lolita fashion

There’s been this red fabric on my table for ages now. A friend of mine requested a red, tube-like dress, and so we found some fabric we liked (and we really like it) at Joann Fabrics (way overpriced, but whatevs). I never learned how to draft for stretch fabrics, so after my failed attempt at doing so, I found a pattern relatively close to what she wanted. I copied the right size, folded the flared skirt in a bit at the hem ‘cause that shit was funky, and voila!

A strapless, stretch knit cocktail dress. It even stays up really nicely with a bit of elastic around the bust. It looks better on a person, just sayin’.

White Blouse

Next was a white blouse that was a last minute challenge that I accepted. Usually, blouses took me a while to finish, as I would hem and haw frequently about the details. This time, I had a deadline, and it was a little over a week that it needed to be finished and sent out.

I finished it in three days, finished the details on the fourth, and packaged it up on the fifth for sending. This was excellent practice for speedy sewing techniques. Got some nice tips from the book that another friend of mine let me borrow indefinitely (and I love her to death for all the books she lets me borrow).

Long Sleeve Blouse – Otome no Sewing Book 2

Best tip I ever learned was to press the pintucks before cutting out the yoke. Now it just seems silly that I didn’t know to do that before. ^^;

Pretty happy with that yoke, I would say . . .

Plackets are not part of the original pattern. Instead, they have you making a faux-placket with the inner seam of the sleeve, and that’s just not right. So I made real plackets. Nya nya. :P

1) Pinning the stand to the collar, 2) folding over the cuff at the hem of the sleeve, 3) some nice straight stitches on the top side of the sleeve cuff! *^.^*

This blouse is a size large, which is, according to the book:

• 88cm Bust
• 70cm Waist

I will be experimenting with grading this pattern to a larger size. Hopefully. Soon. Yes, soon…