Adventures in Sewing: Poofy Sleeves

On the tag it is listed as 'White'. I think I know why it was in the thrift store.

I found a pink blouse in a thrift store awhile back with poofy sleeves done like a bubble skirt. And I fell in love. I bought this blue cotton awhile back (same shopping trip lol) because it was cute and in a fabric store I only get to every couple six months though I had no project in mind for it (which is bad, then it sits around not doing anything) and about a week ago I realized I wanted a lolita-ish shirt dress made out of that fabric with poofy sleeves like that pink blouse. But as I've never done it before I figured I'd make a white blouse from the left over eyelet from my eyelet bloomers and mob cap. It turned out well so I thought I would share a quick tutorial.

Please excuse my mad paint skillz, forgot to take a pic of this part.

Cut out the regular sleeve piece, this will go on the inside so it is needed. Now for the outer part which is the pooftastic part, fold your fabric in half, then fold your sleeve part piece in half and place it a few inches from the fabric fold. Cut it out!

And it only took me 2 hours to get to this point! *dies*

Now sew down the seam and press it. Yes press it. Pressing is the key to good sewing.

This feels so easy!

Slide the inside/smaller part into the larger/outer part so it peeks out just a smidge then pin the together once at the seams. This will give you a guide for how to pleat the outer piece.

Another hour later...

Now start pleating. I do one pleat on one side and then mirror it on the other until they meet at the top/polar from the seam. You'll also want to pleat starting an inch or two away from the seam and make them deeper/bigger pleats as you go. This will help reduce the mass of poof under your arm which makes things more comfortable. Once you've got it nice and slightly tight around the inside piece take out the pin holding the two seams together and slide out the inside piece.

Nothing more zen then the hum of the sewin- holy shit it shot a needle at me! Time to clean the bobbin casing...

Now sew down the pleats. I know you're supposed to do the pins at a 90o angle but I'm used to doing them exactly where my needle needs to go so I know where to sew. Do whichever works for you.

You can already see the poof. It shouldn't look as poofy as mine at this stage since I put waaay too much poof in.

And slide the inner sleeve in and pin it in place.

Tralalala sewin- Goddamn it quit spitting needles at me! I just cleaned your bobbin casing like you wanted!

Sew it together.

I purposely cut and pleated the sleeve so it would have an eyelet border. That's why it took so long.

It'll look like this.

Then flip it inside out, repeat the pleating process on the other end then you can sew that sucker in like a normal sleeve.

Hopefully your shirt is not this short. That's what happens when working with scraps.

And that's (part of) how you get yourself a shirt like this. I used two layers of eyelet in the main body of the shirt to keep a similar opaqueness to the sleeves. And I used the slight bit of the business end of the eyelet I had left to make one of the layers of the double collar.

Also, I have an OotD. Today is a picture release of a new toy and in hopes of it being my favorite character (50% chance) I made a coord based off the basic design of the character.

My Corvette love bleeds into Transformers...

Outfit

Bow: Claire's

Pearls: Glass

Blouse: Offbrand

JSK: Converse One Star

Belt: Offbrand

Leggings: Offbrand

Boots: Offbrand (Kohl's)

Gloves: Offbrand (and lined with rabbit fur, so lovely)

I'm also realizing that my Chanel Dragon lip lacquer may not have been the closest match for the triumphal red I was going for. Whoops.

Edit: He was the one revealed today! Evil universe and therefore red but yay. :3

Life and Times of a Lifestyle Lolita: Some Pointy Shoes

Of all the comments I have overheard about my attire, the pointiness of my boots when in full lolita is one I have not heard prior to Saturday before last and one I didn't really expect.

Same outfit as the last one since it was the same day.

Loli Music!

Is there any music you listen to that gets you in the mood for Lolita, or any bands you like that have have a Lolita flair to them?

Hatsune Miku!

I guess all the Vocaloids but Miku especially. The songs can be so cute and in a lot of the videos she has super cute outfits. She’s just CUTE! And cute puts me in a loli mood, even though I don’t really dress Sweet.

My current fav three songs:



Yule and Giveaway over at Reality Will Kill You

Like my Yule "Log"? Despite living in rural Texas there aren't many trees on my property. I always figured it was better to stick with the from your property/given to you/cannot buy it part than the log part. Plus it'll be easier to burn on Candlemas. The shadowy thing at the back is an evergreen spray with bayberries for the whole evergreen decoration since... technically I think I was supposed to burn the Yule Twigs on Yule and then the evergreens on Candlemass. But I still have a small problem of no good place to burn anything here to figure out. Hm. And I'm having no luck finding some holly for the door so I went with a glittery holly pick from Michael's.

Also didn't get any pics of the either the Yule log cake I made for last night (Yule was 11:30pm my time) nor the one I made and brought into work. I admit they weren't that pretty anyways but seeing as they were cinnamon cake with honey cream cheese filling and fudge frosting they were absolutely delicious.

And here is today's coord:

Headband: Offbrand (Claire's)

Blazer: Handmade

Lapel Pin: Mechanical Kingdom, Ludwig von Drake

Top: Offbrand

JSK: AatP Operalia Bouquet

Jersey Leggings: Offbrand (wish they covered the tops of my feet) 

Shoes: Offbrand (Liz Clayborne)

There's also a give away going on over at Reality Will Kill You's blog, I personally am hoping to win it for those cute socks!

http://realitywilkillyou.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-give-away.html

Yule Coord (Day 1)

Yule/Brumalia starts today so I decided to be a little festive. But it will still be easy to bustle about tonight since I put off making the Yule logs (both cake and alter ones) and as is the case every year I'm still have trouble finding some real holly. But I shall persist. And the sweater will keep me warm tonight while carolling and toasting cider. And I swear my hair doesn't look quite that derpy in real life.

Headband: Offbrand (Claire's)

Top: Offbrand

Skirt: Handmade

Jersey Stirrup Leggings: Offbrand (Target)

Socks: Offbrand (Target)

Shoes: Offbrand (Liz Clayborne)

Watch: Offbrand (Target, Men's)

Purse: Offbrand (Walmart and the only thing bought this season in this outfit)



Life and Times of a Lifestyle Lolita: Awkward Grocery Shopping

Because it is fun to illustrate some of the things that happen while in lolita.

That awkward moment when you decide to wear a capelet just 'cause and keep running into people from work. At least that's what kept happening last Saturday.

And I was wearing this, but with pearls in place of the chain and the collar just laying flat and a diff blouse with pintucks instead of ruffles:

Also, I'm starting to wish I ordered the red version of that in my last Bodyline order since I've kind of fallen in love with that in red. Oh well.

Happy Saturnalia!

As per tradition I am spending it with friends. And dressing up in lolita since holidays, if nothing else, deserve frills and lace.



FYI Bodyline Shipping Sale

$5 shipping, airmail at Christmas time so it'd be something you'd probably get after the new year but that isn't a bad shipping price.

They also finally restocked on a skirt I have been wanting for just about forever:

L120

I got the red. Hopefully the vest and underskirt are still removable like they previously were since that vest is awesome. Tempted to get all three colorways but at some point Bodyline decided to start getting expensive. There's supposed to also be a Christmas sale going on but I didn't see it.

So yeah, I'll have a happy post sometime in the next 4 to 17 days.

Although can anyone tell me about the whole declarations thing? I know it is to save on possible customs fees but what kind of risk does one run by claiming their stuff is only worth 25% of what you paid?

New Loli Trend Please?!

Saw this in the NY Times and all I could think was if this had a hood and was done in some great colors (like olive/hunter/british racing green!) it would be an amazing piece of outerwear for lolita coords. And it would be great to port into everyday wear too. :3