Another Mini Update~ New Projects in the Making!

Sorry for the lack of posts once again!

My past semester in school was a real doozy. I completed my term garment without an hour to spare, pulling an all-nighter the night before it was due, and in the end, I was really only 80% satisfied with it. However, my fellow classmates and friends thought otherwise, and I got an A on it from my professor. I'm proud yes, but I wish I had done it differently, as in the overall design and fabric choice. 

I would share pictures, but because of some computer issues I'm unable to upload and edit the pictures right now, so next post I promise I'll have photos of the completed evening gown for everyone :)

Life goes on, and so does sewing!

I have three projects lined up for myself at the moment, plus two commissions I'm working on, so within the next few months, expect to see some garments!

What I have lined up for myself: 

A Simple Black Cotton long sleeved Bolero
Loosely inspired by this one: http://hellolace.net/wardrobe/mary-magdalene/type/cutsew-and-knit/item/2/
It will have a ruffle and crocheted lace along the neckline, possibly on the hem as well and more "fluffed out" ties at the bust (since it'll be made out of a cotton woven and not jersey or any knit weave type fabric)
I made the pattern draft, I just need to make the draft for the sleeve, and then the final finished pattern and I have everything I need to start sewing it :) After I make this first one, I will probably make more in various colors and styles, some to keep and some to sell.


"Old School Lolita" Onepiece Dress
It's black with black lace. The bodice has a crocheted lace cross on the front, beading lace "cage" around the skirt, and in between the beading lace "cage" strips, there will be lace crosses all around the hem, and a lace trimmed ruffle on the bottom. I think I should totally make a rectangle headdress with this! And then also a black half bonnet later on.

Virgin Mary JSK with Black Velveteen Bodice
Here is the fabric, maybe some of you recognize it:

 
The basic jist of the design is that the skirt portion only of this JSK will be in this fabric, while the bodice will be black Velveteen, shirred in the center front, (and possibly the center back also) in this style with the ribbon lacing http://hellolace.net/wardrobe/innocent-world/type/jsk/item/2/
But with the bodice shaping more like this http://hellolace.net/wardrobe/innocent-world/type/jsk/item/31/
I'm going to keep it simple. The skirt portion will have black beading lace around the hem and lace trim on the edge, but that's it. No hem ruffle or anything like that like I often do.


And here's a simple list of a few more things that will soon follow, (though my fourth semester at school will be starting in 2 weeks, and it seems like it will be harder than all the prior ones so I won't be able to make as much things as fast as I would want to, as I will be devoting almost all my time to school work and sewing)


Summer Floral Onepiece Dress
Classic-Sweet Lavender JSK with White Lace
Classic-Sweet Rose Pink JSK with Antique White lace
Gobelin Tapestry Fabric Underbust JSK w/ Brown Corduroy or Velveteen Bodice
High Waist Toile Bustle Skirt with Overlay Lace and Underskirt


And lastly, a listing of some of my random brainstorm of project ideas, and links to things I've completed over the years:
http://punkneko66.livejournal.com/10601.html


My goal is to finish everything I mentioned in this post by mid-summer, so wish me luck!
My posting frequency will be few and far between, and I apologize, but expect awesome things when I do make posts.




And a huge welcome to all my new followers! 91 and counting. Thank you to those of you who link to me on your blog sidebars, and mention my blog to other people. I really appreciate it! I want to revamp the layout for this blog soon, and I'll have my own set of "Blogs I Love"~


Take care everyone :) And thank you for all your wonderful comments and feedback!

Mini Update: Busy busy!

Hello everyone~

And hello new followers! I Currently have 55 of you guys following my blog, thank you very much for your support!

Just came to say that I'm sorry for the lack of an update! I'm currently very busy with final projects in college. My final garment for my Draping class is in the works. I'll be making a purple silk taffeta evening gown with a black lace neckline detail. No real progress has been made yet besides the draping/patternmaking stage (the boring stuff haha), but I promise pictures of the completed gown once it's done. It's due for me on December 16th! Less than a month!

The theme is to design a red carpet dress for a celebrity of your choice, I chose Natalie Portman because I absolutely adore her~

Along with this garment, of course I have final projects in every single one of my other classes, Fashion Art, Illustrator, Fashion History (yes I do take a fashion history course, isn't that awesome?), and then on top of all that I have finals for my liberal arts classes as well!

Wish me luck!

I shall resume sewing for myself, commissions, and random things as soon as the semester is over :) Look forward to it! I'll be investing a lot of time into sewing during my winter break.

And sort of unrelated to sewing yea, but I've added some blog widgets! I added a link to my poupeegirl account, a mixpod playlist of some of my favorite tracks (I assure you that's only like 1/8 of all the music I listen to though, I like a lot of music), and a little link list of other places I can be found on the internet. 

Soon I want to add a link list to some of my favorite blogs as well!

Take care everyone, I hope your all well. Enjoy your pre-holiday~


**EDIT**
Oh and I almost forgot!
I put up my Brown Toile High Waist Bustle Skirt up for sale on egl_comm_sales yesterday!
Here is the link if you are interested, click the picture~

Atelier Pierrot Replica Bustle Skirt and Underskirt

 Finally! After 3 months, I finally finished this skirt. I mean, it was more or less complete for 2 months now, but I just hadn't sewed the hem ruffle on. I finally just did it this morning xD School has been keeping me really busy, and whenever I got a break, I just lazed around since I was so tired and wasn't in the mood to sew!

Anyway, it's all done now :) And I'm so happy with it!

Front


It has black velvet ribbon ties in the front



and grosgrain ribbons in the back.
Both the front and back are shirred for extra comfort!



It looks so pretty from the side with the ties pulled up! They can be adjusted - pulled up all the way, left untied, or something in between.





There is also a black lace overlay on the front panel, which makes it look really pretty without the corset ties too. It was a last minute decision which I'm so glad I made. I also ended up not doing the boning since the shirring was there.



I used looped lace for the ties at the front, and just made ribbon loops for the ties at the back, also no lace overlay in the back, just plain. 

The underskirt! Which is completely separate, and can be worn on its own like this...



So yea, as I keep saying, I just love how this came out. To finish off the ensemble, I want to sew a black cropped bolero, which should be my next quick project if time allows. I also want to make a black or blue bonnet  to go with this too, but we'll see how that goes :)

And my next big project I have planned for myself is an Emerald Green Velveteen Onepiece dress with a matching bonnet! I want to try and finish it before Christmas, but either way, I'm just going to make it nonetheless. More about that later :D

The last of the Brown Toile...

So many of you probably remember my good old Brown Toile Jumper Skirt that I made about a year ago?

This one in case you don't :)

Well, since I had about 5 yards of the stuff, I was able to make two more pieces out of this same epic fabric!

I'm here with pictures of them for you all today!

First I'll start off with the commission I did for Maria, a lolita all the way from Sweden! It was the first commission I ever did, and its long over due that I post about it since I completed this back in January, haha. She made two posts about it on her personal blog here and here. Not only did I make a Jumper Skirt, but also a headdress to match which she pictured in the first link. I'm very proud of seeing her wearing my creation, and it's been very well received by others which makes me even happier.

Okay now for my own pictures! Sorry they are a bit dark, I took them at nighttime unfortunately.

Here's the front

The back (fully shirred as all my pieces will be)

And here are some detail shots

The taffeta ribbon sash is detachable!

Now I really wish I made mines a long version, I love how this came out in this length.

Now for piece number two, and the last bit I could squeeze out of the yardage.

This wonderful high waist bustle skirt!

Front

Back with the lovely bustles, shirring and corset loops (I haven't put the ribbon ties in yet!)

Here's the side.

And another shot of the front for you.

And lastly a closeup detail of the shirred front.

With the front and back being shirred, this skirt can fit a pretty good range of sizes, I'd say between someone with a 26"-32" waist max.

I won't be keeping this skirt by the way! It's for sale! As much as I love how this came out, I don't need two pieces in the same fabric. Not quite for official sale yet, but I'm trying to gain interest. My asking price for now is at $120 + shipping & insurance. I'm planning on putting it up for official sale within next month on my livejournal (punkneko66.livejournal.com) or I may consider putting it up on the egl_comm_sales, or even possibly Etsy once I decide what's best.

Thank you for reading! I have two more projects to post within the next week or so.

And hello new followers!

I also thought I'd reply to the comments on my last entry, (I should really go about installing a comment reply system like Disqus or something, probably later down the line.)

Ruth - I'm glad you like the new layout, and thanks for the compliments!

Tiff - Ah you don't really have to change your entire wardrobe for lolita, you can have just a few lolita pieces and still dress in your more usual way. I don't wear lolita everyday (not even most of the time) and I still have all my non-lolita clothes in my wardrobe to wear in a variety of different styles. I like fashion too much to stick to one thing :) I'm glad you like the things I've made though!

And Takato Yamamoto is an amazing artist, he really goes there with his artwork, which is something I love.

Aya - Haha yes this is totally my soul in the form of a webpage, minus my occasional sweet side!

New Layout~

Just a quick post to say that I've changed my blog layout to something more fitting to my personality~

I made the banner myself, using an illustration by the amazing Takato Yamamoto (I'm a really huge fan, I want his artbook one of these days)

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have a project from back in May that I've yet to post, a work in progress, and piece three in my Brown Toile "collection" (the last fo the yardage is all gone now). Since I've started classes again, I'll be getting busier and busier, but I still want to find time to sew for myself!

Here's the current future project lineup in no particular order:

Ivory Toile High waist Bustle Skirt

Emerald Green Velveteen One Piece dress + Matching Bonnet

Black Taffeta Bonnet

As well as an assortment of random Morigirl and Dolly Kei inspired garments! (skirts and dresses)

I hope to make a few new posts within the next couple of weeks, look out for them!

Finally Posting Again! Mint Bustle Jumperskirt

Hello Everyone!

It has been a very long time since I last posted a project on here, and I apologize. School became very hectic, and I hardly had any time for myself, but now that I'm finished with my first year of work at FIT, I've very relieved, accomplished, and ready to get sewing for myself (and others) again!

This was what I worked on for myself following the Brown Toile JSK...

Mint Bustle JSK!

It's the sweetest garment I've ever made, and I've been very into sweet lolita lately (surprising isn't it?), and it's been a lot of fun. I pretty much like all lolita fashion styles (well besides guro, which I can't help but see as a costume, not that I hate it but you know...), so I'm now incorporating gothic, classic, and sweet into my lolita wardrobe. Like variety? I know I do.

Enough chat, it's picture time!

Pile of cut fabric stage! Many many rectangles!

Two completed bustle panels!

Almost there...

And here's the completed dress, coordinated with pink (I love mint x pink!)

Front

Front Detail

I opted for a fabric ruffle around the yoke because it looked a little puckered. I think it was a great cover up! I also added little mint satin ribbon bows.

Back

Shirring Detail

Usually shirring panels don't have zippers in them, but when making the dress, I didn't realize I hadn't let a place to put a zipper! Instead of splitting apart of one of my side bustles, which I think wouldn't have looked so great, I just split my back panel and put a zipper in there. It was very difficult to do though, so I don't advise it, and it makes it hard to get into the dress by yourself!

Side

Closeup of the Ribbon Detail

I decided to add a few ribbons to the bottom of the dress as well. I was also going to add rosettes, but I didn't get around to it. Maybe I'll add a few more embellishments later?

Rose Detail

I used this tutorial to make the ribbon roses. It was very simple to do, and I will make all my rosettes this way from now on because I really like how they came out!

And finally, a photo of me wearing it!

So sweet! I wore this to the Sakura Matsuri back in May. It was so weird wearing such a sweet outfit for the first time. I got called little bo peep for the first time ever, but I had so much fun!

Now that it's summer, I want to do more sewing, and I'll try and post more too! I also have my Draping II term garments to share (our final class garment for the semester) inspired by Sleeping Beauty! I'll probably post that later this week or next week.

I have a lot of ideas for future projects. I also have 2 commissions that I did (one I'm currently finishing) that I'll also post.

I hope you enjoyed!

Brown Toile Jumperskirt!

So a few weeks ago, I completed my Brown bustle JSK. I'm quite pleased with the end results!

Here is the initial fabric:

These frames are just gorgeous. They feature a Shepard and his sheep, the outer frame decorated with birds, flowers, vines, and what look to be wrought metal pieces. Its an upholstery weight fabric that proved excellent for sewing, and is also very warm for the current cold weather months.

Now to progress photos. Here you can see step by step how this dress came together!

And now, the completed dress.

Front


Side


Back


Details







I also made an Ivory base headdress with a detachable bow to match the JSK. From now on, I'm going to make my headdresses with detachable parts so I can mix and match. That way I won't have to make a whole new base when I want my headdresses to match something. Versatility is key, as well as practicality!



And finally, a photo of the dress worn by me!



I hope you liked it! I feel this is the best dress I've made so far, but there will be more in the future!I also hope I get lucky at the fabric store again; this fabric was a rare gem for a great price ($5 a yard!)

The next projects are possibly as follows:
Blue Taffeta High Waist Corset Skirt
Mint JSK with Pin-tucked yoke (possibly with mint dyed lace)
Triple Hem Ruffle Aristocrat Skirt

Also my first commission, in this same fabric!
Long Brown Toile JSK

I also hope to make a natural kei styled garment somewhere in between these, so stay tuned!