I recently had the opportunity to pattern test for Made by Rae‘s expansion pack for the Washi Dress! If you don’t mind some awkward self-portraiture, check out the View B tunic I made for myself.
If you haven’t seen all the hype, Rae is working her magic on the Washi. Tweaking and playing, adding pattern pieces for collars, sleeves and ties. In all there are three views being tested, and a total of five different options – three collar options: pointed collar, big bow, and little bow, and two sleeve options: pointed sleeves and 3/4 length sleeves.
I tested View B, which is the small bow and 3/4 length sleeves. The two bow choices went with the sleeves and I really wanted to see how I looked in a Washi with sleeves so I went with that one. I plan to try the other options as well – mixing and matching between the views. And maybe playing a little with the proportions to suit my shape best. I’m not a huge fan of 3/4 length sleeves but I have to say if I’m going to wear them, this length does seem good. Short enough to look intentional, but extending well past the elbow.
I swear my bust darts are not that show-y and pucker-y in real life. I think I could have used a check in the mirror to get the “girls” in the correct spot before I took pictures. On that – I took these at a side park off of a rail trail and only felt marginally silly doing my set the timer and run back and forth routine. Until I headed back to my car and realized a guy in a van had pulled into the parking lot and could easily see me through the trees looking like a complete narcissistic nut job.
Pardon the wrinkles – I took these during my lunch hour at work so I had already worn the top for about six hours including shoving the sleeves in and out of my coat several times. That’s one of the main things I don’t love about 3/4 sleeves – you can’t grab the cuff to pull the sleeve through a coat!
The fabric is cotton/rayon blend from Fabric.com. I’ve been paying attention to Rae’s fabric recommendations and I really do like this fabric. It has a feel like linen, but it doesn’t wrinkle quite so badly as linen. It sewed very nicely aside from a little unraveling at the edges. No biggie, all the seams are finished nicely.
For testing, we were able to see what I assume were Rae’s sketches showing the construction steps. Kinda fun, really.
Your Washis always make me want to try this pattern but I have heard really good and really bad things about this pattern. I have heard the Full Bust Adjustment is hard and I am afraid that I would have to do one.
I thought I would need a FBA, but after my first muslin I found it fit just fine without. I’m a full C – I measure a D but I don’t really fill it out enough so I buy C’s. I’ve heard people say the FBA on the washi wasn’t that bad, and I think there’s a whole post about how to do it.
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Love it! Such a pretty color blue. And I love the neckline with the bow 🙂 The expansion pack is such a good idea–I’ll have to go check it out. I saw it mentioned on her blog a few days ago. I agree with you on 3/4 sleeves and coats! I hate wrist-length sleeves (except when outside in the cold) but those 3/4 sure are tough.