Wonderland Week: Skirt Done!

Hooray! Skirt Finished!
The skirt is done! Of course, the apron is still in pieces, and the accessories are in the "if I have enough time" category now. But! The skirt! It's done!

I've learned that when you're working with patterned material, especially stripes, you have to be super detail-oriented when you're cutting out the pieces and sewing them together. And by that, I mean that I wasn't, so the lines don't necessarily match up all over the skirt (oops).

The other thing I learned was how to put in a zipper using this tutorial! This is the best zipper tutorial I've found, so thanks to Kim for putting it on the internet. I did use the glue stick, but I skipped some of the other steps and just pinned instead. The zipper looks really great, if I do say so myself.

I did attempt my first "freehand buttonhole" sewing using the sewing machine, which is a bit messy.

I'll get Will to take nice pretty pictures of the skirt soon, I just wanted to have something to show. Now back to the studio to put together an apron! And maybe an armband and ribbon and headdress. Heck, if I had another week, I'd finish my parasol.

Cute Month, Wonderland Week!

Steampunk Alice Design, Front

All this week I'll be making a Steampunk Alice costume - which means all the posts are going to be Alice in Wonderland related. Of course, it could have been a normal Alice costume, but what fun is it if I can't mix some of my favorite genres, like steampunk, Alice in Wonderland, and lolita, all into one convenient costume?

I've always preferred the idea of a gothic Alice, more with a spade theme than the hearts or diamonds, so I've also folded that into the idea. I used to call this gothic spade-sprinkled Alice "Black Alyss" (a sort of reference to Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars) but I thought that might be a bit confusing (or silly?)

This shouldn't be too hard, since I only need to work on the apron, skirt, and various accessories, as I plan to wear a blouse and vest I already have for the top. Here you can see how I break down costumes when I need to put them together - by color. This is especially helpful when I'm making pieces, as I can see at a glance how much material I'll need.

The steampunk lolita skirt I made a few weeks ago was the prototype for working on this, so I have at least one under my belt before I started here.

On the other hand, I've never made an apron from scratch, and I'm planning to use some unorthodox transfer methods to get the spade designs on the apron, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm crossing my fingers that I avoid a debacle.

Skirt: Finished!

Finished Steampunk Lolita Skirt!

Just so you know, I finished the skirt! Just in time for the steampunk Clockwork Ball last night -if you want to see more pictures from the Clockwork Ball, just check out my photostream by clicking on the picture. I think I did the whole thing in about 24 hours, which bodes well, since this is just a prototype.

So, ya know, Woo! And stuff.

Suddenly Skirting

Skirt Pieces: Pinned & Laid Out

I've been tossing around the idea of making a skirt for the Clockwork Ball this Friday (tonight) night. Initially, I wanted to make something long and drapey. Then I sudden decided yesterday I should veer far far away from my original plan and make a lolita skirt.

This is the first skirt I've ever sewn from scratch, but I'm not just making it up as I go (though I'm doing that a little) - I'm basing it partially on this awesome victorian skirt tutorial and a skirt I have from In the Starlight. The rule is I'm only using materials I have on hand (including a black zipper that I'd ripped out of a skirt I was getting rid of). So far, it's coming out ok, though I had to rip out the zipper once, and it still looks funky the way I have it.

For reference, the decorative fabric is leftover from a table runner project, and the red is ... I don't know, maybe leftovers from Will's Zukko costume?

If you want more images, click on the one above - I'll update as it progresses. Right now, I'm sewing the panels together in a RACE AGAINST TIME! (I have a backup outfit planned, just in case.)