I have been wanting to make the Washi Dress Pattern ever since I had my old blog (so its been a LONG time), but for whatever reason didn’t. I finally bought the pattern right before I had my 4th baby with the intention of doing a nursing hack like I’d seen Alina do.  But…. it never happened.
Fast forward to last summer when I was visiting Jill on our epic cross-country trip. We loaded up our 4 kids (each) and drove to Texas to meet up and sew. Yes, we each drove around 22 hours one way just to hangout with our 8 kids in a tiny AirBnb so we could sew together! We ARE a little crazy, what can I say.
I’m kicking myself for having waited so long! Because I DID wait so long though, I knew what ways I wanted to tweak the pattern. Here is what I did:
*I got the expansion pack because I really loved the collars and sleeve options. For this fabric (its a medium weight with little embroidered crosses) I felt like the bow option wasn’t quite right so I went with my other favorite, the pointed collar.
*I lengthened the torso (so the front and back panels) by 2 inches so that that it was less empire-waisted.
*Because I lengthened the torso I had to move the pockets up 2 inches so they didn’t sit too far down on my sides.
*I drafted a short sleeve because I wanted a little more coverage than the cap sleeves (even though those pointed sleeves on the expansion pack are TO DIE FOR).
*I chose the encased elastic option for the back (vs the elastic thread shirring/gathering) so that it would hold its shape better with this slightly thicker fabric. (You can see a peek of it in this photo.)
Every time I wear this dress I get a ton of compliments. It is such an easy dress to wear that I don’t even feel like I got “dressed up.” It has pockets and that elastic back that lets you breathe, so you feel as comfortable as wearing your sweats, but with cool details that give it style. There is a reason this pattern is still hitting it out of the park even 6 years later.
(PS. I even bought that “washi tape” fabric Rae used on her original back in the day because I wanted to make an exact copy! Why oh why did I take so long!!!!????)