Making a Kimono Scarf

I really like video tutorials, because they show me what to do.  Except I couldn't find one that does this exactly the  way I do it!  I did like these tutorials though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euLZPZCahKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRyCWbe0Xfc
So you can check them out and have a good jumping off point. You can use it for other ideas or you can just do it that way.  There isn't really a wrong way!

 For our tutorial today, we will start with the kimono itself.

So pretty!

So, I have two complementary colored kimonos to pair up. 

Pull out the seam ripper and slide it in. I only cut a few stitches. 

So I have room to grab and gently rip by hand.  Easy peasy.  

Well, the first ones took me an hour or two to pick apart, but now I rip them apart by hand in under 5 minutes.  The seam ripper gets me started and I use it for the few reinforced spots, but mostly it just sits there. Mostly.  Sometimes there are kimonos with stronger stitching and weaker fabric, then you have to be a bit more careful.

This is the finished product, all picked apart.  It unpicks into these lovely long strips, and the pile of darker purple and white is the lining.  I typically just throw the lining away unless it is silk or I have a specific purpose for it. The colored silk lining makes for good scarves.

For this scarf, I pulled out the longest strips of the widest fabric strips, to make a wide scarf.  I like it to be about 2 yards long and this one is about 13 inches wide and 60 inches long.  So, I find matching pieces in width and length.  Iron them. 

I lay them down front sides together.... 

And sew the long sides only.... 

..... Leaving a one to two inch gap in one of the sides.  

So, no sewing the short ends together, and leave a 1"-2" gap anywhere you want. 

Pick an end, then reach your arm down through the fabric tube to grab the other end and pull it through, but do not turn it entirely inside out.  You want both ends to be together. 

Like this.  

Then, rotate the inside fabric so the opposite fabrics face each other, like this.  Line up the seams, and pin them to keep them in place.

Now you sew the short ends together.   

This way makes the inside nicely hollow. 

Once you finish that, find your 1" gap and pull the scarf right-side out through it. 

Now it looks like this. 

I iron the seams/edges flat and neat.
(Why is my picture upside down?!)

Then go back and re-find the gap.... 

And stitch it shut.  I am not a good hand-sewer, so I just stitch with the machine.

You could stitch the entire border, but I haven't tried that yet (mostly because I'm lazy).

 If I am really good, I'll actually find matching thread so it is pretty invisible. 

And here is the finished product. 

Just so you know, I don't usually make them that wide.  I typically do a thinner scarf- around 6-8" wide. To do that, I take the wider fabric strips that are shorter, 

And cut it in half down the middle.  Sew the two strips together (on the short ends) to make a longer strip  that's about 8" by 64".  Then I do the same thing as with the wider scarf. Really, you just need a strip of fabric that's about any width you like and 60-70 inches long.

This is the thinner style scarf.  It was a bit longer than I meant for it to be. (It looks wider, but it isn't.)

But it wrapped around nicely 3 times. 

(Callie was my photographer of these!)

And, just for funnsies, I'm going to leave a link to another tutorial right here.  I'm planning to try this method soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-IS2HFLH6U