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