Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Washi dress progress

Slowly, slowly my Washi dress is coming together.  Sticking the pattern print out together and tracing pieces in various sizes sure have taken up time, but a lot of pre-sewing has also been going into this project - to get the most out of it in the end, but also to challenge myself along the way.  A proper fitted bodice and elastic shirring are two things totally new to me.

Making a muslin for a dress with a fitted bodice is a must.  I took my upper body measurements about a hundred times, but facts are facts, I'm wide across the shoulders and above average in the bust, and narrow in the waist and hips.  Still I couldn't quite believe that I was looking like an XL in this pattern.  In Australian sizes I am usually an M - eek!  I was stubborn (and vain!) and made a muslin in size L, nope, tight across the shoulders and the bodice didn't even come down below my bust.  I relented and made a size XL which was better but the bust darts were sitting well above my boobs and I still had waistline issues.  After having a late night Google study session on other people's experiences with making the Washi dress and a crash course in full bust adjustments I ended up simply dropping the apex of the bust darts an inch and adding 5.5cm to the length of the front and back bodice pieces - voila, perfect fit!


I had three metres of a light and crisp pale yellow cotton with small blue flowers printed on it ready to go.


I pinned and cut carefully.


Every day I am doing a few more steps in the process, just where time allows me to squeeze in a few minutes with my sewing machine.

I have waist pleats


and elastic shirring at the back (yay!).


I'm nearly there, today I conquered the neckline and the facings but have the sleeves, sides and hemming to go.  Hopefully I'll be able to wear it for a little photo shoot this coming weekend.

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