Evangeline's Summer Dress

If you remember the taster chapters of Margaret's School that I posted here a while back, you might recall that there was a certain main character called Evangeline Bassett, who may or may not be crucial to the plot!
I wanted to design and make a OP dress that she wore in a couple of the chapters - reluctantly, of course, if you take into account the tomboy she is - as making the clothes my characters wear sounded like a fun challenge. I would have started with Aika, naturally, but her clothes are way too complex to even think about with my mediocre skills. So, Evangeline's summer dress it was!

When I saw this Jane Marple otome-kei/casual Lolita dress I wanted it so much, as it was literally what I could imagine Evangeline's old-fashioned, slightly dowdy mother sewing and forcing her to wear, as she's constantly chastising her to be ladylike.

The style I was going for was a mix between 50s and nautical, with a splash of Lolita for good measure. So I bought the Vintage Vogue V9000 pattern from John Lewis and made it in... about the space of a month. The fabric is a very lovely blue and white striped cotton, with a thick white linen collar.
Quite a bit of hand-sewing was also involved, as I sewed on the flower-shaped buttons by hand, as well as the tiny white bows with pearl centres. I also used rickrack around the sleeves and at the back of the collar (mainly to disguise my untidy lines when I clumsily attached the collar to the bodice). It also includes a hidden zipper down the right side.

Fabric:  Blue and white striped 100% cotton and plain white linen.

Pattern: Vintage Vogue V9000

Year: The pattern is circa 1951, but I wanted a slightly more updated feel.

Notions: Cotton, thread, rickrack, flower buttons, white bows with pearls.

How historically accurate is it? A little, I suppose, but I shortened the skirt to knee-length and added novelty items such as shaped buttons.

Hours to complete: I'd say, more than 14 as it took me just over an hour every evening for two weeks.

First worn: I first wore it to a Mufti day at school to show my Textiles teacher and Wendy.

Total cost: 14 pounds for fabric, 2 pounds for buttons, and everything else was salvaged from my sewing box.

By the way, it looks strange on my mannequin because my body is larger than it, and I made it for me to wear rather than a mannequin... A word of warning about Vogue patterns though; they run very small - certainly not the standard sizes - and although I am a UK size 12, only a VV size 16 fit me correctly. Make it at least two dress sizes too big for a good fit, or generally if you enjoy breathing.

It was a very fun experience and not too hard to make, especially considering Vogue patterns aren't exactly straightforward and I had to make up some things as I went along... I also learned a lot of key dressmaking skills; sewing in a zip, making a buttonhole with the machine, doing darts, and attaching a collar to the neck of the bodice. It was really worthwhile and I can't wait to do more sewing in the near future!

Margaret's School

The character on the left is called Evangeline Basset, and the girl on the right is Margaret Baron. I wanted them to look a little bit like ball-jointed dolls to show their innocence and young age (plus the fact that I adore ball-jointed dolls). It was hard to decide their hairstyles; at first I went for short hair on both of them, kind of like a cutesy 60s style bob – Evangeline’s in a layered style and Margaret’s curled up at the edges. But I decided to stick closer to my description, which I’m actually quite glad of – I loved colouring Evangeline’s hair!

The dresses they are both wearing is their school uniform, which many say (in the story) is rather old fashioned. I found this gorgeous design on a Japanese Indie Lolita website (also called Margaret’s School, which coincidentally gave me the idea of this story somehow…) and decided that I needed to draw my characters wearing it! The design of dress belongs to this website.

Margaret's School Chapter 2

Margaret's School Chapter 1

Warning: This is very long, and also it is not final. Things are going to change with it (I may add things in, or take them away) but for now I'm happy with it. Page break, because it's over 10,000 words.

A New Story Coming Soon

 At the moment I've come up with a new idea for a story called Margaret's School. Strangely, the whole story was inspired by a dress from a Japanese indie lolita brand called Margaret School... Basically, the story is based on my school, and the things I've noticed going on there, and all the people I've met (read: watched). It is based on a few of my own experiences too, from the start of high school, until the last few years. The main characters are Margaret, and a girl called Evangeline who is her best friend, but sometimes can be rather distant and strange.
It sounds rather boring when I write about it like that, but I'm hoping I can make it more interesting when I'm writing about it, and besides, the main reason I'm writing this is to get more experienced in writing description and scenery. Actually, it's set in my own home town, Southport, as many of my stories take place in foreign countries like America and France, I thought I'd write one set in England for a change.
Maybe I'll post it soon, as I've typed up around 2,000 words for the first chapter today. At the moment I'm still going strong with When the Summer Ends, I'm just not posting it for now. I might publish it to Kindle someday, like I first wanted to, but if in the end I don't for whatever reason, I definitely post it here. Right now, I've just finished chapter 15 of When the Summer Ends, and I couldn't be happier, however sometimes I think my writing is a bit dull, as not much really happens in it. There's no action, no adventure, but I like to think I focus more on emotions.