[coord] belated summer sailor lolita

 This was the coord I was going to post for summer International Lolita Day except I was doing something else at the time and posted an old coord instead. I love Metamorphose's sailor lolita items, they usually release one banger dress a year as sailor/military seems to be one of their specialties. I ordered this dress  new but the pandemmy progressed and I never had a chance to wear it out and even if I did, I have second thoughts about wearing a white dress outside or to eat lol. I didn't even get to order the matching accessories (they were sold out by the time I remembered) and so I made do with DIY and offbrand stuff.

 

[Dress: Metamorphose; hat: handmade; bracelets and rings: offbrand; socks, hairclips: Forever 21; other hairclip: Liz Lisa; shoes: Secret Shop]

Ignore the sloppy salute, it's bad, I know. Anyway, not much to say about this coord other than I wish I had bought the matching hairpiece, cuffs and socks, but I think flipping it to white stripes on navy is pretty interesting and unexpected and I kinda like it. I sewed the hat myself from Otome no Sewing volume 3. The socks have a little anchor on them. The dress colorway is actually off-white and looks a little dirty and grubby on the seams to me, but through the magic of photography filters, the whites and navys don't look so mismatched in the photo lol.

Most of my dresses aren't A-line, they usually have a seam at the waist and lots of puff for the cupcake look or just an empire-waist babydoll sack cut. A-line dresses may not always fit you perfectly if you don't have the ideal shape (see my nurse dress), but luckily this dress has shirring and back lacing and waist ties and fits me so neatly. Plus the two deep pockets? A rare Meta win!

[diy tutorial] Precious Bbyz cutsew from a regular t-shirt how-to

 I was feeling inspired and generous watching thrift flips on Insta/Youtube and I attempted a lolita style cutsew tutorial for you that is doable and not nonsense. If you have a t-shirt with a cute print that you  don't want to wear as a baggy unisex shirt anymore, this is an easy tutorial for you to dress it up but still be comfortable (unlike some lolita fashion cutsews ahem.)

Materials:

- a unisex short sleeve t-shirt that fits across the torso but is too long (from Precious Bbyz!)

-1/8 or 1/4 inch elastic (depends on your sleeve hem)

-thread, a regular sewing machine (no serger/overlock needed), pins, scissors, ruler

Steps:

First, get your t-shirt that fits you across the shoulders and bust, but is too long. This is not a resizing tutorial despite some shirring in the back so it does have to mostly fit already.

Mark where the shirt hits at your natural waist and add an inch (for lolita) or crop it up higher or lower if you want. The cut-off portion will make your ruffle so you want at least 4.5 inches cut off at the bottom (to make a 2 inch ruffle as in my shirt). Also carefully cut off the ribbed collar at the neck, that can be thrown away. Cut off the very bottom hem close to the double-stitching line to use as binding for the new collar.

Cut the cut-off bottom portion in half lengthwise to make 2 long tubes of cloth. Then cut the tubes apart at one end and sew the short ends right sides together to make one very long strip. This is your ruffle, proceed to hem one edge (because you cut off the original hem already) by folding over once. Since knits don't really fray, you don't need to fold over twice, I prefer it folded once so the material retains its flexibility.

For the collar, we are using the original bottom hem as the new collar to replace the ribbed collar we cut out.  You do need to finish the neckline so it doesn't stretch out and curl and get worn down, and the bottom hem which could not be used in the ruffle is perfect for this.  You can use the hem as is and just sew it on the collar right sides together, then press the collar up and topstitch the seam allowance down, just make sure you stretch the collar while sewing to keep the collar lying smooth against your collarbones (that was my first mistake lol). Alternatively, you can use my method to "neatly" cover the unfinished edge.  Undo the stitching on the original bottom hem and unfold it so you have a long strip of fabric with a fold down the length, which is now your makeshift bias binding. For either collar option, measure the length of your new widened neckhole and decrease it by 90% and then add seam allowance overlap of one-half inch, and cut the bottom hem to that length, and most importantly, make sure to evenly stretch only the collar as you sew it to the body of the shirt. If you're using my bias binding method, sew right sides together of your makeshift bias binding to the collar, then fold over using the original fold as a guide, then stitch in the ditch from the front to secure the back of the binding to the shirt. Note, you do not need to fold the back of the binding again like you do with wovens because knit fabric won't fray, hooray.

For the sleeves, you want to puff the sleeves for a lolita style cutsew, but since the shirt mostly fits you, the sleeve isn't big enough to make a truly gargantuan puffy sleeve. But I like to use the hem of the sleeve as a casing for elastic and this does add a little puff to your sleeve. The same as in my previous tutorials, I cut small slits on the inner sides of the sleeve hem right by the seam and then thread a thin elastic (I used 1/8 inch elastic from Daiso back when I made masks that are now no longer recommended) through the hem and then sew the elastic ends together. The elastic should fit comfortably around your bicep when flexed, and since the original sleeve is a little wider than that, there should be a small bit of puff when you finish.

Back to the peplum ruffle, gather the ruffle in your preferred way and pin to your shirt bottom hem right sides together. Sew down with a straight stitch. Flip your ruffle down the correct way, press the seam allowances up and topstitch the seam allowances to the blouse. This will keep your ruffle from flipping up while wearing. You can also overlock/zigzag the unfinished ruffle edges but if you topstitched, you won't need to since it won't fray past the topstitching.

Finally, if you want the fit to be a little more fitted, but don't want to mess with cutting up the sides of the shirt, you can add a little shirring elastic on the back. This will only take in the width by one or two inches, though.  Mark where you want the shirring on the shirt. Cut a piece of thin elastic that is at least once inch shorter than between those markings. Pin one end of elastic at your marking and you can start sewing it down while you pull the elastic to meet the other marking. Don't stretch the fabric, only stretch the elastic.

 

You're done! Now you have a cute top that is perfect to wear with jeans or shorts or lolita skirts, with a breezier neckline and cute girlish details. I purposely made this cutsew to highlight the print and be comfortable and easy to wash and use no other materials, so no elaborate ribbons or fake collars like in my previous cutsew tutorials. But you could easily make a square neckline and add ribbons to tie across like the old-school lolita styles, just make sure you have enough of the bottom hem saved to bind the neckline. You could forgo the peplum ruffle and sew the ruffle to the sleeves instead, or use the cut off scraps to make ribbons or bows. So many options, all comfortable and relatively easy to do.

If you have an overlocker or serger, and an actual twin needle or elastic stitch setting on your machine, you can get much more professional results than my regular machine, but since the new neckline should be big enough to fit over your head and the waist doesn't need to stretch too much, a regular straight stitch works.

If you want to see the very speeded-up video tutorial, check my instagram reel here!

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A post shared by t nguyen (@atelierinsomniel)

 

The reason I made this refashion was because I didn't like the cotton fabric of this shirt. It's a beautiful color and quite thick, but it's scratchy to me and the huge print makes it not great for sleeping in. But I wasn't going to throw away a shirt from an indie lolita artist, so I experimented on it for making this tutorial. I'm so happy with the results, this is cute, relatively easy to do (once I realized my collar mistake and redid it), and doesn't have the fussy details of other cutsews. I'm eager to refashion other cute printed tees into cutsews now!

[coord] belated International Lolita Day and old pic!

Once again, late for International Lolita Day last Saturday lol. I was attending a photoshoot (outside and masked) this boiling-hot summer ILD, so I didn't dress up afterwards, but I did edit some old photos from Ikkicon 2017 (a winter con) to post on Insta. I had worn a Baby the Stars Shine Bright jsk with a headdress I made inspired by one from that year's release for Baby/Alice. Later I sold the dress even though it was sooo cute, I never understand why I sell my stuff lol. But as long as the new owner loves it, I guess it's fine.

Photo on the left is new to you and never posted, the photo on the right is copied from my previous post here:

https://starsbegantofall.blogspot.com/2017/01/coord-ikki-con-tea-party-with-baby.html

 

Obviously since I sold the dress I can't rewear this coord, but I think it's already fine as is especially for a coord over 5 years old. I probably would just take away that huge brown bow. Not sure why I wore it, I wasn't even wearing brown shoes or purse??? I guess there were dark brown silhouettes in the print on the dress, but I should have worn a smaller brown bow and added more brown jewelry if that was the case.

I am currently working on at least 3 elaborate cosplays even though I am having second thoughts about going to cons this year, I'll probably just wear them inside my air-conditioned relatively virus-free house.  As mentioned, I do have a few lolita-adjacent sewing projects to work on for summer and fall should I get bored of cosplay - an otome blouse, a hoop petticoat skirt, a replica JSK, some hair accessories, and at least one casual otome skirt with clearance fabric from Joann's. I also want to make a few small accessories that are not j-fashion but still cute. We'll see how my summer goes...

 

[coord, diy] Otome no Sewing qi lolita top and accessories

Heyo, this was supposed to be my March sewing project to work on during my vacation, but it was a bit more complicated than I expected and I just finished in early May lol. This coral gold-foil brocade fabric was leftover from my robe a la francaise inner layers. I bought a hefty yardage from Aliexpress thinking I could make the outer gown from it, but it was so bright and orange and stiffer than expected, I had my doubts, so I pivoted to making just the bodice and inner petticoat skirt from this fabric. I had a bunch leftover, especially from the edges where the floral printing blurred, and since it was technically from China and meant for cheongsam/qipao or furniture, why not challenge myself to make a qi lolita outfit? How hard could it be? I made a qipao like dress from a commercial Western pattern before, and I sewed a hanfu costume myself.

It was hard! Should have expected that lol.

I used a pattern from Otome no Sewing volume 16. In case you aren't familiar with Otome no Sewing, they have patterns for all of their more complex pieces technically printed in the pattern paper, but you have to combine different dress patterns and make a few adjustments on your own for the variations. The qi lolita top is actually a variation on an old school a-line dress pattern, we're just adding a fake side closure for the frog knot closures and drafting a mandarin high collar instead of peter pan collar, then attaching a ruffle peplum at the waist.

You may wonder, what is difficult about sewing this top? First off, installing a zipper is always hard for me. Secondly, without any shirring, it required tailoring to fit my body and it still is a little loose. Thirdly, the fabric is a slippery jacquard brocade that frays when you glance at it. Finally, the directions do not provide for a very clean finish, especially when you're like me and don't measure out seam allowances to the millimeter.

But I persevered, even sewed a lining for the bodice and finished most of the seams by hand. It may not be the most attractive top, the important thing is I tried out some new techniques and it will not fall apart readily. The hair bun covers are also from the same Otome no Sewing mook, the hairbow (not pictured) was made from a Gothic Lolita Bible.

[top, hair bun covers, bows: handmade; skirt, shoes: Bodyline; socks: Metamorphose; earrings iconografi; rings: BisouLovely, off-brand]

As you can see by the photo, the fit isn't tailored through the waist, I could have taken an inch in from the back all the way up. The model in the mook had a slightly loose boxy fit as well, but when you think qipao, you think very nipped in and figure-skimming, so the looseness doesn't match my vision. Also, the zipper was 2 inches short, so the collar is flaring out a little rather than hugging my neck. That's okay, though, since the gold lace I used was extra scratchy. (I did have other gold laces but they were a muted antique gold which would not complement the bright brassy gold in the print.) If you look closely at the cuffs and collar, you can see where I struggled to make a clean outside finish due to the slipperiness and fraying of the fabric - top stitching crooked, lace sticking out unevenly. From a distance, it looks fine though, it's fine.

I didn't have enough fabric left for a matching skirt obviously, so I just made two embellished bows to pin to this plain cotton bodyline skirt. This was not an easy color to work with, not sure how I could have made a more coherent coord with only scraps left and not buying anymore fabric. However, this photo of me with the braided hair loops and bun covers is just very cute! I appreciated this challenge and am now browsing to see if my Hello Kitty sewing machine has a zipper or ruffler foot to make the difficult steps easier lol.

Would I make something like this again? Probably not. I don't really see an occasion for me to wear this (or honestly any lolita) out and about, but since it's a shirt, I can imagine myself wearing it with jeans actually, that might be very stylish!

Some people, probably not you, but some people, may ask, is it proper and acceptable for non-Chinese people to wear qi lolita, or non-Japanese people to wear wa-lolita? I already answered this previously. The first part of the answer is, if you can easily buy it officially from the makers who are of said culture (assuming you have the funds of course), then it was meant to be sold to you and you can wear it. Therefore, qi and wa lolita can be worn by non-Asians, there's nothing sacred or private about it, they stock it at the American and European shops. Now, are you wearing the dress respectfully and at an appropriate time and place? That will be the final piece of the answer and depends directly on you and the environment that you are in, which is different for each lolita.

That's all from me.  Summer is already here in Texas and I am reluctant to wear lolita when it's broiling outside, but I do have 2 more lolita sewing projects and a few accessories I want to make (a hooped petticoat skirt for summer for starters). As for this blog, I am trying to find a way to integrate all my blogs into my own domain but blogs aren't as troublesome as social media, so moving this fashion blog is not a huge priority, it's more getting away from twitter or instagram (already ditched facebook).

Oh wait, here is a photo of the outfit with the hairbow, forgot I took one. If you click through, you can see I added a cherry blossom charm from Daiso and beads and gold brass charms to the bows, so cute! Ignore the droopy skirt lol.

[coord/meetup] Rapunzel Sakizo in the gardens

 For April, some of the local lolita crew went to the Japanese Spring festival in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, and I put together this Rapunzel coord from my latest purchase, a Baroque x Sakizo jumperskirt secondhand from Lacemarket. My actual coord was intended for comfort, so I wore a cotton cutsew and knee high socks, but the shirt and socks got sweaty and were not washed, so in this coord for a photoshoot, I wore a fancier blouse and different clean socks. The festival was closed the next day due to rain so it was really warm and humid for lolita, let me tell ya.

[JSK: Baroque x Sakizo; blouse, socks: Metamorphose; shoes: Sosic Shop; necklace and flower ring: TxarraOtsoa; necklace: Disney; other rings: offbrand, Etsy; hair corsage: Black Ribbon, Taobao; other hair flowers: Daiso, Claire's, off brand; bracelets: offbrand; earrings: iconografi]

Obviously I was very pleased to get another Sakizo dress in my collection at a bargain, and since this dress had flowers and Rapunzel's braids in the print, I thought why not wear it to the gardens with a Rapunzel inspired hairstyle? This Bodyline wig was ready to be retired permanently but as I couldn't really sell it in such poor tangled condition, I decided to braid it (permanently lol) and add pink and purple and cream flowers to match. One of the hair corsages is actually a kanzashi, which was perfect to wear to the Japanese festival. I also really loved the elaborate multi-strand pearl choker decorated with off-white flowers which I got from Etsy, as it matched the pearl chains that came with the dress well. But I really really loved the purple pansy ring I nabbed from a cupcake topper years ago because there were purple pansies in this print, too. It was meant to be. 

The only thing I didn't like about this coord is that the beige color did no favors to my skin. But I didn't think wearing gold or brown accents (like gold or brown shoes) would help that either. This dress comes in multiple colorways including white, purple and various pastels, perhaps one day I might try to get another colorway and see if it looks better on me. Overall, this was a solid coord, I loved the Rapunzel braid and the dress is beautiful on its own so I didn't need a fancy blouse or socks.

[coord] the harmacy cottagecore coord - redo again

 Yesterday was my birthday, so before I got ready to sleep, I decided to dress up in the lolita dress that most represented me, the pharmacy dress from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. Note, I originally owned this jumperskirt in the beige colorway and last wore it in 2016 at a high tea in the botanical gardens. But I was never happy with the coords I made with this particular colorway; this shade of beige didn't look good with my skintone and trying to coord it with dark brown made it look clunky and amateurish, but trying to match it with other shades of beige made me look like a pile of bland mashed potatoes. I sold the dress, never believing I would find the perfect cut/colorway even though there are 4 variations in 4 different colors. Then I saw mintkismet listing the green Doris jsk for cheaper than I ever saw any variation on lacemarket. I decided to get it and it was a gamble that actually paid off for once lol.

[JSK: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright; socks: Alice and the Pirates; boots, parasol: Bodyline; shoes: Sosic Shop; blouse: Cheval du Bois; kerchief: Tealovecrochet; apron: MorunxMunna Stoik; necklace/ring: TxarraOtsoa; headbow: Metamorphose; other hairclips, necklaces and jewelry: offbrand]

Neither coord is perfect, but both look so much prettier and less garish than the beige coords. The light sage green color helped a lot, even though I didn't wear any other green items, I feel green bridged the brown and off-white much better than the beige or even the pink or dark brown would have. I probably shouldn't have worn the striped socks, off-white lace socks would have fitted better, but there were brown/cream stripes in the dress, why not wear these socks I never wear?

I also decided to put on a cottagecore version because I've been meaning to wear the kerchief and apron after binging videos from costume youtubers who got into cottagecore hobbit fashions all during the pandemic. The kerchief makes my face look so round lol, but I've embraced my muffin-like qualities. If I could fix this coord, I would buy one or two more sage green accent pieces. The few green lolita accessories I own are dark forest green or mint green, I don't even own any fabric or ribbons in sage green to make accessories. I don't think I'll fully commit to cottagecore because that would require being able to keep plants alive which I cannot do, but I would like to have the option, so I will see about incorporating more green (well, more green than beige anyway).

[coord] Black History Month gothic outfit

 February is Black History Month in America and even though this post doesn't actually help Black people around the world in any significant way, I'd like to give a review of lolita and gothic pieces from black-owned businesses and creators through this gothic outfit. This review is unpaid, I bought these pieces with my own money to support fellow indie artists and POC business owners. My hope is that you are so impressed by this coord you click on the links and support black creators all throughout the year, every year.

[JSK, tights: Haenuli x Mossbadger; beret: Onicake; glasses, ring: iconografi; choker, boots: In Control clothing; earrings, necklace: Asami Moon; blouse, bat collar: Elegy Clothing; ring: BisouLovely, Fantastic Grim, Liz Lisa, H&M, Claire's maybe]

Obviously not all of the pieces were from black-owned businesses, for some reason I couldn't find a great hair accessory other than the beret that came with the dress which I didn't pre-order, so I decided to use this perfectly fitting beret I bought from Onicake at an artist alley, not a black-owned business that I'm aware of. And the Liz Lisa and H&M rings are filler rings because I like to wear at least 6 rings in a coord if possible, obviously not black-owned.

The dress and tights (that you can't see lol) were pre-ordered and are fantastic quality, with sturdy fabric and flawless construction details including adjustable straps, back shirring and corset lacing and of course, the gorgeous mystical tarot print.  The tights are thick and high waisted but very comfortable and stretchy, with an equally detailed print of corset lacing on the front. Mossbadger also makes other items like jewelry which I have purchased and love.

The blouse, custom made by Elegy Clothing, is made of a cotton blend and feels smooth against my skin which is rare these days.  The bat wing collar is sewn of velvet and lined, very versatile for gothic coords and just happens to fit the mood of this witchy coord well. I own two more blouses from them and highly recommend their work, well worth the money.

I was so happy to get these pieces from Asami Moon on etsy, that witch necklace with a moon centerpiece was perfect. The sun/moon tarot earrings are a bit pastel, but they fit right into the cosmic tarot theme of the dress anyway.

The choker and boots were purchased from In Control Clothing, which specializes in cute, gothic and kawaii clothing and accessories. I don't see myself using the Ouija choker much as it's a little too hardcore, but it was on sale and I'm glad I bought it. The boots are high heeled ankle-high booties that are generally uncomfortable for me, but I do like the classy look. Now that I think about it, I probably should have gotten the bat-themed boots, I just didn't want such a high platform that will be hidden by the dress length anyway.

Bisoulovely makes creative jewelry with anime and game inspirations, everyone probably knows about them by now.  You can't see it here, but I'm wearing the Aurora gold ring. Not related to the coord, but it's just so dainty and pretty I like to wear it with all my lolita coords.

I got a ring and some earrings for another coord from Fantastic Grim on etsy, but decided to wear a steampunk clock gears ring to round out the look with something dark and mysterious.

Finally, these amazing star sunglasses are from Iconografi, who sells lots of anime and game themed jewelry and accessories. I also am wearing a purple cute star ring here.  Check out their selection, you will definitely find something you like.

I am also wearing makeup from black-owned businesses!  My eyeshadow is from Makeup Scientist, my lipstick, concealer and blush/contour is from Beauty Bakerie, and my powder and highlighter is from Fenty Beauty. Highly recommend these particular products, I dunno about the rest of their stuff though, don't ask me.

Final thoughts: I actually attempted this coord before, but it wasn't great, so I never posted those photos. Then I found this wig on clearance from Michaels and tried again with a few more purchases specifically for a witch coord. The wig is clearly cheap and low-quality, my neck seems lost in all the ruffles and ribbons, yet this coord somehow looks elegant and edgy and mysterious. Kudos to me for not giving up on my vision and of course kudos to these amazing black artists and creators and business owners for their hard work! Check out their shops! Or else!