ squares of paper and fold them in half diagonally. Lay them on top of each other with the folded edges up and the top square slightly higher than the lower one. Lay the card stock “lollipop” in the center with the circle resting against the folded edge.

Form the shoulders by folding one side of the triangle over on an angle, then fold over the other side on a matching angle.

Make the body from a 4″ square of paper. With the wrong side up, fold down the top edge about 1/2″. Flip the paper over and fold down the top edge about 1/4″.

Fold the bottom edge up about 1/4″. Fold the right edge over about 1/4″

Lay the head unit onto the body, making sure it is centered along the top edge. Make sure that a little bit of both shoulder/collar pieces shows above the edge. Fold the upper left corner of the body over the head piece, matching the angle of the collar.

While holding the upper part in place, fold the rest of the left side over keeping the bottom edges even. This step will take a little practice… you want to fold over about a 1/3 of the body piece but we aren’t going to worry about the exact measurement. The only thing to worry about is that if you don’t fold over enough and your body is a little wide, you will end up having short sleeves. Once you make it through a completed kimono this warning will make sense. Gently press down as shown in the photos. Repeat on the right side.

To make the Obi, cut a 1 1/2″ x 4″ strip of paper. Fold it into thirds lengthwise.

Wrap the Obi around the body and secure it in the back with a little glue.

Make the sleeves from a second 4″ square of paper. Fold it almost in half, wrong sides together. You want to leave about 1/4 inch of the bottom layer exposed. Fold the remaining 1/4″ over the top. This will give a nice folded edge to both the top and bottom of the sleeves.

Place the sleeves on the work surface with the 1/4 flap down. Lay the body on top, centering it side to side and placing the collar just above the top edge of the sleeves.

Fold one side of the sleeve across the body. Then, fold the sleeve back making the new fold line match up with the edge of the collar as shown. Repeat for the other side of the sleeves. This is the point where you should understand how a too wide body will result in short sleeves.

Hold the sleeves in place by folding the corners of the back layer to the back of the body.

All that’s left is to give your doll some hair. Cut a 1 1/2″ square of black paper and place it behind the head. Fold the sides over the face and then fold down the top to make her bangs. Fold the upper corners to the back to give her head a rounder shape.