When I made... The Washi Dress

I sewed up my third Washi Dress this Sunday, so I thought it about time I blog it too! This dress is becoming a bit of an obsession with plans for at least 2 more this summer. It's just so darn comfortable, flattering and easy to make - the third attempt took less than 2 hours to sew together - and looks great in all those fun prints you have in your stash.

The original pattern is by Made By Rae, and can be found here:

As you can see, it comes in a wide range of sizes too. The XS would probably fit a tween as well. There are only 2 bust darts, the front skirt has 6 easy pleats, and the back is shirred. There are pockets, but no zips, fastenings or anything else fancy to worry about. The instructions are very clear and simple, as always with Rae, and she gives many options for changing the dress to suit your shape and style. I think the bodice would fit a A - E cup without much/any adjustment, and the skirt is generous enough to cover a multitude of shins.

My first attempt was this dress as a top, and it wasn't particularly successful as I did something weird with extending the bodice. I can't actually remember what I did but perhaps just lengthened the shoulders and sides? I didn't mess with the darts at all. Also I didn't cut the pattern pieces to the 'top' shape, so it's much poofier than it should be! Aaaand I had no make up on when we took the shots... So I shall distract you with my slightly crazy kid.

Anyway based on this I definitely wanted to try the dress! It took a couple of months before I around to it (this top was made in August?) and I wanted to use up some of my vintage fabric that I bought from Madeline at Do Re Mi in Elsternwick. I'm not sure if she sells her fabric to the general public but she does have an AMAZING collection! It's in the back room! You should totally go back there.

For my second attempt, I just moved the bodice front pattern piece out one inch before cutting, which gave me two inches of much needed space across the bust. I added 2 darts under the bust to shape a little, and I liked the results so much that I used it again for the most recent dress. I cut the notch in the front neckline far too wide in dress 2, but rectified that in dress 3! I'm hopeless at shirring and even Rae's painstaking instructions - which have apparently worked for everyone else who made this dress - didn't work for me. So for Dress 2 and 3, I added 1" elastic in the back with a little extra strip of fabric to cover it on the inside. This looks neat from the outside and is still comfortable and easy to dress.

Dress 2

Dress 2

Pete is pretty tall at 6'5", and I had never realised until the above picture that all he really sees of me is hair and boobs. Also, make up makes SUCH a difference! Never again am I leaving the house without it. I've reached that age. Although as a comedian on the radio said recently (Hi Hughsey! See you at the fish shop on Friday!), he'll love his wife no matter how much make up she eventually needs. Touching, no?

Dress 3

Dress 3 - to prove I have two legs

Our experiment in photographing outside is not good... The fabric is not actually luminous! It's actually a little sheer and the print is very pretty. There must be a knack for photographing vintage fabrics because both of these look really wishy-washy when in reality they're faded but quite sharp.

As you can see, my eyebrows have recently fallen prey to eczema and that's just been more traumatising than I can say. Maybe I should go Lisbeth Salander, i.e. cut some very short, sharp bangs? I just can't really see her wearing this dress. However, unless you are in fact a tiny, revenge-hungry, eyebrow-less Swedish mental patient / genius / killer, you will probably enjoy this pattern. It takes very minimal skill to sew, and nothing more than a sewing machine. Rae's pool of photos on Flickr are testament to how many women around the world love this pattern. Also I did not realise until a recent blog post of hers, but she is actually supporting her family by selling her sewing patterns. Well, I have several of her patterns and I think they are all excellent, especially for beginners.

Here's a little slideshow of the Washi Dress Flickr pool!

When I made ... The Wiksten Tank

Now I've probably made hundreds of girls dresses and quite a few bits of women's clothing, but up until now all I had made for myself were a handbag (which I must remember to blog only I keep using it!) and a skirt. This is partially from a stinginess to 'spend' my lovely fabric on myself - I can barely be persuaded to cut into some fabrics even for payment - and partially because of a lack of large-size patterns. That I like. You know. However over the last winter, and with the intervention of Weight Watchers, I've dropped some 14kg (about 30lb?). Now Spring is creeping warily into Melbourne, with freezing nights, sudden hail storms, burning sun and gale-force winds as per usual for our imminently liveable but meteorologically confusing city. In a clever avoidance of the spectre of spring cleaning, I got out my sizeable pattern collection to see if anything would fit me. Happily lots of patterns now fit! More or less - I've never done a FBA (full bust adjustment) which I will definitely need to look into. I've not been brave enough to try it yet! Also obviously there is much weight to be lost, so be kind, ladies! It's a work in progress!

The Wiksten Tank
The Wiksten patterns seem to be very popular in blogging land, so I splashed out on both. I intend to make the Tova top for a friend's birthday, as I nearly always try out new patterns or techniques on my long-suffering friends. (They seem quite used to this and don't complain nearly as much as I would in the circumstances.) I thought I would try the Wiksten Tank pattern for myself.

I used voile fabric from my stash, from the Wrenly line by Valorie Wells.

Click on pic to buy this fabric from my favourite shop, Hawthorne Threads!

I love this print so much and made lots of little girl smocks from the quilting cotton weight fabric last summer. The 'mandarin' colourway is lots of pinks and corals and oranges, so pretty for summer. The print is bold and I've got a lot of me to cover so I was a bit nervous about that. Also the voile is quite sheer. I'm not sure how most people deal with this to be honest. I was hoping to wear the dress on it's own, so wearing a camisole underneath wasn't really an option and I don't even own a petticoat! So I decided to line it, which deviates from the pattern instructions somewhat.

The Wiksten Tank is a SUPER-EASY pattern, just two pieces, no darts or fastenings. I think a soft, flowy fabric is a must, to give it some shape while wearing it. I'm not usually one for flowing shapes, but I'm happy with the way this turned out. I used bias binding on the arm holes only, instead of on the neckline as well. The batiste I used for the lining worked well with shaping the neckline. I made the size XL and it fits fine, although it does pull across the bust of course! I think I'll try the FBA on this pattern, because there's nothing else to interfere. Also the lining... I did get a bit confused and ended up basically sewing the lining to the voile all the way around. So instead of the lovely drape of the voile, I ended up with quite a thick fabric for the top. I've never sewn with voile before and it was fine, I needn't have worried at all!

The pictures!

I got Pete to take these quickly on our way out to the door yesterday, hence my somewhat annoyed expression! He really is a terribly photographer because he takes soooooo loooooong to just press the button! By which time your expression has gone from "I'm so charming in my handmade dress" to "I'm going to kill you".

Also as you can see, I am very short. Just about 5'2", or 155cm. The pattern I used was the 'dress' length, but I'm personally not game to wear it without jeans or leggings! The back is longer than the front but I thought I would save you a picture of my beauteous backside (and also I didn't think of getting a picture from behind). Even with that additional length at the back, this is more of a long tunic for me. Certainly if you're thin/young/fashionable, this length is more than sufficient as a dress, and lends itself well to be being belted. I'll probably end up wearing this as a beach cover up most, and the length is great for me for that. If I use a sheer fabric again, I won't bother lining it but just wear it with a cami and leggings. Alternatively, I would probably cut the back into two pieces and line it properly, the way I do with some of the bodices on Alice Loves dresses. Also of course, for the crafty types, the embellishment options are endless.

And finally, I've been searching for a nice Flickr widget which would embed into this page and show what other girls have been up to... This is the best I could find! You can click the arrows for faster loading. These are from the Wiksten handmade group on Flickr, specifically the ones tagged 'tank'. Enjoy!