I fell in love with Made By Rae’s Washi years ago and made a couple. Sadly, those early makes no longer fit, *sob*, but last night I finished a brand new Washi in some spectacular and beloved fabric. I love black and I adore foxes and I love ravens and donkeys and tiny random mice, and Japanese double-gauze is hands down the most gloriously soft fabric for summer.
It cost me a small fortune from Hart’s Fabric, years ago, but I regret nothing.
This version is made for my current size and instead of making the weird sleeve-caps and using facings (which I loathe) or bias-binding (which is tricky with double-gauze because of the nature of the fabric), I opted to use a lined bodice instead. Rae has a bunch of tutorials for Washi on her site, and I used them as a jumping off point.
Instead of truly hemming or even using the skirt as the lining end, I chose instead to use the natural selvage edge as the finish. This kept the thickness down and prevented crazy fraying, which is an issue with double gauze.
For my seams, I used a more-narrow-stitch-than-usual, 1.8 – 2.0 rather than 2.4, Guterman black poly thread, plus pinking. I’ve tried a bunch of different finishes with double gauze, and I find pinking is best. The double gauze is so thick and so squishy and so tricksy, it’s almost impossible to French seam. I’ve tried felling, which works OK but which makes super thick seams. The pinking is a nice compromise, I think, and since it’s pinked, the fraying is under control.
Here’s how the dress turned out!
I plan to pair it with sandals for now, and add leggings, boots, and a cardi when the weather turns.
What do you think?
bespokediaries 