Washi #2 is complete! Have I mentioned how much I love this pattern? This Washi dress was made out of some shot cotton that I picked up while at Purl Soho. I love the lightweight feel of the shot cotton but it is quite sheer. I had a removable lining from another dress that I wore under it, but since that lining is blue you can see it under the dress a little bit. No worries, I will still wear the dress all the time. š Once Rae puts up a lining video, I will re-do the top and add a lining to the dress
Changes I made to the patterm:
- Shortened the bodice a bit since I am short-waisted. I ended up not liking it as much this way, so from now on, I will leave the pattern as is.
- Also after looking at all the pictures from the Washi flickr pool, I realized I was sewing my pleats wrong. (oops!) I say that I will fix them, but let’s be realistic. Most likely I will just wear the dress as-is and hope no one notices. š
- Added some length to the dress because I wasn’t sure how long it would come out, and I wanted to be able to add a deep hem to help pull the shot cotton down. My next dress (yes I already have the fabric for it) is going to be quilting cotton so I won’t need the deep hem and will use the original pattern length.
- Raised the neckline about 2 inches so that I could have the u cutout but not feel I needed to wear a tank under it to be modest. Very happy with how this came out!
Overall consensus: I love the feel and weight of the shot cotton, but the fabric feels so fragile that I am not convinced of the longevity of this dress. I will have to be very careful in my washing of the dress. However, this is seriously the most comfortable dress I own! And I am so happy to have a purple dress! It may be a bit nerdy to admit this, but purple is my favorite color and it makes me happy to sew clothing for myself in purple.
With each dress/ tunic, I feel that I am learning more about how to sew clothing for myself so even if they are not perfect, they are all helpful lessons.Ā Ā If you want to try this out for yourself the Washi pattern is available here. FYI these pictures were all taken last weekend on our family vacation to Hilton Head Island. It was a great place for a photo shoot with all the beautiful scenery!
Couldn’t resist a picture with my little buddy since we are both in handmades…check out his treasure pocket shorts.
oliversfancy 
This is adorable on you- I just washied…I mean washed my washi fabric. ;). Hope to get around to it next week. Well done on yours- looks like the perfect dress!
Thanks! You will love the pattern…it really is the perfect dress.
I saw your dress in the washi photo pool and wanted to come check it out. That color is beautiful! Did the shot cotton fray a lot when you were working with it? I thought I had heard that somewhere….I would like to try it for a project; it seems so nice but I was wondering if it would be hard to handle. I really like your dress!
Thanks for coming over! I am also enjoying seeing everyone’s creations in the photo pool. Shot cotton is a lot harder to handle than quilting cotton. At times, it seemed like the material was falling apart because it frays so easily. I did have to redo part of the front neckline because when I washed it, it frayed out. That being said, I think if you finish ALL your seams (I didn’t on the neckline because of the facings), it will wear fine. Also you have to do or wear a lining bc it’s see-through. Now that’s it’s done I love the feel of it. I actually wore it again today and it’s so comfy! I would say that it is totally doable, just be prepared to spend some extra time on it and handle it carefully. Once sewn together (with all seams finished off), it seems to be more durable. These washis are so addicting!!
Thanks! You’ve convinced me to try it! There are so many pretty colors that I have seen in the shot cotton…maybe I’ll do a top or something.
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