Pink Plaid Perfection!

The pink plaid dress is complete!  I found 4 yards of pink, white, and brown plaid cotton on a rare excursion to Walmart about 5 years ago.  I honestly don't remember how much it cost. I was blinded by my favorite color...PLAID!...

 Photo courtesy of Tony Batres.

Pattern Storage

If you sew, you understand the never ending circle of doom called storage!  I'm still working on a solution for fabric, but today I'll share my victory over patterns...

Military Steampunk

Master Avery decided he'd like a military Steampunk outfit.  A trip to the thrift store landed us a treasure trove of goodies to work with...

Lolita Headwear Workshop Materials List

Konnichiwa fellow Lolitas!

This post is a materials and sourcing list for a workshop I'll be teaching for the Frozen Lolita Club in the near future. We'll be making bonnets, Lolita head dresses, and bows.

Stocking Cap

I found this easy pattern for a fleece stocking cap. (Like an old fashioned sleeping cap.) Mine came out wonderfully and I highly recommend it.

Blue & Pink & Pretty!

(As always, click the pics to make them larger.)Today's offering is a Lolita/50's era inspired mashup dress. I say Lolita because It has all the basic lines, but is a little longer than normal aka 50's era. (It really looks fifties when she wears her super poof petticoat and high heels, which she was neglecting in the pics.)

I had the blue fabric floating around and never could find something to compliment it. Miss H was in love with it and one day suggested I use the leftover pink lace from her Irish dance dress with it. This is a Cynthia Rowley pattern #1873 from Simplicity.This was view A. I drafted a peter pan collar for it and shirred the back, instead of adding the zipper.I don't think I'm completely in love with the shirring on this one. She likes it because it's comfy. Anyway, the pattern was easy to follow, but beware of the ten thousand darts! The bodice front has under bust darts as well as side darts. The sleeve is full of darts too, on both the fashion fabric AND the lining fabric.I was cussin' em under my breath while in progress. They've grown on me and I really like the result now. It wouldn't take much cajoling to get me to use this sleeve again. (It's kinda like labor...you forget all the work involved as time goes on!)The bodice panel is edged in pink eyelet lace with daisy buttons.There was just enough blue fabric left to make the trim for the hem ruffle.This dress was super economical. White sheet from the thrift store for the lining and white fashion areas = $1. Pink overlay lace, leftover from another project = Free! 4 Daisy buttons, been in my stash for 10 years = Free! Pink eyelet lace, came from a garage sale with just enough for the sleeves and panel = $0.25. 2 yards blue fabric, been in my stash for more than 3 years = Free! (I know I bought it new, but am sure I didn't pay more than $3/yard.) Interfacing for the collar, leftover scraps = Free! Yay, a nearly free dress AND another finished project out of my basket!

Just Shoot Me Now!

This is a confession.

I'm sure I'm not alone in committing such a sewing faux pas. Just thought you'd get a chuckle out of my folly whilst I put "pen to paper" to document this so as to remember not to do it again!

Sewing Lesson #1:
DON'T SEW WHEN YOU'RE TIRED! You WILL make stupid mistakes, causing you to befriend your seam ripper. You'd think I would have learned this lesson well over the years. Apparently, I'm either quite dense or in need of a refresher coarse.

Sewing Lesson #2:
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR PROJECT BEFORE FIXING THE MISTAKES FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE! 'Nuff said.

On to the inevitable confession....I'm whipping up a basic 3 gore walking skirt for my daughter's friend before she goes home to Germany. Simple project, right? You'd think so. I've made this exact pattern about 10 times. Suffice it to say, sewing on a zipper (which I've done a thousand times) doesn't go well at 2am. I managed to sew it in backwards, with the zipper pull toward the inside of the skirt. Duh. I was at least wise enough to give up and go to bed.

This morning, I ripped the zipper out and put it in correctly. Again, simple. It was beautiful. A perfectly executed installation. And, I used a regular presser foot instead of a zipper foot so I could show her how it's done. *Sigh* The only problem this time? I didn't double check my seams from the late night stitchery and managed to put the zipper into the seam at the hem instead of the waist....both times! Double Duh!

So, out comes Mr. Seam Ripper...it really should be permanently attached to my hand.  You'll be relieved to know (I certainly was) that the zipper went in correctly on the third try.

Annie, get your gun and get me away from the sewing machine!

Scarlett's Gone Steampunk Teaser

I found these gorgeous green moire curtains at the thrift store for $24. This much good quality fabric would easily cost over $150 at the fabric store.  The green reminds me of Scarlett Ohara's green drapes gown in Gone With The Wind. So, this dress is called Scarlett's Gone Steampunk.
 There are four 92" panels with gold tassels along one side. They're lined in white cotton. Then there are 3 huge triangular window scarves that are lined in deep pink moire with the gold tassels along 2 edges. Finally, there were a couple funny little rectangular pieces that could've been tie backs? I'm planning on making myself another Steampunk dress out of it. My goal is to have it finished by the first of November so I can wear it to a convention. We'll see.
 Here's a sneak peek at some of the skirt details....

Lolita Bow Tutorial

PLEASE NOTE: You may use this entire tutorial on your personal noncommercial site if you credit me, link back to my blog, and leave a comment here that you're using it...Thanks!

This is a basic bow without any frills. You can add lace, pearls, charms, multiple fabrics, etc. to make it unique. To wear, slide it onto a headband, stitch on a barrette, hair clip, or pin back and you'll be the belle of the ball!

Sew Lolita Panel Notes

Sewing Lolita! The following are helpful hints I've learned on my own sewing Lolita adventures.

Steampunk/Neo Victorian Easy Bustle Tutorial

Thought I'd share my method for creating a simple, no stress, yet elegant bustle. There is no exact right way to do it. There are some essential steps, but for the most part the finished project will be whatever looks good to you.

6 Gore Skirt Tutorial (For Big People, Little People, And American Girl Dolls Too)

I would encourage you to check out this awesome website where I found the tutorial for the basic skirt www.patternsthatfityou.com. There are all kinds of great tailoring tips and online classes. I'll reiterate the instructions here (for myself as much as for you) just in case it disappears someday. (Go to their home page and click on the 6 Gore Skirt Pattern Class on the right side. It's free, but you need to add it to your cart and complete the process.)

I've added my own instructions for both a high pointed waistband and a high straight waistband to use with this skirt. The original uses a regular waistband and those instructions are also included here.

Thrifty Steampunk Costume Tips

I thought I'd share my thrifty tips for creating costumes of all kinds. Being thrifty is really a developed lifestyle. I'm always on the lookout for a piece here and a piece there that I can incorporate into something I'm working on. These tips are geared toward Steampunk costuming, but are easily applied to any type of cosplay. Learning to see the potential in things is the key.

Victorian Maiden Inspired JSK

Miss H found this fabric in my stash and decided to make a Victorian Maiden inspired jumperskirt. VM is a Japanese Lolita brand that I absolutely LOVE. The problem is that their largest sizes are waaaay to small for healthy sized American girls. So, we just drool over the loveliness on their site and come up with our own stuff. She came up with the design & did 80% of the work. I worked on the trickier parts.We modified Butterick 4815, view B, for the bodice. I added an extra 2 inches to the back pattern piece and cut it on the fold instead of cutting two pieces and putting in a zipper. The back is shirred in the center panel and bodice is fully lined.I also shortened the waistline to make a baby doll waistline....somewhere between an Empire waist and her natural waist. The skirt is our usual Lolita skirt pattern with a 6" ruffle added at the bottom. The bodice and bow feature a snippet of antique lace I also had in my stash.This is one of my favorite outfits on Miss H. I like the longer length and, of course, the fabric. I think she did an outstanding job.

Americana Messenger Bag

*Sorry...some of these pics aren't great.
This messenger bag was a gift for my daughter's friend in Germany. She loves all things American. I used 4 different cotton fabrics for this one. This is the front flap. It has a ruffle of red cotton with stars. I also applied rhinestones to the center of each star on the American squares on the flap.The strap is adjustable.The inside is lined with American flags. The pockets are a fun dollar print. I included a key clip and a personalized name tag too.

Doll's Cherry Jumperskirt

Miss H dug out the scraps from this year's birthday dress and I whipped up a matching doll dress..No Lolita outfit would be complete without a shirt, bloomers, and a petticoat...

Colonial Doll Dress

I whipped up a pretty colonial style doll dress for Miss H's new American Girl dolls. This was an old bed skirt languishing in my fabric collection.This is a two piece dress. Here's the bodice.
I also made a mob cap and apron to go with it. Miss H embroidered tiny pink flowers in the lower right corner of the apron.

Strawberry and Chocolate Cupcake Skirts

I found the cutest cupcake fabric. One with a pink background and one with a brown background. Miss H thought it would be fun to twin with her friend Miss G. Miss H made 90% of both of these skirts and I finished them up. She designed them all the way down to the pearls and bows on the skirt. This was Miss G's Christmas present along with a date to our local tea shop later this month.Miss G was a crafty gifter too. She made this lovely bracelet for Miss H. All the different beads have a special meaning.
Miss H's pink shirt came from Bodyline. Miss G's green shirt came from the thrift store. I bought them matching pearl bracelets and silver rhinestone bow rings with a pearl. I forgot to have them pose for pictures, but I did snag some shots of them playing DDR.

Irish Dance Doll Dress

My daughter has been wanting an American Girl doll since she was 4 or 5.

Renge

This year, Miss H chose to dress up as Renge from Ouran High School Host Club. She insisted on making this costume herself. (Which I was more than happy to let her do!)

Here is Renge from the anime.....

And here is Miss H's version(seen here with her friend, Miss G, as Haruhi)....The wig is a cheap and horrendous halloween item. We'll be getting a nice one before the next animecon. I made the pink hair bow and drafted the collar and cuffs. The dress was made from Simplicity 4136.
I think she did a lovely job!