A kaftan is a simple sewing project. There are tons of variations, but all kaftans are a basic shape: a square.

This beaded tulle is about 60″ wide, perfect for a kaftan design.

I made this in 2018, before I started this blog. I was also super pregnant (see photo at the end), so this is my first time wearing this kaftan after pregnancy!

I used many clips to hold the fabric together while cutting.

I got away with not taking out any beads! I sewed very slowly. Since a kaftan is forgiving, having a little of the side seam stitching off isn’t noticeable.

I’ve included a rough, not to scale, drawing of my self-drafted kaftan pattern. I wanted an easy, no fuss design. There’s no armhole, only a flowy sleeve and arm and head openings.

The two lines are the side seam lines. There’s 20″ between the center front and sides, which gives a lot of room for a flowy sleeve design. The sleeve/arm opening is 5 1/2″, which I turned over and hemmed. Below the opening, I stitched the flowy sleeve all the way down so it remains closed. Many designs leave the sleeves open though!

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Will you try sewing a kaftan? Let me know if this was helpful, especially if you prefer self-drafting your design!

-Ammara @ammaraza