Semester Projects, Part Two~

Ah I'm afraid I lied a bit when I said Part Two was going to be made the day after I made Part One, but alas...

Time for Part Two of the Semester end projects post~

This is for my Body Contour class, which was all about utilizing knits and woven fabrics to create body conscious fashion pieces bridging between Athletic Wear, Evening Wear, and Lingerie. We as a class designed and constructed Bodysuits, Leggings, and Corset pieces.

First off, my theme~

There were 3 garments in my final collection, but I'll only show good photos of the one I liked best. I made a purple halter neck bodysuit with black lace, as well as a pair of vinyl spandex leggings with black lace cutouts as the first two pieces.

I'll definitely be wearing the leggings~

Now for my favorite piece. Probably the one piece I'm most happy with out of the stuff I made in school over the years (I can say that for more or less everything I made this semester, I'm very happy with how most of the pieces came out!)

Underbust Boned Bodice with Centerfront Shirring and Corset Lacing

The fabric is a silk floral brocade which is simply gorgeous but cost me more money than I had hoped for ($35 per yard, but I only needed 1 1/2 yards for this)

It also features this asymmetrical peplum trimmed with a looped crochet lace. At the side there is a separating invisible zipper that allows for getting out and into it, but I don't recommend them. I have a lot of trouble trying to get the zipper to line up when I'm putting it on the mannequin or trying to get it on myself. I think If I made another one of these (which I certainly do want to), I will use a more industrial separating zipper and sew the opening to have a flap to cover it.

I used Flat Felled Seams to make the casings for the Boning. I used both Rigeline Boning and Plastic Flexible Boning (see examples of what those are here). I think next time around I'll use Spiral Metal Boning instead. They all work the same though in this case, but at certain times with different garment applications, one type can work better than the others.

Closeup of the Flat Felled seams

The front also features 5 Princess line Panels, which gives it that very authentic Victorian aesthetic look, the center panel being the shirred one. 

The back, which only has 3 panels.

Lace Detail around the armhole, same as on the peplum...

...seen here.

This is a hugely versatile piece to my current wardrobe! Not only can I wear this over blouses with skirts with Lolita, but also for Kodona/Dandy/Boystyle, and Aristocrat. I also feel that I would like to make more of these for sale in the coming future.

It would be interesting to do this with a longer peplum don't you think? Maybe a flared one instead of a gathered? I can also adapt this into a jumperskirt quite easily by adding a full skirt to the bodice. I'm going to make sure I keep this pattern for a long time, I'll get lots of use out of it!

Thank you for reading, and for your comments everyone!

Oh and one last little thing, my favorite fabric site, Shabby Fabrics, is having a end of the year clearance! Lots of loliable fabrics are on sale! I advise all my fellow seamstresses to check it out ASAP! (I have too much fabrics unused so I can't allow myself to buy anything more until I make use of what I already have hoarded!)

Semester Projects, Part One~

Hello everyone, it's been awhile and I apologize for that~

This past school semester was really tough. There was lots to do in the sewing department, but  the good thing is, now I have several awesome garments in my closet, and wonderful things to share!

First off, my Knitwear Design Flat Patternmaking class.

This semester was all about knitwear; sweater knits, jersey knits, and stretch fabrics. All of the garments I made (as well as designed in Fashion Art class) this semester we're made of knit and stretch fabrics with the exception of one, (which will be shared in Part Two~)

We were required to have a semester concept, in which I chose what I referred to as "Scandinavian Forest Girl", which was basically the Japanese subculture fashions, Morigirl and Natural Kei, in very obvious disguise, haha. 

(Don't know about morigirl and want to know more? Check out my friend Martha's blog xmossgardenx.blogspot.com/) 

I figure why not get some garments I can actually wear in my everyday wardrobe out of this right?

Here's my Mood x Inspiration page...

In total I made 6 garments for this class, three of which being for a final ensemble. Out of the remaining 3, I only liked the two of them, a top and a dirndl skirt. I'd forgotten to get a photo of the skirt, but it's fairly plain, just ivory cotton jersey with a ruffle at the bottom. Very good for simple layering.

But here's the top...

Green Cable Knit Wool fabric~

I'm very pleased with it! 

My friends say i look like a flower when I wear it, haha.

Now for my final ensemble, a long cardigan, a rib knit top, and a tiered skirt, all different gauge knits!

The hat I also made myself, crocheted, but I did that awhile back. I also crocheted the flowers that I sewed onto the cardigan, and made that leaf sash. This outfit is super comfortable, exactly how morigirl should be!

This is one of two posts! Look out fot the next one tomorrow!

My winter break has once again began, and I hope I manage to sew a couple of things even though in reality I want to be lazy and do nothing all day. Well not nothing, but I think I'll spend my days crocheting, teaching myself to knit, and doing other crafts :)

Virgin Mary Jumperskirt Completed!

Hello all!

I've finally completed my Virgin Mary JSK! I was very excited about it for a long time, but because of school initially earlier in the year, and the commission I needed to complete (my last post), I had to put it on hold for months. I had the fabric all cut out and all the materials for it since about February!

This is the only thing I'd been able to complete for myself this summer, to my great disappointment... 

I really wanted to sew much more, but life got in the way. I do hope, even though I always hope this, that I can manage to make one more garment next month. There's also a cosplay that I want to complete by October's New York Anime Festival (Ciel from Kuroshitsuji, well my rendition, not an exact cosplay)

Anyway I thought I'd get this post up, a little bit of happiness to quell the worry of the hurricane that's taking aim at the east coast. My family and I are staying indoors and hoping for the very best :)

Okay so now, first the initial design...

And here was the initial post that I first began discussing this dress. 

I hadn't taken any real progress photos worth looking at, so I'll skip those this time and get straight to the finished dress!

(I'm sorry for the light and photo  quality in the photos, as there wasn't much natural light today with the storm and all. Plus, the dress is black and a little difficult to photograph, haha.)

The printed fabric is the "Virgin of Guadalupe" cotton print from Alexander Henry. It's widely available on fabric websites and ebay. I bought my yardage on ebay, 2 precut yards for a mere $10 including the shipping! It's regular price runs around $8-$10 per yard. The bodice is made of black cotton velveteen. It's shirred in the front with corset lacing, and in the back as well without corset lacing, which makes it very comfortable to wear. It also zips at the side.

I managed to finish this dress in a little over a week after I started it, which makes it the fastest lolita garment I managed to make so far. I hope I can keep that pace! I didn't run into any serious snags besides  some issues with the lining that are only visible from the inside and don't effect the fit of the dress at all.

The Front view: it's about 26" from the waist in length. I find I prefer longer length JSKs these days. 

The Side view

The Back view: I used a soft grosgrain ribbon for the waist ties which are detachable. 

Closeup of the bodice: You can better see here the ruffle detail on the princess line, as well as the lace detail. I used venice lace shaped like little flowers.

The corset lacing. I used a looped trim to set the lacing ribbon. As said before, the center front is fully shirred.

You can see it a bit better here.

The back shirring, and the waist ties.

Closeup of the waist ties.

And the little gold flower buttons I found that fasten to the side seams of the dress. I made loops on the ribbon ties - a great alternative to button holes.

The glorious print. My favorite detail is the cherubs and the golden crown. I sadly covered up part of the crowns at te bottom with the crocheted beading lace (can you tell I'm obsessed with beading lace? I use it on everything, I think I need to break from it over the next few projects!)

Obligatory image with crucifix necklace.

Now for a few coordinates, nothing too elaborate. This dress is so busy that I feel everything else coordinated with it should be kept minimal. 

I added this black faux fur and my Moi dix Mois pendant (matches my poster, haha.)

It looks rather interesting this way. Very gothic, yet still classical in styling.

I also paired it with an ivory blouse for an even more classic look. I think it looks nice both ways. 

With a brown fur, I'm not so sure if I like it since there isn't brown int he print really...

Overall, I am extremely pleased with this dress. It's certainly dramatic and eye catching and I'm sure to turn a lot of heads, but I think it's beautiful and I can't wait to wear it. I know some people aren't really fond of religious prints and motifs in lolita, but I really appreciate them, both for their aesthetic beauty and spirituality. Religious art is one of my absolute favorite kinds, and I'm so happy that I happened upon this fabric. Next I hope to find a Byzantine art printed fabric, and if I don't find one I think I may go about having my own printed one day. 

This fabric also comes in this tea color, which I also really want perhaps to make a piece to sell. I'd really like to make a corset waist skirt, also velveteen, or a babydoll version of this JSK (as I don't like making the same thing twice, everything I make has small differences that make them all one of a kind pieces). I want to do this print with a red velveteen bodice, and possibly also a green one if I can.

So there we have my most anticipated piece! I'm uncertain for now what my next project will be. I have an unfinished black bolero in one of my sewing drawers, 6 different printed cotton fabrics in another drawer, and a whole ton of black cotton that was meant for the "Old School Gothic OP" that I'd been also meaning to start. I think I'll make it a jumper skirt instead, possibly. As of right now I have no idea what I plan to sew next, I'll just have to see as I go along! I'll update when I can, not always with full completed garments, but at least with accessories, crafts, and other sewing related finds. 

For future, I plan on doing a tutorial or two and sewing video logs as well!

If you have any questions on anything I did here, feel free to ask away!

Take care everyone, and be safe :)

Lavender Tulle Overlay JSK Commission finally completed!

Hello everyone!

Yes, it's been sort of awhile, but now I have completed it!

Let's get to the pictures asap!

First progress photos...

A big mess!

Placing the ruffle on the front bodice.

Ruffle tier of DOOM. I struggled with these a bit which halted my progress for awhile due to sheer frustration. See, what I should have done was ruffle the tulle overlay and the cotton rulle all in one as a joined piece, but I didn't think of doing it that way until after the fact. Doing it the way I did led to the tulle part being short on the center tier. I had to fit it by unpicking the lace trim and shortening the cotton part of the ruffle and re-stitch and topstitch it on, which was very annoying. Well, now I know for future. You learn from your mistakes! I love overlays though, so expect to see me use them a lot more!

Now, for the finished dress...

 Front

Side

Back

My first time doing full back shirring by the way.

And an excessive amount of detail shots!

I love how the bodice came out~

This dot tulle was pricey, $9 a yard and I needed about 5 yards. Crazy!

Yes I really do love this bodice, haha!

Ruffles - the death of me. Mind you I ruffled them all BY HAND. Every single ruffle on this dress. I've yet to figure out the soft gather function on my new serger, though I don't think it'll give the look I want... I think I should invest in a ruffling foot soon. 

My first time doing waist ties. They came out so nice!

I initially had the edges of the waist ties left plain, but after looking a some detail shots of Angelic Pretty dresses, I was inspired to put a little ruffle edging on them. It's a nice touch.

I finally figured out how to make buttonholes with my sewing machine! It's tricky, since I have to do it manually with a single needle, but maybe I can figure out a simpler way soon. Also, the pearl heart buttons, cute!

I'm very happy with how it came out, and I know Lexie is going to love it too.

Next week I'm going to start on my personal project, the Virgin Mary JSK. I'd hoped to have started it sooner, as I start back classes in 2 weeks, but things just didn't go as planned. I'll try and find the time for sewing when I can when classes begin again, I do hope at least. I have so many ideas for things I want to sew but never enough time to do it. Sad reality, haha. 

I'll be starting my 3rd year at Fashion Institute of Technology, for my Bachelors in Fashion Design now. I'm excited! This is the Knitwear semester. Now and again I'll try and post school projects here too :)

Thank you for reading, and I hope I'll have one more completion for you all to see very soon.

Heads up to my readers: Shabby Fabrics is having a shipping promotion! Limited time only!

Just wanted to let my readers know that through this weekend Shabby Fabrics is having a shipping promotion! Here's a clip from the email they sent me...


We have plenty of great news for you today! For all US customers, shipping is Free through the weekend on ANY size order! For our International friends, shipping is 50% off which means postage is only $7 for every $100 of merchandise you purchase! (Additional shipping charges still apply for bulky items such as Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and Flannels! ) With the exchange rate so favorable and shipping costs this low, now is THE time to get all the fabrics you've been wanting! These discounted shipping rates will end Sunday, June 19th at midnight Pacific.


Link to the site!


And here's the two fabrics I bought~
 


We'll see later on what I plan on doing with them!
Shipping promotions are so my weakness, are they yours too?
If you buy something, comment and let me know what you got, and what you might think about doing with it! I'd love to know~

Recommend: Shabby Fabrics!

So today I thought I'd start with a new blog feature, my personal recommendations for your various sewing needs! I want to sort of broaden the scape of this blog a bit so I'll be able to post more often and make it more helpful to all my followers~

Later down the line I'd like to make a few tutorials as well. I think it's important for us to share what we discover while sewing and crafting. I learned so many of the things I know now through what other people had done; their discoveries as well as some of their mistakes! (You definitely do learn from your mistakes more than anything else)

So with that, let's begin with a fabric site that has my heart completely at the moment...

Shabby Fabrics

This site is like a haven for Classic and Sweet lolita fabrics! (I mean look at the site layout alone!) 

I was lead to this wonderful site through a fellow lolita seamstress on the Livejournal community sew_loli. She also wrote a very amazing and extensive review of her purchase with them here in this EGL post.  

Really, this site is just amazing. When browsing other fabric sites, I'm used to finding a few nice gems here in there in their "toile" or "floral" sections and such, and happening upon things randomly. 

I also do the bulk of my fabric shopping locally in the Fashion District here in New York City, and yes I do find fantastic things with some digging, and with checking many stores along the street (39th and 40th streets between 7th and 8th avenues is basically all a bunch of fabric and trim stores, if you're ever in the NYC area be sure to go check it out!) 

But Shabby Fabrics has so many great things all in one place! I can literally find about 10 different things I want to buy at once! The fabrics themselves are extremely inspiring. Many of them are Japanese imports as well, so even some of the major Lolita brands have used them, one being Innocent World!

I have many favorites, and though I cannot currently buy all of them, I'd like to get a few soon. Here are some of my current site favorites:

(Click the fabric images to go to their page on the site)

Yuwa 163 Yuwa Fabrics

Mary Rose Classic 2060-12C

Mary Rose Classic 2060-11E

Mary Rose Bella 1110-11C

Mary Rose Angel 2070-12C

Antique Rose 7241-T Lecien Fabrics

Mary Rose 1070R-12D Robert Kaufman Fabrics

And here's a tip, you can take the names of these fabrics and search them on other fabric sites in case they sell out here before you could buy, or if you want to try your luck with looking for a better price. Sometimes people on Ebay or Etsy sell their precut yardages for a little cheaper, so look out for those deals as well.

Now for my own recent purchase!

In my last entry I spoke briefly about it. I had a great buying experience, got my order quickly, and I was impressed by the quality of the fabric and print. 

Here it is paired with a solid ivory cotton I've had for a little while. Sadly this print is no longer available on the site (I believe I bought the very last of it since it was on sale)

And good news, I've finally come up with something I want to do with it! Right after I complete my Virgin Mary JSK, I'll begin work on a nice classical Onepiece dress. Here's the design I drew a couple days ago...

The main fabric will be the printed floral cotton, and the center panels of the front will be the ivory cotton with an overlay of ivory lace fabric that I've yet to purchase (sort of like a bridal lace). 

I hope this post was helpful to everyone! I'd love to see the things people make out of these fabrics as well, do share if you do!

I'm also happy to say I've reached the 100+ follower mark! Thanks everyone for supporting me!