Finished!!! And Crafting Videos

So I finished the garment for iSautner!  YAY!!!  She has been awesome an patience with me and I am really hoping she loves this pieces as much as I do.  I really want to make a second one for myself.  I also hope that it fits.  If not I will gladly make alterations as needed, but I think it will be ok :)
I am going to take some pictures of the garment for my portfolio, and I have previously asked iSautner if she would be comfortable sending pictures of her wearing the item.  I will not post pictures until iSaunter receives her parcel in the mail.  So excited!!! 
In other news my classes are almost over so I will have more free time to blog and complete more of my project checklist... which I don't think I have updated yet.  Anyway, i promised a selection of videos that I found on YouTube.  I have not gotten a chance to make any of these yet, but I want to.
The first video I came across by... Googling Pretty Little Victorian... I was curious about what would come up!  And this video came up, on how to make a fan with some materials, and this one piece I have no idea what it is, but I found one half of it in my house and I will be going to the hardware store to find out exactly what it is and I will let you know where you can find it!  Most of the other materials you can get at your local craft store or you can buy online.
Pretty Little Victorian Fan
This person also has a blog that you can check out :)
Second video is done by Sweet Vanity.  This is a tutorial on how to make a sleep mask.  I thought this was really cool because you can do so much with this and make different styles.  It doesn't even have to be Lolita related.  I want to see if putting lavender in the mask would be aright, but I am not going to advise it as I have no idea if having Lavender near your eyes might cause problems.  I will update you on that as I get the chance to research.  Just thought having scents, especially Lavender, would be neat.
Lolita Sleep Mask
Third is a Hat tutorial using a lamp shade so that you can get the small bottom, big top effect.  I saw one before (not using a lamp shade) and I could not do it no matter how hard I tried.  I am hoping that this will be easier, which it does appear to be.  I will try to add fabric to mine, therefore making it harder, but I just like a fabric covered hat.  Nothing against those who want to paint theirs!
Lolita Top Hat
That's it for today.  I do have some more videos to show you, but I will save that for a later blog post :)  Please email me with any questions and I will be happy to answer them here on the blog, or there are any tutorials you would like to see, or if you yourself have one online you would like to share! lolita_doll11@yahoo.com or lolitadoll1121@gmail.com
Hugs and Kisses,
PLV

Tea Time...

So for my project that I am redoing, I came up with a theme for my color inspiration book.  Tea.  I have created a Lady Grey Dress, and a Longjing Green Tea dress (Chinese Green Tea) dress design, and will make designs inspired by Chai, Camomile, Darjeeling, and Assam .  I will be making an Earl Grey to go with Lady Grey as well (He counts as his own tea!).  I really want to create the Longjing Tea Dress, the design is simple, but the print is crazy.  Most likely I will have to paint the design on because I do not have the money to have fabric costum made!

So as I said before, what I am making is a Color Book.  It's a book that has the colors I want to use and what inspired me to use them.  Tea has inspired me, and not just tea, but tea from other cultures.  In our project we could either do magazine clippings, or we could sketch designs.  I first did clippings, but decided that since I am doing my project over, I am going to sketch this time.  The only thing that makes me nervous is someone possibly stealing my designs, but I really want to impress my instructor since the project is coming in late and I need to make up for that!

For others who are interested in starting your own line or going into Fashion and design, I would recommend making these.  It's basically your ideas in a book that you would present to a distributor or someone who would possibly be interested in selling your line.  It's an easy way to make a collection as well, so long as you are staying with a certain theme.  Will I post pictures?  I don't know, I say that I will do a lot of things :P  So lets just see how this goes!

Well, my break is up and I still haven't worked on my project yet today... Kinda need to get a move on that.  Don't forget to submit for the contest! Take advantage of the extension!

Hugs and Kisses,

PLV

Dress Update... from a while ago....

I think it is safe to say that I have hit the halfway mark on the dress.  I sadly do have to stop after I attach the sleeves because I do not have enough lining for the bottom half.  However the tough part is over and it was well worth all the effort that I put into the dress!  You have no idea how badly I want to post pictures of it now, but I want to wait until I have finished the dress.  Once this dress is done, I will be making another dress, only this time documenting each step.  I will also have a pattern made up so that you can make your own too!  A few select people have seen it (Mason... Ren) and I hope that everyone else likes it as much as they did too.

Now this is my first time lining anything... I think I might have said that before but I think it is needed that I say it again.  That being said, I might not have done it the correct way (but it still is coming out awesome so I am doing something right!).  Before I document the second dress, I will do research... I know, I know "Why didn't you do the research before you made the first dress?"  I guess it's that little bit of vindication I like to feed, and testing myself if I can figure it out on my own or not.  Personally I think this dress is coming out successful.  It's going to be my my afternoon tea dress :)

I am even putting my initials on the skirt of the dress, L. D.  I am so excited!  It's my frirst real dress that I designed and I am making it!  It looks a little different from the design since I found more materials for it, but for the most part it is staying true to the design.  Here is a picture so you can at least see the design and get an idea of what it will look like!



I am already making little hat design in my head to match the dress.  Speaking of my little hats, my job gave my permission to wear them at work (just not the OOT ones).  My one manager says to me "That little thing is a hat?!" sounding rather surprised lol  I got a lot of really good compliments about them, and it makes me want to make more of them.  I am just worried that soon I will have too many hats and then will need to start giving them away... if only I had loyal readers that were interested... Etsy didn't really work out well for me, and trying to sell on EGL... yeah, that didn't go so well either, so now I am just making everything for me and not worrying about trying to sell them, unless I leave Lolita or I really need to clean out my closet/hat boxes.

Dress = FAIL!!!

Ok... so I didn't mess up on how I cut the fabric, but I did forget something very important... I did not wash the fabric before cutting.  So now I have two options.  1.  Continue making the dress with the current fabric.  2.  start over again with new fabric that will be different from the original.

If I go with option 1 I will then need to get the dress dry cleaned, or at the least wash it and let it drip dry.  Option 2 gives me the chance to make this dress over again in a different color and this way I will know that the fabric will not shrink on me... I think I forgot to tell you that my main concern was that the fabric would shrink.

I think I am going to go ahead with option 1.  Worse thing that happens is that I make a second dress with the other fabric.  On the plus side, once I get this dress done I should feel more confident in making another.  I have a lot of fabric and a few dress ideas that I could use my fabric for.

Hopefully I will be posting new pictures soon!

Busy Bee

Buzzzzz buzzzzz.... ok, so that might be more annoying than cute.

So, I have been working on a few projects!  I just finished a pair of bloomers and they look really cute!  I have a picture of me wearing them... but I have no idea if it would be appropriate for me to post that... With the top I am wearing they just look like fluffy shorts...  and I look cute in the picture, but I don't want to offend anyone by posting it so I wont unless you really want to see them.

Bloomers aside, I am finally finishing that hat box!  I am not going to post pictures of it just yet because it is not done yet.  I have still painting the outside of it and then once that is done I will be making a lining for the inside.  If this continues to go well, I will make hat boxes for all my hats!... that is going to be a lot of boxes in my room.

So... now that I have made the bloomers... I am going to work on the dress that I said I was going to work on but only put it off...  Today is the day that I finally cut the fabric... I'm so nervous... really, what if this comes out looking like crap?  Or I make it too small?... well if I make it too small I am sure someone else will want it so long as it would fit them properly and I didn't make a massive piece of crappy-frill.

Well, I should go work on that since I am now being kicked off the computer.  Stay pretty and pray that I don't fudge this up...

-Lolita Doll 11

Cupcake Purse!

Ok, so I keep trying to load the picture of my new purse on FB but for some reason it is not taking it.  Grrr Facebook!  But that is ok because I can show it off here!

It was actually not that hard, but it does not look as polished as I would like for it to look.  Either way, I have a cute purse now to go with my skirt!  Hoping to make a headpiece to go with it soon now too.  But first, I am fighting off a cold or something.  Check in with everyone later!

-Lolita Doll 11

Finally Finished!

So my JSK is finally finished.  I might add a bow in the back later, but as of now, this piece is being labeled done, and I am checking it off the list!  It is so cute and I love everything about it!  If I wasn't so tired, I would be posting pictures but I am very tired.  I still have some fabric left over and I plan on making a head piece and matching purse.  The only thing I am worried about the purse is that it will not make the shape that I want, but we shall have to see.  This of course will have to be worked on later as I have recently acquired even more donations of fabric!

As much as I really want to work on another skirt, I might be putting that on the back burner.  Me and some friends want to go to Otakon, and I am going to be doing my first group cosplay (its a group of 3 but still).  I'm so excited for this group rp, its going to be epic!  I plan on working on my costume asap.  So our first group cosplay is going to be Vocaloid (actually, I have no idea what the line-up is going to be).  As much as I love Rin, I might end up doing another character.  Maybe a guy since I have the height, I will have to take a look and see which ones would be best suited for me.  The next is My Little Ponies.... Don't look at me like that!  It was a part of my childhood, and after watching the show I have decided I am Fluttershy!  And I plan on making a Fluttershy Lolita inspired cosplay.  I have seen it done before, but hopefully I can rock it better!  As for our last group cosplay... I want to keep it a secret.  I'm so excited for it!  I get to dress up as the character that basically started my downward spiral of nerdy-geek-anime-fun-loving-ness.  So I need to figure out what I want to work on First.  Probably Fluttershy as her costume will be the easiest to make (minus the wings... I might buy those... depends on how much time and money I have.)  As for my Vocaloid Costume, Akita is taken and I am not sure who my other friend is dressing as.  I did Rin The Daughter of Evil, and that was fun, I still have the costume.

Well, it is time to sleep and then after that it will be time to get up and do more sewing!  I will post pictures soon of my JSK!  Cannot wait to show it off!

-Lolita Doll 11

Project listing for 2012... In no real order.

Hi everyone!  I thought I would map out a few things I would like to get started on once the new year starts!  I am going to be documenting each project (or at least try to remember to document), showing what I am making and how I am making it.  So if there is an item on this list that interests you be sure to keep checking for updates.

Sew Projects for 2012
Matching belt and clutch purse (and anything else I can make out of remaining fabric)
 More Lolita Hats and Hair clips  Completed a lot and still going!
Hat Boxes (for the Lolita Hats)  Completed 1
Finger-less gloves
Handkerchief (The Green Lolita)
Masks
Winter cape (I have actually been trying to work on this for a while, just been finding a lot of issues)
Lolita Skirts  Completed 3
Lolita Dress (must be done before the summer!)
Bloomers   Completed 2!
Teddy Bear toy
Ties, for men, women and children (I will include a link to a very good tutorial on Youtube!)  Completed one woman's tie
Fairy Costume
Jewelry
Bedding (this will have to be after the summer).
Steampunk Goggles

So what is my goal by doing this?  Well I am hoping that by doing this I am doing something more than just staring at a box for the rest of my life.  When I get older, and I am holding something in my hands that I made,  I want look back on it and go "Hey, I did this!"  I'm not looking to get rich by making and selling these pieces (because I plan on wearing and using most of them and if I don't, giving them away as gifts).  I do have an Etsy account... but I'm not really selling my items for very much, so I wont really make a profit off of them.  I might put a few more items that I make online, but if I do sell them I am going to sell them for how much it cost to make them, for the time being.  If the Etsy store picks up I might think about rising my prices but for right now I just want to make stuff and be happy knowing that whoever buys them will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

There is another reason why I am giving myself such a task.  This past Christmas, I gave my niece a sewing machine.  Nothing fancy, its a simple crafting sewing machine.  I want to use this project list as something the both of us can work on and its a learning experience for her.  She is a very smart girl and I expect that she will pick up everything really quickly.  No one taught me to sew, not like in a classroom.  I learned from watching friends and they showed me the very basics.  After that I read and looked up online.  That was helpful, and every time I sew I do notice that I am getting better and better at it.  I only wish that I had become interested in sewing at a younger age.  The point though isn't about how I didn't know how to sew before, but that I know now and I am doing something with it.

Well, that is it for today.  If you have any suggestions on project ideas or questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!  Thanks!

-Lolita Doll 11