The Story Sew Far - Lolita Sewing

I've always loved sewing and crafting and now that I've finished university I actually have time to sew for myself. Luckily with Lolita fashion sewing and crafting fits right in. Sewing is such a joy to me but also as a tall person it allows me to indulge in the fashion and have a better fit at the same time. I definitely want to craft and sew a lot more this year especially in a Japanese fashion sense so expect plenty more posts, but first I want to show you all I've already completed this year. 

I joined a Facebook sew-a-long for my first project which was a basic elasticated skirt. Skirt length is something I suffer with a lot and I usually have to wear an underskirt with to get the correct lolita length and with wanting more causal pieces this was a nice project for me. There was an optional theme of valentines which I planned to do, I also added old school and winter too which lead to me to create this

The skirt was so much fun to make, as you can see I stuck with the materials I chose from my little drawing at the top but once I started to work with the tartan I realised that with the pattern doing the heart applique I planned would of been too much and I wasn't too fussed with losing this detail. I experimented with bow shapes and sizes and made a couple bows to go with it in the tartan and the mock poodle (sheepskin?) faux fur. I am really happy with how the skirt and bows turned out, to me it's a really nice old school girly looking piece and I was kind of inspired by the Angelic Pretty Candy Chan to add the fur trim around the bottom. 

You might of also peeked behind my hime hair that I made a capelet to be a set with my skirt. I reversed the fabric choice as I barely had any tartan left but it also balances out the tartan pattern as well. The cape pattern is from Otome no Sewing 5 which I graded up to my own measurements. This pattern is a real pleasure to sew and takes no time at all, I finished it in a day, a rather busy day where I didn't have full attention to it but it was really relaxing for me. I hope you don't mind the jeans in this photo I put it on quickly as I realised my hime hair hid it all before! These pictures are also before I bought a super poof petticoat in a proper length for my height so I definitely want to wear this again and get better pictures. 

This cutsew was another sew along on Facebook. the sew alongs started with more simple projects and increase in difficulty, however this ends up with some really good staple projects first. I had no cutsews before this and really wanted to do some more casual lolita looks so this was a must. As I wanted to wear this with a cardigan I decided to keep it simple with the sleeves but do a chiffon ruffle collar and hem which I've seen a lot on other cutsews. The top doesn't look so good on the mannequin and as it's slightly big but fits lovely on me. 

This was a really cheap project as well, since I was experimenting with what to do for my cutsew I bought two tops from Primark to play with and the chiffon and flower embroidery I already had so all together this project probably only cost me £5/6. I need to make some bows to go on the neckline with this top as the neck ruff is quite full and dramatic and needs something large to balance it off with it so they're on the to do list.

I don't just sew though, I picked up my knitting again when I saw this yarn at the art group I go to. The yarn is mohair and has a lovely sheen to it, but also has a gold thread through out it too which is overspun in parts to create the slub look seen on the headbow. I decided to knit a headbow to go with a dress I have which is offwhite with small gold details on it, I got the dress second hand without a head bow so I desperately needed something to wear with it.

WIP

I've been bitten by the knitting bug. So after picking up knitting and doing a stockinette stitch headbow I thought I would jump right in and do a preppy jumper! The pattern is Sirdar 7769 and I've used a really nice yarn with a holographic thread running through it called Hayfield (Sirdar) bonus glitter yarn Dk in Fairy dust and a plain pink for the belt in Hayfield bonus yarn DK iced pink. The glitter yarn is really nice and not scratchy at all, the glitter is more holographic which suits the pink well.

You start with the back piece and it is knitted flat rather than in the round which is nice for a beginner. I've had many learning moments when knitting this and a giggle at how easy it was after I worried about it for so long.

I'm currently half way ish through the front which I'm knitting much quicker now especially once I got past the ribbing area. I think the sleeved pattern would be really good for lolita so I might knit this again in white and pink for winter.

So there all the projects I have done/doing so far, I have really enjoyed being able to do these projects and can't wait to do more. These projects also prove that it doesn't have to be expensive, all the sewing projects were under £10 each, the jumper is a bit more but it looks like I will have some of the yarn spare which can go to future crafting. Stay tuned for more of my sewing and crafting updates.

Blog Soon

Amy 

A Very Disney Clothing Haul - Primark

Hi cuties

I'm quite excited to be doing this post today as it's one of our first proper blog posts since we've come back to blogging. Recently me and my sisters went to Nottingham where there is a huge Primark which basically is a shop of affordable clothing and home wear. Primark have been doings lots of Disney clothing and cute bedroom stuff too so we like to keep going back so we don't miss out. Luckily as I said it's pretty cheap so it's not so bad on the wallet.

Did we say Disney? Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite Disney films and seeing this top with all of the Hawaiian flowers just felt so summery and cute. It's more of a crop top and I'm thinking of wearing it with some cute high waisted jeans if it's a bit cooler or pair it with some shorts for a cute simple look. Amy bought this really cutesy Disney logo night shirt that she plans to wear as a long line top (perfect for us as we're tall!). It's in her favorite colours baby blue and pink and to be honest I can just imagine it in a Japanese fashion magazine. 

Another one of Amy's buys. So this was more of a necessity buy but sis really loved the shape and that they're oversized. The little pearl detail around the edges gives them a glamorous touch.

Here's a tall person tip. If you struggle finding tights that fit nicely or are long enough try buying a larger size. Primark's tights actually work for us best compared to more expensive shops too! So I actually bought two of those polka dot heart tights and I love them so much! So cutesy and pretty cheap for what they are. Amy bought the butterfly tights for a future lolita look so make sure to look out for that. But seriously it was such a lucky find. They will go with her dress perfectly and you wouldn't expect to see this design just out in a normal shop.

So I had pick up some face masks. They're not Korean and are the Primark brand but they worked pretty well! I've used the one on the right which was more of a cleansing one and also used the one in the middle which are just some simple cooling eye pads. Both were pretty nice, I haven't used a cleansing sheet mask before so I really wanted to try them out, the eye pads are kind of simple but just what I wanted.

So this was one of the main reasons we went to Primark. They recently released some Disney princess false lashes. We only picked up Ariel's as some were a bit more simple or not the style of lash we'd go for. They remind us of more of a casual gyaru lash so it's something we can try for more of a casual look.

This was just a quick buy that I wanted to show as they're cute. I've really been wanting some glittery shiny lip gloss to use as a topper or just on their own as I don't really feel like wearing matte lipstick for summer. I like that they have a sponge top so they'll be easier to apply.

And that's our haul! A little small, which is good! We wanted to pick up some Disney things and start to get ready for summer! 

What is one of the things you've bought recently which is your fave?

Clairey xxx

A Re-Introduction

Hi Everyone!

Recently me and my twin (yes! Were twins~) had got the blogging urge inside of us again. It's been a quite a long time since we were last blogging and a we've grown and changed quite a bit since then. 

The blog kind of lost it's way in it's last posts as we were losing our way too with our love of Japanese fashion and what we wanted to do in the future. It was after our last Hyper Japan (a Japanese fashion and culture convention in London.) we both didn't know what to wear and threw away our planned outfits and had an honest chat with each other. At the time we just didn't feel a connection with what we were doing and decided to take a step back, and be in the moment more. To open our eyes to new things which was exactly what we did. It was actually that fateful day where Amy bought her first Otome no Sewing (a lolita sewing pattern mook.) 

So fast forward a few years, what are we doing now? We both rekindled our passion and love for Japanese fashion. We feel more confident in our own styles as we explored along the way. Claire dabbled with a few different Japanese fashion styles on the more cuter side before finding that she loves more expressive street fashion vibe, with a lot of the vibes coming from Gyaru fashion. Claire's also been trying to incorporate more street fashion and Gyaru styles in her everyday wardrobe and being more true to herself and playing with makeup and hair too. Amy ran off with her Otome no Sewing and began sewing aiming for the Hime style but landed in sweet territory, she also took of all her Gyaru make to do neutral 'lolita' make up. Through time she realized what her tastes are more settling on Hime, Old school and generally more of a girly style of sweet lolita as well for casual days. Oh she also brought back some of her old Gyaru tricks with make up and coordination skills and continues to sew and craft to this day.

So what can you expect to see on this blog? This blog will be a joint twin blog with Claire posting on Wednesday and Amy posting on Saturday both of us have different styles in Japanese fashion so you can expect something different from each post!

From Claire you can expect posts with more street fashion style. I'm very into makeup so you can expect beauty hauls and my thoughts on them. I'll be doing looks and styling posts and I'm also excited to be doing some more fashion DIY posts like patching and pinning my jackets up. I'll also be posting about some kawaii independent brands but as well of cute buys you can get on the high street as not everything can be from Japan and you'll be surprised what you can find!

From Amy you can expect posts that are more Lolita fashion based as I grow my fledgling Lolita wardrobe into a healthy one. You can expect looks and hauls as I try out new brands but also a lot of sewing and crafting posts as well.

We're both so excited for this blog again and already have a month worth of posts planned out and ready to go, seriously we've plotted them on a calendar! We have mostly cleaned out our old posts for a new start but left a few up that we think might be helpful. To keep things clear we made an about us page and we also will sign off on each post with who wrote it as things start to merge together when you are close twins.

Blog soon
Claire and Amy x