A floral Washi

I have to say, I’m on a bit of a sewing frenzy this week, as I have a few items that I really want to get finished before I leave on Monday. Deadline!! (on a side note, made up 2 small macaroni’s tonight to freeze for the hubby. Good wife.)  Sooo anyhow, last night I managed to cut out the pdf pattern for the Made by Rae Washi dress whilst Bubba was trapped in the highchair eating dinner…. small panic attack occured when I realised I was out of sticky-tape…. so this pattern looks beautiful being stuck together with masking tape.

Then I stayed up late watching Season 1 of Once upon a Time (yay for our English channel having some different shows at the moment..) cutting out the dress from a floral lightweight cotton material that I had picked up for 10 Lari / metre (~$6 AUD) at one of the fabric markets here in Tbilisi. As this fabric is quite lightweight, I wanted to do a full lining for the bodice section so it would hold the shape a bit better and give it a bit more support. I just used a pink/watermelon polyester lining fabric that I had lying around.

 

 

Just noticed how uneven my understitching is!!

After flicking through a google image search for Washi Dress, and thinking the bodice/skirt join might be a touch too high for me, I lengthened the bodice by 1/2in, and I used elastic in the back of the dress instead of the shirring lines. The elastic option is actually in the expansion pack which I also purchased, but didn’t see it until after I had finished the dress… Instead of using the lining as the casing (which is in View C of Expansion pack), I cut an extra strip of the main fabric, same width as the back where the lowest shirring line was, and encased the elastic seperately to the lining. I think it looks really nice that way as well on the inside! I sewed on the casing, then handstitched the lining to the seam allowance all around (top of the elastic casing), then inserted the elastic as the last step.

I will definately make another few of these dresses, lovely and simple, and perfect for all weather (as you can see – I tried it on in a Summer and Winter versions… still trying to pack…)

Seriously need to tidy my wardrobe….

 

Oooh I love these easy pockets! 🙂

 

I’m STILL at a standstill on my pink long sleeved Moneta dress, I can’t get my twin needle to behave, I’ve tried absolutely everything!!! It’s driving me CRAZY! It is an “unknown” brand of needle and not ballpoint, so that may have something to do with it since the fabric I’m using is more lightweight than the first Moneta I successfully used the same twin needles on!! I think I’ll have to give up & take my dress with me (with unfinished neckline and hem) and find a proper needle in Brisbane and finish it off on mum or sister’s machine while I’m there.:))

Ok, off to cut out another Washi! 🙂