The Washi Dress

What a lovely sunny day and as promised, here is my latest make, the Washi dress by Made by Rae.

Can you see Oscar?

I coerced my daughter into taking the photos. As you can see,my cat was keen to get into the photos.

I made this using some cotton that I bought at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia, that I posted about here. The fabric came from Simply Fabrics and was very reasonably priced, about £5 a metre if I remember rightly.

The Washi dress is a simple make, and perfect for beginner dressmakers.

Washi dress by Made by Rae

I fell in love with it after seeing it on pinterest. It features a cut-out scoop neckline, although I decided to omit this as I felt it might be a bit low cut for everyday life.  It features a pleated front and a shirred back. It also has built in pockets.  It can be made with or without sleeves and also can be adapted as a tunic or maxi dress. It's a fairly expensive pattern to download at $16 dollars (roughly £10) but I figured this would be a dress that I could make again and again.

 There is also a Washi dress expansion pack which can be purchased if you want to add further looks.

Washi dress expansion pack by Made by Rae

I also found that there is a free tutorial and pattern piece for long sleeves that can be downloaded here, so there are lots of options for this dress.

Based on my high bust measurement, I decided to make a size M. In the instructions, Rae recommends making a muslin of the bodice. I did this for the first time ever using an old pillow case and was very glad as it was clear I needed a full bust adjustment (FBA).  I followed the tutorial that can be found on Simplicity's website for increasing the size of a dart.  I did a one inch FBA. I also lowered the bust dart by adding an inch below the armhole.

Remember any changes you make to the bodice pattern piece, you have to also make the back pattern piece!

This lengthened the bodice and on making my second pillow case muslin, I decided I had a good fit and could cut in to my material!

The dress was fairly easy to construct and the instructions are very detailed and clear. They are also fully illustrated with either drawings or photos. The darts are french darts which I'd not come across before. The other unusual thing is that the seam allowances are either 1/4 inch at the armhole and neckline or 1/2 inch at the side and shoulder seams instead of the usual 5/8 inches.

The skirt is pleated and then sewn to the front bodice.

The back bodice is then shirred. I hand winded the shirring elastic bobbin and then sewed in straight rows using the normal thread in the needle, pulling the material straight as I sewed across after the first row.  Rae gives a lot of information about how to shirr with elastic thread and if it's the first time you've done it like me, you will find this very useful.

The dress is faced at the neckline and then once the sleeves are attached,  bias binding is applied at the armholes. I decided to stitch mine on the outside as my hand-sewing is not great, I made my own bias binding using the same fabric and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I had to give it a real blast of steam to get a few wrinkles out though.

Finally I machine hemmed the dress. I didn't change the length of the dress as I liked it as it was.

I'm sure I will make dress again! I might leave out the pockets as I think the skirt would sit better without them. There is a tiny back neckline gape that I could fix but it's really not that noticeable.

I also think I need to invest in a tailor's ham for pressing those bust darts.

Have you made the Washi dress yet and do you love it too?

Catherine x

New Look 6022, again!

This is my second version of this dress.

I wrote about my first version here.  This was the first dress I ever made, and I didn't get the fit quite right so thought I would try it again.  This time I made a straight size 14 and its a much better fit!

This time, I chose view B with the cap sleeves as I wasn't very keen on the sleeves in my first version. I also decided to make the fabric belt from view C as without it I was worried it might look a little sack-like, especially from behind.

The dress has a self bound neckline and  neck pleats to give it some shaping. The armholes are neatly bound with bias binding tape. The cap sleeves are pleated, and a really flattering shape.

The material is a black cotton poplin purchased from Minerva crafts sometime ago. It's nice to sew with and is a medium weight woven fabric.  It's still available to purchase. 

I'm getting better at taking the cheesy self photographs. I am hoping to get a new camera soon. 

It's a little baggy at the back, but I suppose that is the style of the dress.

The belt is a good addition, and improves the look from behind!

It also looks nice belted from the front I think too. 

I'm much more pleased with this version of the dress as this one isn't too tight for me. I just need some warmer weather to wear this in as it's a perfect little summer dress. I'd recommend this pattern to anyone beginning sewing as it's really easy to follow. 

Catherine x

My first ever dress - New Look 6022

I thought I'd share the first ever dress I made with you.

The pattern I used is New Look 6022. I chose this pattern for two main reasons - it said it was easy and there were no fiddly zips to tackle!  The dress has four options and I chose to make view A. View A has neck pleats and pleated sleeve heads. It also has an partly elasticated waist at the back and elastic gathers on the ends of the sleeves.

I chose this black vintage style poplin from Minerva crafts. I found this poplin easy to work with and it has washed well.

Now this is the thing, as this was the first dress I made, I didn't now that much about which pattern size to choose! I cut a straight 12 which is where I made my mistake as the finished dress is far too tight across the hips. Now when I'm cutting out a pattern for a dress, I tend to choose 12 or 14 depending on how much ease is included (and believe me some of these patterns have loads of ease) and then grade to the next size up on the hips. This gives me a bit more wiggle room!

I also don't cut out the paper pattern anymore. I trace my size on to large tissue paper, making any adjustments needed. I use this Burda tissue paper. This means I can use the pattern again if I need to make a different size.

I think that I should also start thinking about making a muslin first as it's annoying to spend time on a dress only to discover it doesn't fit that well!  Or at the very least make a "wearable" muslin in cheap fabric.  I'd love to hear what other people do to ensure a good fit.

Things I like about this dress:

The bound neckline. Think this could look good in a contrasting colour.
The pleats on both the sleeves and the front. I used tailor tacks to mark them and think I did a good job.
The material. Poplin is a dream to sew.
My button loop. This was my first attempt.

Things I don't like:

The fit! As I said too tight on the hips plus I think the sleeves are a tad tight.
The elastic on the back. Not sure of the point of this. I suppose it's suppose to make it less sack-like but I think adding a belt is a better option.

Does my bum look big in this?

I might tackle this dress again.  I'm undecided. Think I would go for version B or C next time as I've seen some nice versions, like this one on Louise's blog Sew Sensational. Just need to get the fit right and it might be a cute little summer dress.

Have you made Simplicity 6022 or had any fitting disasters?

Catherine x