I decided to make a dress for my mother for Mother’s Day with one of my favorite patterns, the Made-by-Rae Washi dress. With so many amazing fabrics out there, I wasn’t sure what to use until I remembered that I had this beautiful paisley-like lightweight cotton that I bought years ago at the wonderful fabric store in Brooklyn where I learned to sew. I love the deep navy with the contrasts of yellow, green and red. It feels very French.This felt like the perfect fabric for my mother because she is a Professor of French Literature and has studied and lived in France. I made a medium and lengthened it by 2 inches because we are pretty much the same size. The fabric was a dream to work with.I lined the bodice using the sausage technique that Rae teaches in her videos.I shirred the back. Rae has a great shirring tutorial here. The nice thing about dark fabric is that you can use a chalk liner to mark your shirring lines. The top of the back is folded up out of the way with wonder clips.It is always a good idea to pin or clip the top part of the back before starting to sew the shirring so you don’t catch the top of the back in the shirring seams. (I learned this the hard way.)I lined the bodice with a pale yellow cotton that I had in my stash. The contrast is so pretty.Picture of the inside of the dress. I love the clean finish that you get when you line the bodice. I added loops of ribbon for bra straps, a little touch that makes a huge difference for those of us with sloped shoulders. (inside back view below)I used the navy fabric and made a hem facing. I generally use hem facings to get a cleaner finish as I wrote about here and here. I didn’t have enough of the yellow or I would have used it to make a contrasting hem facing as I usually do.I am really happy with the final product and hope that she will enjoy wearing it all summer. She actually has already worn it to the theater in New York. Check it out! Beautiful, am I right? I may have to make one just like it for myself! I will have to check and see how much of this fabric I have left. 🙂The Washi-such an awesome pattern! Next up, a polka dot Washi for my sister. 😉