Fabric Finds! New Shabby Fabric Prints + Share your Floral Creations with me!

I got lots of lovely input from friends and people all over the interwebs about the Toile Bustle Skirt from my last post! Everyone's wonderful comments made me so happy, and I'm glad people admire my work! I got feedback also from the Sew_Loli community on Livejournal, my personal Facebook, and Tumblr. I only hope to continue creating more beautiful things!

I sold the skirt to my friend, and fellow Lolita, Aly~ 

(visit her Lolita and aesthetic lifestyle blog here, Her Lumpyness)

When she finally has opportunity to wear it and shares photos I'll be sure to share them here.

Now to some fabrics!

I was recently browsing my favorite fabric website, Shabby Fabrics, that I've reviewed and raved about in the past, and they've released a really wonderful floral collection called Rosie's Love Letters.

They're beautiful florals, printed on quilters weight cotton, perfect for Classic or Sweet-Classic Lolita garments. I think the colors are divine, and I wish I could buy a few yards, but I still have much too much stuff hoarded from them to justify it!

So in turn I share it with all of you!

Here are some of my favorites...

(click the thumbnail to follow a link to the fabric page!)

 

 

 

I do think I love them all though! There are so many, ones for every style!

Also I must share a link list of all my favorite Shabby Fabrics floral collections! Be sure to check them all out my fellow seamstresses!

In no particular order...

Mary Rose Charlotte

Camilla

Kilala Antique Roses

Antique Flower

Mrs. March's

Or just check out all their florals by hovering over "View By Design" and clicking "Florals"

Their "Angels" category also always yields some lovely things!

So there's my quick little fabric post for you all, I hope you enjoyed! I also wonder if any other lolita seamstresses have used some of Shabby's prints in their recent lolita garments? I'd love to see pictures of some things you all have done if you have!

And even if its not from Shabby, let me see ways in which you have utilized florals! 

Floral prints are my favorite thing in Lolita (and outside of Lolita fashion as well), and I couldn't get tired of using them!

In small news, I've lowered prices on my Crocheted Flower Clips if anyone is interested! Please have a look, share with your friends who may be interested as well, I really need them gone!

The ivory toile skirt in this post is also still up for sale!

As always, thank you for reading, following me, and for all your admiration!

Robin's Egg Blue Bustle Toile Skirt Complete!

So it turns out I managed to crank out one more skirt before it was time to go back to school! Classes start Monday, and no I'm not too happy about that, but it is my final year and I plan to make the best out of it that I can. 

Anywho, now to my lastest creation!

But first a little back story...

A friend of mines bought this fabric online with the intent of having it for a dress she wanted. However, when she got it in the mail, she realized how big the motifs were of the toile, and also she didn't like the color, so the idea was scrapped, so in turn she passed the fabric along to me! (Turns out she has others thats she bought that she wants to pass along, man I couldn't ask for a better friend o.o! Will probably do a commission for her with some.)

I kept the fabric for well over a year in a drawer not really knowing what I was going to do with it, in fact that was the case with a multitude of printed fabrics that I had acquired. 

Note the evidence of my hoarding...

Just as an aside, from this pile, I've used two, this skirt being the top, my last skirt being the second, and the last one in the pile, Alexander Henry's Midnight Pastoral, being in progress for a JSK, more on that later. 

So I got some inspiration, figured out how to work something out. This fabric was a remnant, just over a yard in length, and the print was just...HUGE! Somehow I was able to cut it in a way that the motif was centered, and even matched along the side seams. I call that an accomplishment!

I got to work. There wasn't enough for a front and back of a skirt evenly, so I thought "Hmm, why not do a bustle back then?"

And that's what I did! 

Okay enough of my chatter, time for some finished pictures!

The Front

The print is a Braemore original (look up some of their prints, they are beautiful. Intended for home decor, but they work just as fantastically in lolita) 

I centered it nicely, and aren't the colors beautiful? My camera doesn't do it justice at all!

The front high waist. I decided to make the fabric in the center panel match the back bustles, it's a brown cotton woven. I used a beige poly soft and drapey rachel lace for an overlay. It's shirred and has ivory grosgrain ribbon lacing. As an extra detail, I ruched some lace on the princess lines. 

An upshot~

And now for the back, three brown cotton woven bustle ruffles with the same lace overlay. I really love lace overlay! I have a lot of this left, so I will probably be using it on like...everything!

The back waist is also shirred. This skirt is certain to be a comfortable fit, and fits a nice size range (26"~32" waist to be specific)

It kind of looks like it gets longer in the back but it doesn't really. Though the lace overlay hangs down a bit, and I kind of like that effect, it wasn't really intentional. Yay for awesome mistakes!

I'm very pleased with the outcome. This is definitely a favorite of mines in terms of the lolita garments I have made so far.

I should also mention that this is for sale!

First the sizing specs:

Waist: 26" ~ 32"

Length: 22" from waist

Fabric specs

Print - 100% Drapery Cotton

Lace - 100% Polyester

Brown - Poly-Cotton Blend Woven

Asking price: $180 + shipping and paypal fees

Email me at markt5e [at] aol [dot] com for inquires. 

Happily sold!

Thanks for looking! Hope you all like it!

Also I still have Crochet Flower Accessories up for sale in my previous post, prices are still very negotiable, don't be afraid to make an offer!

Sales Post: Handmade Accessories!

Hello everyone!

I've been busy busy working on stuff this month. I go back to classes in less than two weeks (yikes!), it'll be my Senior year of college (double yikes!), and what will probably be the most time consuming year of my young life!

Scary huh?

Well, I'm afraid to say I was a tiny bit lazy for most of the summer, and it's only now in August that I've gotten myself in gear. I really wanted to have more garments finished. Right now I'm working on another beautiful high waisted toile piece. I'll have some progression photos of that in my next post for everyone to see.

But first, a few other things I took the time to work on...

Crocheted Hair Flowers

I made so many, 12 total! All hand crocheted, hand sewn. They come in various styles and colors, and work well for Lolita, Morigirl, Dolly Kei, and any number of styles. The skys the limit! 

They all need good homes you see...

So if anyone is interested, I'm putting up a sales listing here!

Sales Info

All Sales Final

I'm shipping from Bronx, NY USA

I only accept Paypal.

Please email me with paypal info at markt5e [at] aol [dot] com to buy, do not post your paypal info publicly on the blog for safety reasons. 

Comment here on the blog first if interested, then follow up with an email please :)

When emailing, please use this format...

Subject: NAME OF CLIP(S) (i.e Pink A)

Body: Name of Clip(s) again, 

Price 

International or Domestic Shipping

Location

Total 

Paypal Address

Prices DO NOT include shipping and paypal fees. Here are my rates:

Domestic Shipping and PP Fees - $1.50

International Shipping and PP Fees - $3.50

Combined shipping - +$0.50

Also note that PRICES ARE NEGOTIABLE! :) Make an offer and I will consider!

Pink Flower Corsages, great for Lolita, Mori, Dolly/Cult Party Kei, and any other style.

Made with Cotton Baby yarn and various cotton based trims. ** NOTE: Pink A contains Wool yarns (in case you are allergic).

Pink A $12

Pink B $10

Pink C $8

Brown Flower Corsages, great for Lolita, Mori, Dolly/Cult Party Kei, and any other style.

Made with 100% Wool yarns, please note that for Allergy risks.

Brown A $12

Brown B $12

Brown C $10

Lilac Flower Corsages, great for Lolita, Mori, Dolly/Cult Party Kei, and any other style.

Made with Cotton Baby yarn and various cotton based trims.

Lilac A $10

Lilac B $12

Dolly Kei inspired Flower Corsages, but great for any other style as well!

Made with Cotton-Poly yarn and various cotton based trims.

Dolly A $10

Dolly B $10

Dolly C $6

Here's a reference photo of how each type attach, I use nickel plated alligator pins and brooch pins. The cheaper styles without felt backings have only the alligator pins, the felt backs have both, and the feathered ones only have alligator clips.

Again, PRICES ARE NEGOTIABLE! I really need to sell :)

Thank you for looking! Hope you all like them!

This is my first craft entry, hehe I'm a girl of various talents :D

I have sales feedback posts here:
http://eglfeedback.livejournal.com/632363.html
http://dixmacabre.livejournal.com/70612.html

Two completed skirts! Return after a long hiatus...

Hello everyone! Sorry again for the unannounced long absence! I seem to do this a lot, but I only like posting when I actually have things to show, and I hadn't for quite a bit. My past semester was rather busy...my first semester doing strictly children's clothing! At a later point, I will probably make a post with those garments.

But right now, I come with completed lolita skirts!

First, this Pink Seersucker Skirt I made for a friend of mines...

It's a fairly simplistic design, but I like it a lot. It will be very easy and versatile to coordinate. She likes it very much, and I'll be getting it to her soon. It was a long time in the making! She gave me the fabric, and asked if I could do anything with it. I kept the fabric in my closet for about a year, and then randomly I finally did something with it. I had it half finished around January, and abandoned it again, until I crunched and finished it up the past couple months. 

I need to stop doing that! From now on, I just need to push through and complete my projects!

I did the same thing with this skirt, started working on it intensely for 3 days, then dropped it for 3 weeks, and finally finished it today. (There will be no excuses with commissions though of course! But I haven't been doing any of those lately.) 

Anyway, photos ahoy!

Some information:

- It's shirred in the front and back, and zips at the side. Corset lacing at the front only and the back is plain.

- The fabric is a medium weight toile, and it isn't lined because I figure it would be too heavy, but the insides are fully clean finished of course.

- It's trimmed with crochet beading lace and antique while cotton lace on the hem.

Sizing: Fits a 28"- 32" waist max. Length is 22" from the waist.

Note: This has a little zip issue. I used an invisible zip, but you have to be careful when zipping. I notice with invisible zippers, sometimes theres trouble when zipping over the bulk of the waist (this even happens with many brand dresses). I think in the future, I will be using less of these and more regular zippers with a placket to avoid the zip difficulty. 

This is for sale! I may have some friends interested, but I'm opening it up to anyone!

My asking price right now is $120 + shipping, but it's negotiable!

Last but not least, I did a test coordinate with it! This is a Morigirl x Lolita Classical look. I think with the forest-like print of the fabric, it's suitable! I hope this inspires whoever decides to maybe buy this from me (or for your own sewing projects and personal coordinates!)

All other items are not made my me, besides the crocheted flower pin (and the skirt of course, lol)

The vest is from the morigirl brand Wonder Rocket, and the fur collar is off of one of my coats.

I love Morigirl x Lolita, it's my personal favorite way to wear Classic Lolita these days!

That's all for now everyone. I hope to have at least two more garments to show for before the summer ends! My fabric stash is still huge, I have a lot to get made. 

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 :)