Sewing Knits for Winter Gyaru Style + OOTD

 

Hello cuties!
Wow it's been busy lately and a lot has happened but that's December for you 🎄 It's truly winter now and that means knits! And with Clairey and I wanting to sew more clothes for ourselves (and a massive stash of fabrics shaming us 😅) it was time to sew our on knit tops. Clairey and I have been buying lots of fabrics and had some gorgeous knit fabrics that we only got for £1 per metre which we just had to use!

So I dived head first to look for inspiration!

I looked at D.I.A (of course) and they have so many examples using knit fabrics but I really fell in love with this turtle neck sleeveless sweater the most 💖 I then looked at my patterns to see what I could use and settled on this McCall's M8219.

Not an exact match but with arm warmers and a snood it would give the same look and be more flexible with my wardrobe 👚

I bought this pattern as the crossover top is such a staple in gyaru fashion! So many brands use this design it's just all about the fabrics. This is a D.I.A example but it reminds me of Golds Infinity as well 💕

First I made up a sample, this is my second sample, the first one was way too short 🙈 Which is why you make up samples!

 When making this sample, I completely had to change the instructions as it doesn't expect you to have an overlocker/serger. Also they didn't have some steps that would make sense such as top stitching the facing so it sits better. I would recommend this pattern to people who already sew and would know to do some things better then what the pattern suggests but it isn't a perfect pattern. I would use it just for the pattern pieces, but even then I would alter them to make them fit perfectly.

I borrowed Clairey's Glavil arm warmers to take a pattern from to make my own ruched armwarmers, as the D.I.A ones look slouchy as well. I never took proper photos of this top but the gold is super sparkly and glittery in real life ⭐ 

After lengthening the patterns it was on to the our final pieces, Clairey also joined me to make her own crop top version which you can make with this pattern as well 👩👩

This is what I created 👚The fabric I chose has sheer stripes across it which I love playing with. I created this snood based of what I think was a novelty gift or lucky pack zip snood from D.I.A and chose this bright blue zip for it. I pulled the fabric as I was sewing it to create a ripple effect which I love how it came out. I'm so happy with the end result and feel like I created something similar to my inspiration but all my own 💗 I didn't even use all the fabric so I'd say for all of this I probably only spent £2.00 with the zip.

I matched my eyeshadow to the colour of my top and went for a neutral lip to balance out the teal. Also you can see my twin tattoo fully healed now yay, currently got a new thigh tattoo healing which I hope to complete in January 🥀  

And here's Clairey! 💖 Claire was more inspired by the fabric rather than a specific inspiration pic or garment. Not sure if you can properly see but the fabric is this gorgeous sheer distressed knit fabric which really gave her a rokku/ane gyaru feel. Clairey has been really into Ghost of Harlem lately as it has that grunge feel that she tried to channel into this project! We had to change up her instructions for the pattern but she's really happy with the end result! Was a nice easy sew and gives off that sexy distressed feel she was after! 

The only thing she will do next time is do more of a cross over and not do what the pattern suggests. As we said before, the pattern instructions weren't that great 😅

Clairey decided to style the top more tsuyome with this look which shows how versatile the top can be ^^ She could layer up this look for more of a grungy Ghost of Harlem feel.  I think in total it cost around £1.30 to make! 

Clairey and I have already chosen the next pattern we are going to make together! Something obviously super gal inspired and may be a bit more winter appropriate 😂

We hope you gals are having a not so hectic December! And if we do not blog before we hope you have a happy Christmas, Hanukkah and Festive holidays! 

Amy xx