I sewed another dress using a different pattern from the same Otome no Sewing volume as my koi fish dress, with the second Asian print cotton I bought at Joann's. This time it's generic pink and earth-tone scenery with bamboo and plum/cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums and birds and a pagoda building. My favorite part of this print is the gold foil accents, it makes a dull brown color scheme stand out, great for autumnal vibes or Earth Kingdom from Avatar. Now I originally wanted to make a blouse and/or skirt from this fabric, but after working on the koi fish dress, I felt the cotton for both prints was too thick to make a comfortable blouse. Obviously it was meant for quilting rather than fashion, but it was still very stiff and scratchy to touch after machine washing and drying. So I decided to make another shirred back jsk, inspired by a wa/qi themed example dress in the mook.
I made some changes to the pattern as I only bought 2 yards of fabric and this needed over 2 meters for a size large. First, I lined the bodice with leftover white cotton muslin. I also lengthened the skirt a little but that meant the ruffle was not as full, so I took the fullness out from the back ruffle which you normally wouldn't be looking at anyway. Instead of sewing a fabric ruffle trim as shown in one of the versions, I used flat cotton lace from Daiso that I gathered. The technique for how to put the dress together was also different from any other shirred back dress I've made before, and I think I prefer it so far. Let me know if you want in on the secret. This time I added no pockets, but hear me out, it's not flattering to put pockets in a high-cut dress like this because it will squish the petticoat oddly, make you look like a squash gourd. Also I was lazy.
[jsk: handmade; blouse: Yesstyle; tights: off-brand maybe Forever 21; necklace: Forever 21; flower brooches/pins: handmade, Taobao, Michael's maybe; shoes (not shown): Bodyline]
I am very pleased with how this dress turned out, even though it's not a flattering cut (as with most baby-doll dresses), that just make it super comfortable and perfect for eating a lot of snacks and drinking a lot of tea. Unfortunately, I ended up with only a handful of fabric scraps and could make just 2 tiny bows, which I might add some tassels to and pin to the dress somewhere. (Notice the photo has no bow tassels on the dress, that's because I didn't have the right color in my stash and I'm too lazy to buy some.) Because I ran out of fabric, there are no matching hair accessories for this dress lol. I looked in my closet and surprisingly couldn't find anything suitable except flowers. But that's okay, qi/wa lolita doesn't need big old bonnets or hairbows or clips, you can do just fine with flowers! Mighty convenient.
That's it for my Asian-inspired lolita dress series, though I might post a worn photo once I buy some tassels. Check out my insta for some larme/Liz Lisa fashion, I might make another post focusing on kawaii J-fashion that's not lolita if I have enough outfits. Currently, I have fabric set aside for one more lolita dress that I'm super excited to see how it turns out, but before I get back to stash-busting, it's the season for struggling with my historical costume and cosplays. Wish me luck lmao.
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