A week ago I mentioned something about having something special planned for the materials I bought at Goodwill (see
Loading Up). Well, after two days on the sewing machine, here it is:
This is a dress based on a certain style of Japanese street fashion with an unfortunate name, at least I think its unfortunate. It’s unrelated, but has the same name as a certain movie that’s based on a particular book that I think is sick. To learn more about the style, and to see plenty of cute pictures, check
here. I had been dying to have an outfit like this, but the price was a little prohibited. Good quality dresses in this style can cost as much as $200. My thrifty side wouldn’t stand for that. And there are sellers on
Etsy who sew them at cheaper prices, but of course my crafty side wouldn’t stand for that either. So I whipped this up with a little trial and error and wore it to church this morning, with some mix reactions. My sister laughed like crazy, and an older woman I know mistook me for a little girl from a distance. Everyone else said I looked adorable.
Now the details, I made the bodice by making a rough pattern from a dress I had in the back of my closet. It has puffed sleeves and is gathered with elastic on the sleeves and the neckline. I trimmed with eyelet lace because I had plenty of it. There are ties at the necklace that cross and tie around my neck, I’ve seen plenty of dresses with the same thing and I thought it looked really pretty. The skirt is basically a rectangle of fabric that I guessed on the dimensions and gathering. There is a pin tuck a couple of inches from the ruffle both for decoration and because the skirt was a tad too long.
On the back you can see the sash ties in a decent size bow in the back. I had originally intended to add a zipper, but I realized I could get the dress on without it so why bother. I found it was a little too loose in the back, so I made a couple of interesting little pleats to decorate and take in that extra fabric. I’m not sure the name of this type of pleat, I’m not even sure it has a name, I just know I’ve seen them somewhere before but I forget where. I added some premade bows to the back to enhance the look, and to try to get rid of all those little bows. I’ve had them for years and still haven’t used them all up. To accessorize, I made little cuffs for my wrist from bits of lace and a matching lace head band. That’s basically it for this outfit, at least the parts that can be seen. A good deal of my time and effort went into making the under clothing, basically stuff that make the skirt nice and poufy, although I think mine fell flat. All I can say is they came out pretty, but not too comfortable. I made the mistake of making them out of polyester materials, which in Arizona in the summer time is almost unbearable. Next outfit will definitely be made from natural fabrics. Cotton, the fabric of our lives.
