Alice in Wonderland Frames JSK

It's been a while! I have been busy with finishing off college work, ill health, lack of motivation, and just generally lacking in energy to do sewing. However, among all that wallowing in self-pity, I have been slowly plodding on with this dress with my grandmother - mainly because I set myself a deadline.

I bought the fabric a while ago in London, yet I've only just started using it for an ensemble planned for a Lolita cinema trip meetup, to see Alice and the Looking Glass. I've made an Alice bow - naturally :) - from the same material, to go with the dress. The lace comes from an adorable haberdashery in York that I came across, so this dress contains holiday memories as well as my love for Alice in Wonderland!

The pattern for this came from Otome no Sewing book 2, the "Frames" JSK, which I adapted to fit myself using the slicing method of making a pattern bigger. I traced the pattern pieces to the largest size, working out how I should multiply the measurements to get my size - luckily enough, I only had to separate each strip of pattern piece by a centimeter each time - and put the bodice pieces together by laying them out on the paper and tracing around them to make one bodice piece. I measured the inch for each strip and drew a line upwards with a ruler, and cut the pattern piece into strips. I then cut around the enlarged pattern, adding a centimeter at the bottom of the pattern also.
This is very hard to explain, and I suppose a photograph would do better at explaining it, however I was too excited to take photos at this stage and forgot.

As it was in Japanese I had to do some translating to find out what the miscellaneous, non-obvious pieces were. This made things slightly more difficult, but I battled on. After all, the illustrations in Otome no Sewing were very clear and concise, so I could pretty much guess what the Japanese said when it came to making the thing.

The actual making of the thing was quite straightforward, though in some places we had to improvise where the instructions (or my lack of Japanese) were limited, such as with the shirring in the back and pleating instead of gathering the skirt; I find that pleats look better on me, and I always manage to mess up the gathering somehow anyway in the first go. :)

I'm pleased with the results despite how long it took to piece together.

More Details of Florida

Dragon breathing fire at Gringotts. This is my Dad's photo - I failed to catch the fire in time!

Tree of Life at the Animal Kingdom.

An exhibition on kawaii culture at Epcot Japan.

A cut out of Glinda the Good Witch that I found at Gods and Monsters. I was very excited to see her dress in quality and detail!

Details from Florida

My family and I went to Orlando, Florida for two weeks, and while I can't summon the energy to write about the whole trip just yet, here are some photos I took that I rather like.

We stayed in the Hard Rock Hotel and this was the first photo I took there.

 Outside the Mummy ride at Universal Studios. I love this ride and went on it four times!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal. This place is so atmospheric that I want to live here. Gringotts ride was really fun, and had my favourite characters Bellatrix and Voldemort. The Forbidden Journey is the best, too!

Looking out for crocodiles on an airboat ride at Wild Florida.

 The Great Movie Ride, featuring (my favourite film ever) The Wizard of Oz!

Splurging Far Too Much in Florida

Hello, sorry it's been a long time since I've posted! I've been away to Florida for two weeks - it's been amazing!
Holiday photos are to come, but first I thought I'd share some of the items I've bought whilst on holiday. Most of this was bought with my birthday and Christmas money for the past two years, as where I live doesn't really have many material things that catch my interest enough to buy them, and therefore I save for long periods of time. My parents also bought some things for me as a gift, such as the fabric, seeing as it "keeps me out of trouble". ;) Idle hands make work for the devil, as a lady in Jo-Ann's Fabrics said, after all!

Cinderella's carriage charm and necklace from Pandora, to wear everyday and with my Lolita coordinates.

Fabrics! I got; some gold taffeta with black embroidered spots and some black ribbon for my 1790s open robe, three yards of teal spotted chiffon for a 1920s one-hour dress, and some brown suiting fabric with a thin teal stripe for a future Victorian child's dress.

Japanese candy from Epcot.

Wizard of Oz photos from the Old Town.

Kira Imai postcards from Epcot.

Jasmine Becket-Griffith postcards that I've collected from all over the Disney parks.

A book on the Haunted Mansion, my favourite ride at Disney, a mixed media magazine and an ornate copy of the Wizard of Oz books 1-5 from Barnes and Nobles, and the art book of Jasmine Becket-Griffith, whose art I've recently discovered and absolutely love!

A New Doll From my Neighbour - Collector's Choice

A few weeks ago my Grandad's friend's brother sadly passed away. He was 92 and had ageing problems to do with the mind (I think it was dementia, unfortunately), and therefore he used to buy everything that he saw advertised on TV and in magazines, without any need for them - including dolls. I'm very sorry about their loss, even though I never actually met the man himself, as he lived in Scotland and passed on before he could be taken down to his brother's house to be taken care of.

My Grandad's neighbour was told that I like and collect dolls, so this Collector's Choice doll was very kindly given to me to take care of. Isn't she beautiful! She is made from hand-painted bisque porcelain, authentic fabrics and trimmings, and has a fabric body.
I just love her mesmerizing green-blue eyes - they are coincidentally the same colour as my own eyes - and soft strawberry blonde curls. The lacy dress and headbow also bring out the colour of her eyes.

I'm thinking of names at the moment; possibly Elizabeth or Eleanor? Any suggestions would be welcome!

1860s Chemise and Nightgown

This project very nearly ended up being a UFO if it weren't for me trying it on again and deciding that the fit was okay. Funnily enough, I tried it on backwards the first time (forgetting that I had a narrow slit in the front), and the fit was really off - too tight and gaping at the shoulders - but when I tried it on a second time later, it was perfect! Silly me :)

The pattern is Simplicity 1139, a Civil war era pattern for a chemise, however, I intend to wear this as a Lolita-esque/historical-inspired nightgown so I have something more to my tastes to wear for bed. But when I do make some 1860s fashions, I'll be sure to dig this out for the underpinnings.
At a first glance, this pattern looked very simple and easy - but the picture on the envelope is deceiving! It came with all sorts of strange things that modern fashion seldom ever has, such as gussets, additional panels where just one would suffice, and underarm facings. It was confusing at first, to say the least, as things could have been a whole lot easier without all the little pieces. But once I got started, it was actually okay, even if the underarm facing never got put in because I was so perplexed.

In the end, it makes a very pretty nightdress, and in the future I may do some ribbon embroidery on it, possibly along the hem.

Vintage Laura Ashley Sailor Dress

Yesterday I went shopping in Liverpool and found this adorable sailor dress in Soho's Vintage store! Surprisingly, it was just my size, fit me like a glove, and was my favourite style and colour! I just love the feel of this dress, as it reminds me of an Edwardian child and the 1920s dropped waist at the same time. It's also vintage Laura Ashley, which I've been in love with for a long time now.
It was £15 too. :)

Photos!

By the way, I'm going to Florida for two weeks on Wednesday, so posting may be scarce from me in those weeks. Expect plenty of photos when I get back though!