How do you feel about Handmade?

If you can make it look good, go ahead. Most lolitas hate handmade because on top of being poorfags, people that go that way usually can't sew for shit.

> basically outcasted if you make your stuff as opposed to buying brand

I'm really curious about why this is such a common misconception. Everyone who asks about this is told that handmade stuff is only ridiculed by the snobbiest of snobs as long as it's good quality, and in my experience, that is completely true.

I honestly wish I knew how to sew. I have a lot of very cute ideas for dresses and would love to wear them but I suck at physically making them. If your ideas are good no one will mind handmade. If they're good enough I'm sure they'll even make other people jelly since no one else can have them.

>>8705838
Because people who can't sew, or sew ugly shit, get told that they've made something ugly, or don't get pats on the ass for their effort. This, in turn, leads to the idea that if you handmake your stuff, you'll be made fun of.

Same as the stereotype that girls who buy brand are all 100%, completely and utterly brandwhores who pick on poor girls at conventions, or refuse to be friends with people who wear Bodyline.

One person gets their feelings hurt, basically, and tells a story. That story builds and builds until it encompasses everyone rather than the one incident (which was exaggerated to begin with).

This misconception has been stuck with newer lolitas for ever and ever.
I think it comes from people who think their handmade dress is the shit, when in reality it is just shitty. Other lolitas react poorly to that dress and instead of seeking the problem in the construction or design of the dress the new lolita thinks "it must be their hate for handmade dresses!"
I've been into the fashion for quite some years now and really, most lolitas (with the exception of a few assholes) absolutely appreciate a well made hand sewn dress. It might not get the same response of "oohs" and "aahs" as popular brand pieces if it's not extra awesome, but at the same time a really great handmade dress might even get you more recognition than mediocre brand.

Also, OP should realize that making dresses yourself isn't cheap either. You have to buy good fabric, and if you use lace, this can get expensive.
Also, there are shoes and bags to buy and so, even if you make your dress and all the accessories yourself, a full coord might easily cost you 250usd.

>>8705820
You don't need to drop $500 dollars on a brand coord to look good! There are other options besides making your own clothes that are much more affordable such as buying secondhand or from taobao.

Cost wise (esp if you want to get quality materials and lace) + Time wise I wouldn't say handmade is the way to go, but if you find joy in making stuff I think its worth it.

I love to sew and made a few pieces for myself in the past few months. I can't bring myself to call them lolita though (loliable at best).

There are a lot of great lolitas who create beautiful handmade garments and accessories. If you are looking for inspiration I really admire LotV, Milkteamachine (on ig), atelierangel and seraphinelysion.

If you are interested in sewing your own garments, I recommend the 'otome no sewing' books! (they are in japanese but the diagrams are easy enough to follow)

>>8705820
I love handmade; by sewing your own stuff you can bring more variety into the fashion. However good craftsmanship and impeccable taste (fabric choice, colors, shape, ...) are an absolute must.

If you manage to have both, make awesome outfits, and people still talk shit about your clothes because "not burando", I'd really think about a change of people.

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Just going to use this thread as a new handmade thread.


Where can I buy faux fawn fur fabric? Google and Aliexpress is giving me nothing...

I've always been envious of people can sew and even more so, when they create spectacular dresses. I don't have the patience nor handsy skills to sew, embroider, or knit.
I've always wanted to at least get into embroidery, but I can't even sew a button on without tangling the entire thread lol

>>8705958
Seconding this! I've looked everywhere but can't find anything!

>>8705958
>>8705820

Will do the same...I've been wondering where I can get good/decent quality fabric. I'd like to make some really simple skirts first, then go from there, but where I live (Perth, Australia) there's only two fabric shops - Spotlight and Textile Traders which sell really shitty prints/ no print fabric. Wondering what places sell lolita kind of fabric. I'm interested in classical, but not all florals are gonna work.

Also wondering, are the people who make handmade generally design their own style? I'd be too scared to accidentally copy a dress and then get hate for it.

>>8706017
Tea Tree fabrics have a nice range of prints and are relatively cheap compared to spotlight/lincraft, however they are all quilting weight cotton.
http://www.teatreefabrics.com.au/fabric

>>8706023
is quilting weight cotton ok? the dresses/skirts I own are made from a lightish material and have an underskirt/lining thing.

>>8706026
I guess its a matter of personal preference. Lining is a must with quilting weight cotton and be aware that is does wrinkle a bit (iron it before every wear). I've made a skirt in the past out of quilting weight cotton and it pilled a bit after 2 wears and a wash, but that was probably my fault.

I mainly use Japanese cotton now that I get online mainly because its a bit more sturdier but it does feel more rough to the touch. This is just my personal preference though!

>>8705820
It might be better not to post with a replica next time.

>>8706102
Oh my god just shut up. Stay on topic.

Anyone have advice where to find nice ribbon like the kind Baby uses on headdresses?

>>8706236
If you want people not to shit on handmade things, then it makes sense to post something nice and not a knock off.

>>8706319
It might be a knockoff, but it's nicely made. You can't deny that.

>>8705884
>Also, OP should realize that making dresses yourself isn't cheap either. You have to buy good fabric, and if you use lace, this can get expensive.
This is where I have to object. Yes, it CAN be expensive, but you also have to be able to bargain hunt. I've gotten plenty of beautiful fabrics for a fraction of the cost from second hand stores, going out of business sales, sales from the Textile Museum getting rid of some inventory, etc. You just have to be smart and look around.

>>8706319
>>8706343
There's nothing wrong with knockoffs though. If it's hand made, then it's entirely relevant to this thread.

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>>8706373
>There's nothing wrong with knockoffs though.

>>8705820
>>8705838
I make all my outfits from hand me down fabric/outfits/patterns.... frankenstien seamstress. Material cost isn't the issue...

Tools and Time are were it fucks you over hard. Sewing your own outfit take a lot of learning to do right without fucking up.

Wait... does anybody have a link to a how to blog/site that covers common sewing issues for outfits? I know there used to be tutorial posts (even if they left out import details) here from a few.

If not I might be an idiot and do something stupid.

>>8706026
Perfectly fine. Double layer is required on the lower thread count/cheaper ones unless you want see through. I tend to use it as a lining material or fold it over for ruffles.

>>8705958
did you try Etsy?

>>8706378
>yfw there really is nothing wrong with knockoffs
Or are you one of those people who think design knockoffs are the same as replicas?

>>8705820
OP, I asked this question about a year and a half ago and everyone told me to stfu and they were right.
Stop worrying about impressing the community, they're never impressed. Make clothes because you want to wear them. I started the same way, making my own clothes because "omg $300 for a dress??", but after becoming more aware of the designs of dresses, I began to appreciate certain pieces as an art. Now I have half-and-half burando and handmade and I can appreciate and love all my dresses from $100-500. An item's "worth" is only what it is to you.
Most people don't like handmade-only lolitas (lots of lolitas buy+make, exclusively making is rare) because if they aren't even willing to drop $50 on a taobao dress, they probably aren't wearing lolita appropriate shoes, blouses, bags, etc. And if someone gives them critique, they cry "ugh! burando elitist!"
Anyways, expect to drop at least $200 on your first coord in things you can't make, like shoes, legwear, bag, jewelry, etc plus materials for the dress. Even if it's offbrand. It hurts, but some piece are investments that can last you years.

>>8705837
>>8705846
>>8705884
>>8705885
>>8706370
>>8706384

OP here. I've been sewing my cosplays for 4 years so material cost/tools/time aren't an issue because I do enjoy making things. I was mostly just curious about people's feelings towards handmade. I have a couple coords in mind and the only things I'd need to buy are socks/tights and shoes which I can easily get off amazon or secondhand.

>>8706102

I didn't realize it was a replica. As I said, I haven't gotten fully immersed in lolita fashion yet and really liked it simply for the style of neckline, skirt, and fabric choice.

>>8706409
I don't think you know what replica means. It can refer to legal and illegal ones. Just because they're legal doesn't mean they're not tacky as fuck.

>>8705958
>looks for 5 seconds
>finds some
Are you just looking for fawn fabric, or did you try "deer" fabric too? Because the latter is what got me results.

Talking to other lolitas who sew has made me want to learn how. Does anyone have any good starting tutorials on how to make like a skirt or an accessory? How easy is it to understand the patterns in the bibles?

I like making my own stuff and for the most part I've never really gotten shit from anybody, irl or on CGL. Most of the time I like picking people's brains for opinions on fabric and trim. I think some people dislike handmade stuff because a lot of times it's very amateur looking to down right hideous. You also get the ones who can't take critics and will shit on brand to try to make themselves look better. When you make something that looks decent and have the right attitude, nobody really gives you a tough time.

>>8706458
Attitude Lolita has some good video walk throughs on youtube. Difficulty really depends on how quickly you pick up on instructions. If you can't figure out how to read instructions you're in for a bad time.

>>8706317
Just look for double sided ribbons, or grosgrain. They are always better than common satin ribbon

>>8706317
thesewingplace.com/Petersham-Ribbon-s/1901.htm
Just ordered a crapton of this.

Also laces.taobao and many other taobao shops offer a wide variety of nice ribbon as well as really great quality lace. I've been finding nice lace on ebay as well but it's kind of a crapshoot finding lace that will take dye appropriately from there as well as color matching. White comes in offwhite, stark white, or straight up ivory.

Basically handmade is very appreciated so long as it's done well. I've seen a lot of really amazing handmade items over the years. But I've also seen a lot of terrible stuff too.

Rest assured, I'm someone in this fashion who would probably be labeled as a brandwhore just because I buy a lot of brand and own some coveted pieces. But I also handmake accessories like jewelry and headpieces. I've been wanting to design some of my own prints as well and attempt sewing a few dresses for myself.

I've never met anyone who hates nice handmade things, I have no idea where this comes from. I don't make all of my stuff, but whenever I wear a handmade coord I've never gotten a negative reaction, same with one of my friends, who does make everything. Just make sure it doesn't suck.

I don't need to repeat what's already been said but I will also mention OP if you aren't that familiar with lolita fashion in the first place PLEASE take the time to familiarize yourself with it. You may be an experienced seamstress, but if you don't have an eye for the fashion, the first dress you try to make can easily come out looking gaudy if you aren't following some sort of pattern, like from an Otome no Sewing book.

>>8706017
>there's only two fabric shops
A quick google search brings up a tonne of other places.

>>8706421
Oh so this bodyline dress I have is in fact a replica made by them? I had no idea they made replicas...

>>8707537
Bodyline started out doing sex costumes and moved onto lolita replicas (especially shoes) and close knock-offs (prints that resembled AP prints closely, but didn't have logos and were slightly different colourways).

It's the reason that if you try to go to a brand event wearing Bodyline, you'll be barred at the door.

>>8706766
the only time people complain about ~brand whores~ who hate handmade are the people who make really shitty handmade.

>>8706431
Nigga I have been looking all over the place and searched every term from fawn to deer to Bambi and have come up with exactly zilch. link pls

>>8711018
You might try Rakuten or Amazon JP. I know I've seen it there before. You need a shopping service usually though.

It costs as much as mid-priced indie/TaoBao to buy good enough fabric and trims to make anything decent, anything cheaper (unless you luck out on a fabric sale but that's an exception) is going to look well, cheap. That's assuming you already have intermediate sewing and fitting experience to begin with and good enough skills to alter or draft patterns, drape, make ruffles, bows etc.
Examine a few nicer Lolita dresses to look at their construction and you'll be able to quickly see if your skills and fabric resources are similar.
Also just an FYI, you don't need $500 to drop on a coordinate, Lolita blog carnival topic of 'coordinates under $100' is a good place to start pricing things realistically. Look at used brand, TaoBao, indie Lolita shops, fan+friend, bodyline.

I'm also curious what the girls who told you that actually wear themselves?

>>8711243
>>8706431
I'm not into spoonfeeding but you could please just post at least one link?

I have tried "faux fawn fur", "faux deer fur", just "faux fur" and searched through the results. I've looked through etsy, aliexpress, google, google shopping, random fabric sites from google. Please, I just really want some deer fur fabric.

>>8705820
I've been making my own lolita clothes for a few years now and have made a couple dozen main pieces along with accessories here and there. Here's my experience with online reactions: make something that closely mimics burando, and prepare to be fawned over. Try doing something a bit unique, and prepare to be shit upon, especially here. The lolita community are slaves to brand styling, even if they aren't slaves to purchasing from the brands themselves.

My more unique pieces get better reactions in person at meets or cons, so by all means, if you want to get creative, do so and show it off in person. But think twice about posting about it on the internet, unless you have an extremely thick skin.

Also, for solid pieces, I highly recommend Joann's stretch sateen. It has a gorgeous hand and drape, comes in many lolita appropriate colors (or can be dyed easily!), and the slight stretch makes fitting much more flexible. I buy most of my lace on eBay or at Joann, and haven't struck out yet.

>>8711262
This is the best I could find right now - https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.80.E43KMh&id=521845717947&ns=1&abbucket=9#detail

Annnd the search I used - 人造毛皮面料 It's just for faux fur, I can't figure out the right characters for deer/fawn.

Anyone have that google doc with the list of lolita-suitable patterns?

>>8712891
Why not just get Lolita patterns from the several publications that make them? If you are skilled enough to convert a loliable pattern into something decently Lolita, you are likely skilled enough to follow the patterns and diagrams of the actual Lolita patterns.

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Since this is the handmade thread now can a bitch get some concrit? Thought to post it because of OP image, though my inspiration was MM. Blouse is not mine, just the JSK. i know i'm a coward for not making the sleeves too, i kinda figured i could revisit them when i am more skilled.

I'd love suggestions on how to keep the vertical line of the ruffle straight, i assume tacking, which i did a lot of but it still drooped..more tacking is certainly an option. Tried spray starch with little to no effect. Next time, the gathering just really needs to be dramatically closer to the top of the ruffle.

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>>8713314
save yourself some pain
1 detach the ruffles from the dress,
2 make a lining to fit
3 baste your ruffles to that before reattaching

it'll also prevent odd shrinkage and other future drooping issues.

now the rest of the dress because so much pain:

1. straps are not wide enough and the cut needs some curve back towards the armpits. really should have attempted the sleeves.
2. the seams! either you're using to much tension or you're forcing an improperly cut pattern into place, they need to lay flat. that's part of the reason you're having weird bunching up around the waistline and fighting with the ruffles. research on preventing seam puckering
3. knee highs and long sleeves plz, your tats aren't doing you favors.
4. might also consider different jewelry

>>8713314
Anon, I don't want to be a bitch, but that fabric is really ugly and not suitable for lolita.

>>8705958
You can make your own with brown fake fur and a bleach pen.

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>>8713314
>keep the vertical line of the ruffle straight

I read this three times and I'm still not sure what you mean, apologies if this is not what you're asking. I think you're asking how to sew the centre of the ruffle, and have the part of ruffle that's above the line of sewing defy gravity and stand upwards?

Your best bet is a combination of stiff fabric, tacking and pressing. When tacking, the distance between the tacks are max 1cm or less, even less if the fabric is soft or your ruffle is very full. Any place the ruffles start flopping over, you need another tack. You basically want to tack the back of every ruffle so that the fabric falling forward is what creates the ruffle, if that makes sense.

For stiff fabric, use spray starch, then press the ruffle upwards with your iron. Try to use enough spray starch so that the fabric is really stiff, that's how you'd get them to defy gravity. The pressing is done while the ruffle is pointed upwards, if you simply let the dress hang naturally, gravity will pull all the ruffles downwards, so that's why you need to starch it and press it upwards. Alternatively, you can also interface the ruffle before you sew it so that the ruffle is always stiff, though this would change the drape of the fabric and might become uncomfortable.

My personal advice, though, is not to do it at all. I've rarely seen it look good, and there are many floppy ones too often. Here's the original dress that OP's pic is a replica of, you can see here that they basically used a thin, tiny piece as a frill, it's not a thick ruffle that needs to defy gravity.

There's a bunch of other problems with your dress, but I don't know if you want some con crit on that.

>>8713418
Thanks for your feedback. You're not being a bitch. It was for a halloween party.

>>8713435
You understood, and you're right. thanks! i think i could add a tiny ruffle at the top and pull the stitches out of the middle to sort that out.
Concrit is why i'm here, speak your peace <3

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>>8713391
oh, i missed your post, sorry.. thank you! the jewelry was a personal experiment, too, totally didn't turn out honestly but i learned a lot about resin.

Kinda thinking about cutting it off at the sternum and adding a white bib top and sleeves. Could correct the fit that way i imagine.


i know i'm asking the world but here's another one for concrit if you gulls have the time <3

> I've heard from a few people in local community that you are basically outcasted if you make your stuff as opposed to buying brand.

Goodness, anon, what comm are you in?

To stay on topic though, I personally love handmade pieces. Perhaps I'm biased as myself and a few other people in my local comm have decent skills in sewing so that's what we tend to go for.
But, I do agree with that's been said already and a lot of handmade is made from shitty fabric or by those with too low a skill level. And the skirts are never quite full enough.

>>8713431
would a bleach pen even work on a synthetic/plastic material like fake fur...?

>>8712142
>>8713431

Thank you so much anons! I will definitely research how bleach works on faux fur because that seems like a great idea

The general consensus in my community is basically to politely ignore people wearing handmade. They don't get mocked or ridiculed but there is certainly no fawning or discussion centered around HM. ::shrugs:: it's okay I guess

>>8714450
Your community sounds shitty desu.

>>8714450

There wouldn't logically be much fawning or discussion centered around handmade, though. The best compliment you can get is when people ask you where your dress is from and are then genuinely surprised that it's homemade.

The only people who can hold a conversation with you on what kind of fabric/notions you used to make the dress are fellow seamstresses. So stands to reason the average lolita is not going to discuss it a whole lot since they don't understand/aren't interested in any of that. Whereas when discussing brand they might be interested in a print they don't have but other people do (not possible with handmade), release dates and details(not possible with handmade), which model wore what (not likely, unless you send misako your handmade), or maybe even gripes about quality (also not possible with handmade unless you sold them something, and even then, it'd be somewhat rude to discuss it as if you weren't there). So it'd be kind of tough to hold a whole conversation based about handmade.

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Okay, starting with the blue dress. Here's a couple of things to check on why it's wrinkling in the middle:

First, make sure you're using the right petticoat. Especially for that cut, a cupcake would have too much fabric around the stomach, so that might be why it looks overstuffed and wrinkly in the middle.

Second, make sure the pattern you're sewing fits you. If the waistline on your dress sits lower than your actual waist, then the fabric could be bunching around your waist because there's too much of it and it has nowhere to go. Before you sew up a pattern, take a ruler and measure the pieces, compare them to your body measurements and make sure they roughly match up. If you're drafting your own patterns, it's a good idea to make a mockup, transfer the bust and waist lines onto the fabric together with the pattern, sew it up quickly and then put it on. You'll be able to see whether the lines fall in the right area. Use cheap cotton to make the mockup, it doesn't unravel for awhile so you can sew up the seams, baste in the zipper, then throw it out when you're done. The fit of a dress is a lot harder to fix after it's already done, so do the extra work to make sure it actually fits before you sew the final dress.

On your blue dress, you can try folding the skirt upwards and see if that solves the wrinkling around the waist. If it does, you can sew the fabric down. The zipper would have to be removed and then re-installed once the waist is shortened. There will now be a waist seam, but at least the dress would fit better.


Additional design notes:

- ekaterina had a much wider skirt that accentuated a small waist, I think your blue dress isn't really wide enough, though I guess it's your choice which you prefer.

- Stay away from bright, saturated or primary colours. They're very loud and therefore difficult to design with. Restrict them to small accents if you must use them. Stick to dark colours, pastels (light colours), etc -- anything not bright.

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>>8715156
Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm >>8713435, responding to >>8713455


Next, your sewing habits, and this is for both the blue dress and the black skirt.

I'm just going to say this outright, your work looks sloppy. A lot of your edges don't look crisp, the skirt is bubbling forth from the waist, the pintucks look like tubes and I'm not really sure if the white ruffles on the blue dress were intentionally crooked or if that's also another sign of your sloppyness. (also, your bows are terrible, but we'll get to that). Sorry about your feelings, anon, but you needed to hear this.

Try to practice these things whenever you sew:

- when transferring/drafting patterns, be very anal. In bought designs, be very sure to transfer any dots or notches, they're there to help you line things up, for eg the tops of the sleeves will often have notches or marks that you will need to line up with parts on the bodice. They may look arbitrary to you, but often these are very important lines, in the pic they mark where the sleeve needs to line up wih the shoulder seam and where the front and back starts to curve under the arm.
Do not take shortcuts. This will help make sure you sew the items on right and not crookedly.

- In the same vein, mark everything before you sew. When sewing ruffles on a dress, mark out the lines to make sure they're parallel and even. Try not to deviate too far from the markings when you sew, that helps everything land in the right place so that the final piece looks neat. Again, be very anal. Don't take shortcuts.

This part is to address what the other anon said about possible puckering in the princess seams:

- If you sew two equal pieces of fabric and find that one side is longer than the other by the end, this is a pretty serious problem you need to fix. First thing of course is to make sure you match any notches/doots in the pattern. Second thing is to use more pins to hold them together. Don't just put four pins into a long seam, use them every couple of inches on a straight line, use more on a curved line. If you're working with very slippery fabric, it's worth the time to baste them together first. Third, check that when you sew, you aren't pulling too much on either the top or bottom fabric.

- pay attention to grain. The patterns will have an arrow on it that you're supposed to align with the sides of the fabric, don't ignore that. Some patterns are designed to take advantage of a bolt of fabric having more tension in one direction than the other, while things cut on bias will stretch. Sometimes they come out okay even if you ignore the grain, but sometimes they don't, so for maximum success, pay attention to the fabric grain.

- In the case of something cut on the bias (eg a flared skirt), you're supposed to cut the pattern out, then hang it for 24 hours (I usually use a skirt hanger) to let the fabric stretch as much as it wants, before you sew it up. If you sew it straightaway sometimes the fabric will lengthen afterwards, causing puckering or drooping because your stitches don't lengthen along with the fabric.

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>>8715165

This thing you definitely need to do more often:

- Press as you go. Don't wait until the end of the project to iron things, by then some of your fabric is either trapped between layers or doing something else and can't be pressed into shape so easily. Case in point, press your ruffles right after you hem them, before you ruffle them, that way you can get a nice sharp edge on them. Press skirts and ruffles right after you join them together, that way you can get them to lie flatter rather than looking like a fabric explosion (on the black skirt). Pintucks should also be pressed, so that they look like pleats instead of little tubes of fabric.

Additionally:

If you're self-taught, it might be useful to pick up a few sewing books. Try your local library if you don't want to shell out money. When you read about a technique, don't rush through them. A lot of really good sewing is simply paying attention to these small details and not rushing through things.

Now onto the bows. When making them, do the following:

- pad out the bow with interfacing/thicker cotton to make it looks less like paper.

- After you've gathered the middle and sew it down, steam/press the outside of the bow completely flat. You've got a combination of paper-like fabric and persistent creases going on with your bows, that's why they look like harisen folded out of paper instead of bows.

- make shallow folds. If you're making a big bow and have a lot of fabric to gather, make more folds instead of deeper ones. No matter how big your bow is, you want to end up with a bow that's pretty flat.

- Make it a point that the top and bottom edges always point to the back, never to the front. Pic related, the bows with their edges pointing front towards you look a lot less polished than the blue bows that have their edges pointed away from you.

>>8715173

I'm aware that most of the concrit is geared towards how to do your next project better and not so much how to fix the current project. A lot of these things are more easily fixable in the making stage, before they become problems. So this part is addressing what you can do to fix the pieces you've already made:

For the blue dress, other than folding it up and changing the petticoat, you already mentioned changing the ruffles.

Remake the bows if you can. For the ones you can't, starch them, then press the outside edges. That should help sort them out, though you'll probably have to re-starch and re-press them every time you wash them.

Consider ripping out the white ruffles as well and resewing them in proper parallel lines.

If you don't like the way the shoulder straps look, instead of hacking it apart, it might be easier to only wear this dress with a bolero, and spend your effort making your next dress better.

The black skirt doesn't have as much concrit because the photo is really grainy. I'm just assuming the waistband portion fits right since I can't see any wrinkling (or see anything, really), though it looks like your petticoat might be too small for the skirt, maybe?

As for the skirt itself, it looks like it just needs a good long pressing session with a steam iron.
- Steam press all of the pintucks down so that they lie flat.
- steam press the part where the skirt meets the waistband, with some persistance you should be able to make it not look like a fabric explosion.
- it sounds odd, but steam press the ruffles flat against skirt as well. That way they look less like a fabric explosion and more like ruffles.

So that's my entire peace. Sorry it's so long. You're being a pretty good sport about accepting con crit, so I hope you can find some use out of all these notes. Good luck and keep on sewing.

Has anyone done a courderoy OP for winter? Is it a terrible idea? I've never worked with courderoy before and I feel like it could be a cute more casual alternative to velvet.

>>8705958
>>8705976
Just took a look into rakuten, found this!
item.rakuten.co.jp/isz/10-20121020-01/
it doesn't look like the best quality but I've been looking for a source for this damn deer fabric for like a year and a half I'll take anything I can get at this point

>>8720541
There's this too:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/255722090/fawndoe-animal-print-faux-fur-craft-size

Haven't been able to find cotton printed with deer fur but you can find the faux fur pretty easily. Not sure which you're looking for.

>>8715156
>>8715161
>>8715165
>>8715173
>>8715175

Bless you anon, i'll be a more than lackluster seamstress yet. I appreciate the focus being more on future projects. teach a gull to fish, etc. I did press the ruffles after that photo, but not the pintucks or the seam meeting the waist, i'll knock that out on the black one and hope it sorts her out a little :)

>>8720541
>>8720547
Bless you anons! Thank you for finding this for me. I can't wait to make deer accessories.

I was actually wanting to get a sewing machine as a Christmas gift since I wanted to learn how to make my own dresses. Im probably not going to start with someone like a Lolita dress but at least otome

>>8721283
Lolita is pretty easy to make to be honest. I use the same 3-4 patterns for all my dresses and theyre really easy once you've done them a few times. Otome honestly seems to have more construction variation than lolita.

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Is there any lacemakers here? I would like to discuss and get some inspiration of selfmade lace usage in accessories.

>>8724670
That's gorgeous anon. I don't remember how that technique is called but it was pretty good to make delicate lace even when it required lots of patience. I usually crochet any lace I need, with the smaller hook I can find. It's fun but time consuming.

>>8724670
>>8724850
This looks like tatting, and I think it's gorgeous. Imo, fine-knit Irish lace is absolutely beautiful

>>8724880
yup, that's tatting/chatting really easy to get into with a needle or a shuttle, less equipment cost

>>8724670
are you wanting to learn? find patterns? just want to figure out that best application in an outfit? all of the above?

>>8724670
That is tatting, done with a shuttle or needle.

I'm a shuttle tatter as well as a seamstress but I've never tatted any lace for lolita, its a lot of work. I've done some accessories in thick cotton yarn that work well for country lolita or mori influenced styles though.

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>>8724850
>>8724880
>>8724957
>>8724976
I can shuttle tat, do some needle point lace and have learned basics in bobbin lace. I just can't think a way to bring them to lolita. I'm looking accessory ideas where I could use them.

Pic related, my first attempt in needle point lace and I think with better quality it would be a good pendant to fit some country coords.

>>8725818
You could hand make nice edging laces. there's certainly money in that for collaborating with lolita seamstresses

They would also probably make great and incredibly durable keychains/purse charms.

>>8725818
what >>8725849 said

you could also make head pieces, bows, rings, neck chokers, wrist covers, spats...

make what ever and apply it were ever depending on how much time you wish to apply

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Any suggestions on what I can do with this? I bought it back when I thought it was cute enough to make dresses out of. The only thing I can think of is pillows

>>8726005
Hnng sorry the picture is huge

>>8726005
I think the ribbon fabric is pretty cute. Depending on the scale of the pattern it could make a nice JSK with pleated skirt?

>>8725818
Not sure how big this strawberry is but you should make patch pockets out of it for a gingam skirt. That would be adorable.

>>8726005
I see a really cute apron that can be made

>>8726005
Both feel very otome-able to me. You could do a skirt or maybe a JSK with a solid colored bodice on the ice cream to tone down how busy the pattern is if you can find a matching solid.

>>8725818
>>8724670
Where do I learn to make lace?
It's gorgeous and looks fun but I don't know where to start!

Also - how can I sell handmade designs? I often see people selling homemade dresses/skirts/etc, but they never get sold and I am not sure why.

>>8727222
People don't buy homemade stuff. A huge chunk of lolita is the status symbol of having the newest print or the most rare design. Homemade can be really beautiful but it's not checking off all the boxes.

>>8727222
You can't really charge a reasonable price for homemade items if you want to actually make any money due to economies of scale. The cost of materials and labour for a single person running an indie brand is too high, unless you undersell yourself and then you can't make a profit. Especially since lolita dresses are so detailed and time consuming, which is why many indie brands release just basic rectangle skirts, which no one really wants.

The reason indie brands in other countries like China take off if because they have access to factories and cheaper labour than in the US. It's just not plausible for a single person to sew at home and successfully build a business.

Does anyone have any tips for someone working with lace for the first time? I'm making a bonnet and don't want it to look cheap or costumy but have an old school vibe.

>>8727222
You should use google since there are many good web-tutorials. There is also books about lacemaking so you should visit local library.

>>8727222

A beginning seamstress is not going to be able to make anything worth selling. You're competing with brand, and no, it's not the status symbol you're competing with.

What you're competing with is the complexity, the design, the exclusives. You're starting out with things like rectangle skirts and simple dresses. In contrast, the brands dresses are made from different materials, lace, bows, findings, trim, etc on just a single dress, and different dresses every month. This doesn't even take into account whether you can make a dress that doesn't look like a clashing clusterfuck.

The other thing brands provide is exclusives, and again, not just their name on a label. The biggest sellers now are prints, you can't buy them elsewhere. If you want a print with usakumya and christmas trees, you're pretty much going to have to buy BTSSB, the fabric doesn't exist elsewhere and usakumya is a copyrighted btssb character. It's not just the prints either, brand dresses often come with custom charms (check out the heart-shaped "B" charms or the aatp charms on btssb/aatp dresses) or custom lace made specifically for a print run (AP's custom tulle lace).

Whereas if you bought a roll of lolita-print fabric from etsy and make a dress, someone else can buy from that same shop and make a better dress than yours.

Think of it this way: if you can sew it yourself, without a whole lot of skill, so can anyone else. What you really need is something special that only you can provide, so your options are:
(a) your own custom print, or
(b) Something so technical people would rather hand over money to you than try to make it themselves (eg bonnets/hats)
(c) Instead of selling premade, rent your skills out, eg Glittertales or Floral Notebook (both on facebook)

Taobao shops often do well because of (a), check out Krad Lanrete and you'll find their prices aren't really low, but girls tend to go nuts over them because of the print and the cut of the dresses.

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>>8726005

Seconding a nice jsk with the ribbon fabric. I picture it as a simple jsk with a black ribbon on the waist.

The ice cream fabric is a little harder. I could see it working out as a mini skirt a la Paris Promenade (pic) though.

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It's a little colder than I expected it to be, so I'm considering making a jacket. Actually buying one wouldn't be worth it since it's really warm where I live, but I hate having to wear a hoodie or windbreaker outside at night. I'm thinking of making one similar to this, but with normal fabric where the fur is and no bow.
What fabric would be easy to sew on and cheap? I was considering just using fleece with a satin lining, but I don't want to look straight outta joanns. At the same time, I'd like it to be cheap and accessable. Not to mention soft pink.

>>8727373
if either your lace or your bonnet are shiny, begin panicking

>>8727373
Buy some high quality lace. I've been able to find some on etsy and ebay, but you never know what you're going to get. I really like laces.taobao.com. Everything there is suitable for lolita and excellent quality.

What are some good patterns for getting started with handmade lolita? I'm not a novice seamstress, but I don't think I'm experienced enough to draft a pattern from scratch.

>>8728185
What sort of silhouette are you looking for? I know a lot of people in these threads will recommend Otome no Sewing patterns but if you are not short, small busted and thin like the average Japanese girl those patterns require way too much modification as compared with commercial patterns.

If you want a cupcake shaped JSK, the best thing is to shop for the type of bodice you want. The skirt part does not require a pattern since it's just a big rectangle gathered or pleated to the bottom of the bodice. My go-to for the simplest and most versatile top is Vogue 8849. The sweetheart neckline can be edited out easily, it has princess seams for a more flattering fit, it comes with several bust size options, and that front panel can be customized in so many ways!

If you want an A line dress, all the 50s vintage patterns available now are a godsend. They may need to be shortened but I found the fullness of the skirt on Butterick 5603 to be excellent. Unless you're going for a retro style you'll probably have to alter that neckline.

>>8728185
there was a google doc a couple threads back that listed a bunch of loliable patterns with reviews. maybe you can find it on the archive?

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>>8728185
I've made simplicity 1650 a bunch of times. You'll obviously need to make some changes like sleeve length and doing a rectangle skirt but I love the pattern. Pic related is made from it although it's not done yet. It's good for OPs. Simple but with nice princess seams.

how do you get over the fear of making garbage and therefore wasting material etc?

i want to do things, but i know i am still sucky. and even if i try really hard and follow all the instructions perfectly, it will still be clearly amateur or faulty in some way because of my inexpertise. i know i will get better with practise, but how do you ease yourself in/get through the practise?

>>8729460
I would always make smaller items like pillows, bows etc, and then slowly move on to bigger items like skirts

>>8729460
Buy fabric at the thrift store. You can get yards and yards of the stuff for cheap. No fear of ruining it if it only cost $7

>>8729460

You don't have much of a choice, either bite the bullet and jump in, or sit back and miss out. The only way for you to avoid mistakes is to do nothing at all, but then you'd never be able to make anything nice either. So you might as well get started now and get the mistake-making out of the way.

>>8729460
Always make a mockup first. Get your fitting perfected with cheap fabric before you cut up the expensive stuff. Also, try new techniques like pintucks, gathers, or zippers, on test fabric.

And even after all that, be prepared to still nitpick your work to death. Thing is, if you're not selling your work, it doesn't matter if it's perfect. Many mistakes you make are things other people would never notice. We are all our own worst critics.

>>8720541
Does anyone want a review of this fur? Mine came in the mail today.

>>8728625
I'm not do sure about the construction of that top and the fabric for the sleeves anon.
The bows definitely need to be replaced, they look a bit silly.

>>8730081
Yeah I took em off already, but the sleeves are staying. I like this type of sleeve makes me feel like a princess.

>>8729467
>>8729487
>>8729532
>>8729626
thank you anons. tomorrow i will buy and massacre a curtain.

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>>8730154
Shia believes in you. Please post pictures I like seeing content and there isn't that much of it round these parts.

>>8730154
Remember too that when making a mockup, your throwaway fabric should be comparable to whatever you are using for the finished product! i.e. don't use a very thin, airy material to do a mockup when you're planning on using a sturdy cotton in the end.

Good luck on starting your sewing adventure, anon! Remember that sewing is a purely technical skill and that everyone has to start somewhere, so don't get discouraged right off the bat! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress <3

>>8730154
I usually wind up buying sheets from goodwill for mockups. They're cheap and I don't feel bad cutting them up. Try to go for the all cotton ones, they don't seem to fray as badly around the cut edges as some of the poly cotton blends.

>>8730852
Seconding this, I go to my favorite local thrift store and bought a bunch of sheets (queen and king size) labelled "for painting" 2 dollars each. Plenty of practice material and can get all the learning niggles out without caring too much about money spent.

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Would anyone be interested in tutorials on altering patterns?
I'm not sure how to correctly write instructions, but I have a lot of things to make and was considering posting how I do this online.

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>>8731867
Pic related is a really shoddy picture of the dress I made from the sack dress pattern - I would have made it fuller but didn't have enough fabric (and eventually had to take out even more fullness/the sleeves for the same reason), it fits a small petticoat. However, the general principle of how I made the pattern is still the same.

>>8731882
>>8731867

I would love to see it. I think it'd be especially useful if you named what pattern you started with and what results you got in the end. It doesn't have to be strictly lolita, but at least jfashion would be good.

Although, cgl's an odd place for it, and the handmade thread tends to move pretty slowly. Maybe a blog would be a better place to post on, at least it will stay up for a little longer.

>>8732183
I'll be making a blog, I think. For this one I actually started from a t-shirt block pattern.
I'll be doing little things like "how to add pintucks to a basic bodice" or "how to make a peter pan collar to fit any pattern" etc.

>>8732211
I would very much like to read that! Please post a link when you're ready

>>8732473
Dangit, that tutorial won't be working out because I can't figure out how to write it coherently. I'll post it eventually though.

Anyone have a good bonnet pattern? All the Lolita specific ones I've found are half bonnets.

Need some handmade advice. I made a few creepy cute pin brooches recently and shared some photos of them in handmade part of my local comm's group. As a result I got three pm's that day, people were asking if I could sell them one (and one was actually sold). There also was pretty positive feedback in comments, but there weren't many of them (like a dozen maybe?). At first I got very encouraged with my little success, and even decided to make my own small online shop page, but then I started to doubt if there actually is any point in doing so. I don't feel very confident with my jewelry - I really like it, and it does look good, but it's handmade painted, and there is no way I could ever make two pieces looking exactly same as many handmaiders do, not to mention small imperfections from paint or finishing. What should I do? Should I be moving forward giving ads, or should give up this sales idea? That question depresses me so much I can do nothing but sitting and overthinking everything.

>>8737609
I'd just put a small disclaimer somewhere that there may be small differences between products or small imperfections due to the nature of handmade items.

>>8737609

The common route is to open up an etsy (or you could do ebay or storenvy if you prefer), and post individual ooak (one of a kind) pieces for sale instead of trying to mass-produce them.

Honestly though, your numbers pretty much speaks for itself -- 12 nice comments out of however big your comm is, 3 people inquiring about sales, only one sale out of your whole comm. I don't think you're going to be making a living out of this, but hey, might be nice for the pocket change if you're going to be crafting anyway.

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Guuise. How did you feel the first time you cut up brand to make something you would actually use?

I have had pic related and another older piece with polkadots and a giant cherry for years and only used them once because the print is just too damn busy for me to be a jsk. I Have considered cutting them up to make skirts and keep the top part and make some kind of cutesy rockabilly ish crop tops. I'm just so scared and keep thinking I should lower the price even more and just buy the skirt ver instead.

>>8739397
Nah fuck it. Cut that shit up. If you don't wear it then it's worthless. Also I approve of the crop top idea.

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Ah, I am relatively new to sewing but my family is fairly experienced and skilled. I wanted to make a skirt and was wondering if nice, high thread count quilting fabric from Joanns would be okay or if I should aim elsewhere. It's not an ugly cupcake pattern or anything and I have a few options. I was going to buy some nice lace elsewhere and make some cute bows. I'll post a few of the fabrics I liked.

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>>8739449
Also comes in gingham.

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>>8739451
Ok last one. Also holy crap that file size, sorry...

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>>8739418
Alright, I'm doing this!

Doing the polkadot one first. So far I have removed the cherry and split it in half. I'm almost more excited for the crop top than the skirt.

>>8739492
That's going to be really fucking cute anon.

>>8739449
I totally just made an OP out of this. I posted it on Lolita Sewing Collective if you want to see. I think it's pretty cute desu.

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Aand the other one.
I'm going to buy gingham/polkadot fabric for the waistband and extra to make matching bloomers and high waisted shorts

>>8712142
鹿 - deer
小鹿 - fawn

I couldn't find any fabric besides the link the other anon posted. I suggest you add (coat) to the search term and use them for material.
http://world.taobao.com/item/521193091273.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.4KBwV8

but hey.. if you're looking for real fur
>http://world.taobao.com/item/203794127.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.muDlJY#detail

>>8739836
>>8739492
Those crop-tops are gonna be too cute, anon! Keep us updated! They kinda remind me of those dress sets Candy Violet used to sell way back when.

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Otome no Sewing 8 is out! Anyone have pics of the inside or a list of what patterns are there?

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>>8739492
>>8739836

Why... why would you do this..

>>8739507
So I saw that dress and it was really cute. I picked up some of that fabric and the cherry gingham. I was debating adding some black trim to the pink skirt so it would fit with my rather limited wardrobe a bit better, but I haven't done that yet. I also plan to try a few things beyond a simple circle skirt, just adding some basic bows and things like that.

>>8740338
I mean you can do whatever you want with clothes, it is your clothes. That said if you dropped the listing I probably would have bought it lol... I saw it on LM or someplace.

>>8739507
>>8740161
Thank you! I'm getting all giddy from the cuteness

>>8740338
>>8740350
I've had them for sale for over a year with no interest at all and if I had to lower the price even more it wouldn't be worth it. I'm so happy with this decision.

>>8740716
You still ruined the fucking dresses. How much were they reduced to, 250$? Most embarrassing behavior.

Most embarrassing behavior.

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>>8740790
No.. about $100 on LM and lower to my local comm.

Why are you getting so emotional? They might not be dresses anymore but they're definitely not ruined.

>>8740790
People who use this misako quote are so fucking cringey. It's not your dress. These things aren't fucking special. Stop acting as if they are

>>8740815

You go Glenn Coco. Jelly of all your new clothes! That hater is just not over the "brand is sacred" phase yet lol. I was thinking about the cherry print and you should consider taking the largest bow off of you haven't decided to do that already. I think it's looked better for sure. Plz post pics when you're done.

>>8740824
I agree. Brand does not need to be worshipped. Especially not prints that are quite a few years old (even tho they're still cute).

Although I think that Misako quote is fine as long as it's a joke.

>>8740815
Whatever you say.

>>8740824
>>8740826
>>8740829
>not over the "brand is sacred" phase yet

Back in my day, brand was actually difficult to come by, so sue me for fucking still thinking it's something you shouldn't attack with a pair of scissors. "a bloo bloo, get out of here grandma-chan, it's not about what you think!!" Whatever. It's not my dress, yeah, but it's still fucking cringey. The skirt looks like shit and I hope you feel like trash, because you are.

>>8741575
This site is 18+

>>8741575
>assuming scissors have been used

The jsk was made with eyelet lace. It was ruined the moment it was created. Yall chill out.

>>8741582
Anon sounds a lot older than 18.
>>8741624
I'm kind of confused, what was used? A seam ripper? Just curious.
>>8741633
I'm all about that tacky eyelet lace, gingham and ric-rac.
>>8739836
Are you going to take the main bow off the front of the bodice? This is going to be a cute top!

>>8741575
Jesus Christ anon it's a piece of clothing, and it looks cute anyway. You're obviously not going to be wearing it, and no one was buying it off of them so why do you care so fucking much? Is it really better for it to be sitting in someone's closet?

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Maybe this is the right thread to ask this question... I dun goofed and I accidentally got massive bleach stains on my Angelic Pretty bolero, pic related. I'm hoping to salvage it somehow, so I was wondering, should I start out by using RIT clothing dye remover on the whole thing? It should dye to white or at least light pink, right? If it dyes the cotton white will it also dye the tulle lace and chiffon ribbon? I can live with it if it turns into a white bolero with pink embellishments. Has anyone ever tried using RIT pink dye on a lolita cutsew garment before?

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Would a hat in the same shape as pic related but made from dark brown silk material be cute? I have two dark red roses to put on it and some small pearl beads. The inside brim will be gathered like inside of the triple fortune bonnets.
>>8741633
Eyelet lace is my favourite!

>>8740790
You're getting so assblasted about something that isn't yours. Calm down, anon.

>>8740288
Just got it this morning. Here's a list:

Fairy Tale Sets:
- The Snow Queen Set: Princess Sleeve OP, bustle skirt, fur cape, fur muff bag, Arm covers, finger gloves (the kind you hook around one finger), Fur headdress
- Rapunzel set: OP, Lace Corset, Wristcuffs, choker, headdress, Flower Crown
- Hänsel und Gretel set: Blouse, Cape, JSK, Pants, drawes, Babushka KC, Apron, Mini hat

Gothic Style theme:
- Velvet JSK + KC
- Ankle length OP + headbow
- Frilly Jabot blouse, Cape, Pants
- Bonnet, Bow tie blouse, Skirt

Akio Namiki Collaboration:
- Frill Headdress
- pleaed OP with bib, puff sleeves and chiffon apron

Seasonal items:
- Sailor collar Coat
- Ribbon KC + Cape
- Pintuck JSK
- Coat with fawn fur collar and cuffs + fur headdress again
- open back overdress
- Babydoll JSK (pattern of the gothic JSK modified)

Crafting: Tassels and rosettes, shrink plasticc

Really lovely issue imo, some people on FB were complaining, but I love the boystyle and fact that they have gothic pieces. Let me know if you need pictures of anything in particular.

>>8742527
Thanks anon, you're an absolute prince. I'll be dropping by the Japanese bookstore to snag a copy this weekend. >>8742064
I like this idea but is like to see what shades of red and brown you have since that could go wrong very easily.

>>8742527
Thank you so much anon! What are you planning to make first?

>>8742800
You're welcome. Probably the gothic JSK! I'm also really partial to the boystyle stuff, but I'm not sure if I'd suit it, so eh.

>>8742840
what if you made it, tried it out, decided it didn't suit you, and then sold it? i think the patterns are not intended for commercial use, but if you make it for yourself and then decide against it that should be fine.

>>8742846
I'm quite self-conscious about selling handmade stuff, my garments are not polished enough, I feel. But that might be something to consider!

>>8742853
maybe if you do decide to sell, use the BST thread here so your name isn't attached?

>>8742853
Your stuff is probably fine lol, have you seen some of the "lolita" dresses on etsy?

>>8742935
this.

it might, maybe, get nitpicked, but ignore salt and use concrit to grow.

>>8742540
I'm remaking my first attempt at a hat. It's hideous, I've been putting off taking it apart because it took so long to put together. >>8727300 has the brown fabric and roses. It's to match a specific print.

>>8742865
>>8742935
>>8742960
Thanks, anons! I might give it a go.

>tfw you want to remove the sewing patterns from your bibles but also want to keep them intact because mint condition.

>>8743699
Ugh, you and me both, anon.

>>8743699
>>8743798

You can buy that thin pattern paper they use in large rolls or sheets. I trace over my Otome no sewing patterns with that. I don't even need to cut them away from the book, just unfold and trace away.

>>8744232
You can't unfold the pattern from the bibles without cutting them open sadly

>>8744260

My apologies, my mind just assumed it was like the Otome books.

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My aunt has just given me this cream & brown textured fabric. Think it could make a cute lolita dress/skirt?
It's fairly light weight so it'd need lining which I'm fine with doing. I'd probably couple it with brown ribbon and cream lace.
Opinions?

>>8731867
Very interested, anon!

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>>8739449
Alright, so please excuse the sloppy MSpaint mockup but I wanted to make the skirt with black accents. I figured this might be more difficult to do, but my problem is that I am a fairly new lolita and all of my accessories are pretty much black. If I don't do this, I could probably still make it but turn the black details into cream and just wear it with the black accessories anyway. But I don't really want to make the skirt if it will just look terrible.

>>8744339
Looks a little bit african to me. I feel like this would be very hard to pull off.

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>>8744339

The print's a little unconventional, but I think it'd make a pretty cute dress. You might want to play around a bit with the design before you start, though, at least do a scaled photoshoop to see if the design looks better running up and down the dress, or across the dress. You might also want to give some thought to adding design elements like pic so it looks a little fancy and not so much like a simple sundress.

>>8741947

(post from four days ago... not sure if you're still around, but...)

The sewing on the tulle lace portion is likely to come out white. The questionable parts are all the polyester -- dyesub-printed polys aside, I've seen some polys strong enough to withstand bleach. So the tulle netting on the lace, and the chiffon bow are likely to stay pink rather than come out white. I'm not sure if it's weird to have white embroidery on pink netting on the lace.

If the damage isn't something you can cover up with a little patch or embroidery a la Momoko, then I guess you're on the right track removing all of the dye evenly with dye remover (or step up to bleach; if at this point if the bolero's unwearable you've got nothing to lose anyway)

If the bolero comes out white and pink (and you want to re-dye it back to pink), do be careful of the dye you select, ordinary RIT dye doesn't really work on polyesters but there's a version out there that does, it may darken the pinks so you'll end up with a bolero where the bow and the netting are darker than the rest of the bolero. Conversely, if the bolero comes out white and you want to dye it pink, that means you should be looking for the DyeMore version instead of the normal RIT dye.

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Bump

>>8707537
You should probably be less new before you start spouting shit

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Is there an updated list of the Otome no sewing patterns somewhere?

>>8757005
It's not really a list, but on one of the fb groups (Pintucks and Lace or Lolita sewing collective, I forgot which) there's a photo album showing pics of the patterns from the newer books.

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>>8739451

I have the pink cherries, that I made into a 60's style wrap apron 3 years ago. It's a little cute, but it's totally rockabilly try-hard and I tried to work black into places I don't think it belonged. Next time if I ever remake this, it'll have red trim and none of that shitty ribbon detail on the front.

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I found this fabric and I'm going to make it into a JSK. Should I use black or white lace?

>>8758783
Both colours will work well I think.
Do you have pictures of the laces?

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>>8758783
I made one with sort of similar colors and I went with white, but my mum said I should've used black. I don't know, I like how the white kind of stands out.

>>8758966

I seriously love your handmade stuff. I also prefer the white lace - it gives a slightly old school vibe to the coordinate.

But mostly I just want to say I love your handmade jsks.

>>8758976
Wow thank you! I kind of was going for old-school inspired since I love Baby's old school jumperskirts. If only the local fabric stores had prettier tartan, sigh...

(All of mine are from modified commercial patterns, except for a few from OnS, lol!)

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Finally I can use this reaction picture.
>Pointless mission accomplished.

>>8758966
thats very nice, but would probably look better with a bell shaped petti

>>8760091
Yeah, I agree, I'll wear one with it next time.

What do you guys think about someone hand making a dress to look similar to a brand design? Do you consider it a "replica" even if it's made for personal use and not intended for sale?

>>8747400
OK thank you. If I end up with a bolero that has white fabric but pink polyester ruffles and bow that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

>>8720507
Done it and I love the thing, I posted a little while ago in a similar thread but I can upload more pics if interested

>>8705820
You should not make handmade clothes as a beginner to lolita, and nobody should encourage you to. Handmaking clothes is very tumblr-ified behavior and is something that many kawaii desu 15-year old shouldnot-be-on-4chans girls are notorious for.

Sewing and making proper, real lolita clothes is very difficult, and probably far beyond your skill, it is much more than sewing a small item like a hat. Please consider the actual difficulty involved and how hard making an entire dress is from the patterns and fabrics, it might not even be cheaper than buying brand in the end. Once you consider all the tools, time, and lessons.

If you're already a tailor or happen to be highly skilled at sewing clothes, and you've sewn at least 1 entire dress from a pattern before, sure go ahead, give it a try and enjoy.

But if you're a complete beginner, you are fucked and no one should encourage this. Buy brand, or no lolita for you. Its not a cheap hobby

>>8762525
I think it's fine since you aren't selling it. I've done it a couple times.

>>8762525

There's a girl who made a solid version of Milky Cross, without the print, and it was well-received. It's technically not a replica, and it's not illegal unless you also copied the print or tried to pass off your dress as an original.

A lot of girls don't really pay attention to non print designs anyway, there's really only a handful of designs where someone will instantly recognise your dress as being a direct copy. So there's generally not a lot of fuss over non print copies.

>>8762629

More specifically, I wanted to know if you (or anyone in the community) would still consider it a "replica" if someone were to make their own handmade version of a brand dress?

I am asking because I have done it before, and someone commented that "she liked my replica very much". Personally I felt very insulted by this comment. To call my work (brand copy/inspired or not) a "replica" feels insulting as shit.

>>8762626

I second this.

I'd also like to add that just because you can sew (or can learn how to sew) it doesn't mean you can design. The two are not mutually exclusive. There are a lot of sewers out there that never bother to think about this fact, and therefore make ita stuff where the sewing may look great, but the design/color/combination is ugly as fuck.

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>>8725818
ugh my first attempt at needle point was this and as usual I chucked myself in the deep end and it looks like shit.
You inspire me to try again with something simpler, this is actually pretty nice for a first attempt. do you have anymore recent pieces?

>>8762626
Oh my god shut up
This better be bait

>Sewing and making proper, real lolita clothes is very difficult
It's really not, you obviously don't sew.
>If you're already a tailor or happen to be highly skilled at sewing clothes, and you've sewn at least 1 entire dress from a pattern before, sure go ahead, give it a try and enjoy.
You can be experienced without being a "tailor"
>But if you're a complete beginner, you are fucked and no one should encourage this. Buy brand, or no lolita for you. Its not a cheap hobby
First creations never look good, but when will you start if not now? My first things were shit, but I just had the sense to not post them all over the internet. If anything, preach that.
I know someone's going to harp on me for saying this, but lolita can be cheap if you sew it. If you go to a wholesale fabric place or joanns with coupons, materials can be under $15 for a jsk. And for the people who always say "you can't find good fabric for cheap!!!"
>wholesale, coupons
>know what "quality" is
>found a good white fabric? Dye it with rit dye
>for the love of god don't look for prints, just stick to solids or simple patterns
Honestly, some of my handmade pieces have higher quality fabric than my newer BTSSB pieces.
It's time consuming, but if you have time to be on this chinese cartoon board, you have time to sew a dress.

>>8762681
I'm not that other anon, but I side eye people who say they are going to make hand made right off the bat because there are so many "babby's first circle skirt with elastic waistband" failures. And yes it is difficult to learn how to sew in that it takes a lot of trial and error if you don't have anybody to teach you. Are you for real? Once you get the hang of things, it goes smoother, but if you're a beginner, it will be hard.

Of course your first pieces won't look that great, but newbies need to know that. Instead some get delusional about how it looks because it's something they made and it's special and anyone who critiques their super special hand made piece is a meanie elitist.

I have nothing against hand made and I am interested in making my own handmade pieces. (I've already made accessories.) But yeah I think more newbies to both lolita AND sewing need to know that it takes a lot of background work and objective self evaluation.

>>8762656
That looks like a ghost with big hands

>>8762640
Well its not the real thing, but was made to resemble it right?
Part of the appeal of burando is, you guessed it, the burando tag.

>>8762681
>>8762718 is right, I've made a non-lolita dress with a circle skirt and a shitty, not very fitted bodice from a 70s sewing magazine and I feel nowhere near confident enough to make a lolita dress ('s bodice - skirt is prob okay). start with normie fashion and smaller things and work your way up. having a complete newfag start from babby's first dress will just give way to bad sewing habits and tears once they realise it sucks or once their comm has to listen to them go on and on about how perfect it is

>>8762640
If it was good enough for them to call it a replica and not know it was homemade, that's technically a compliment to your sewing skills.

>>8762718
I agree, but this is kind of a comparable situation to wearing your first coord.
It's most likely going to be bad without the person knowing it, and all bystanders can do is acknowledge it and give advice.
This anon was saying "just don't try at all" for the wrong reasons.
>>8762781
>start with normie fashion and smaller things and work your way up
You got me here, I admit that I also started with normie clothes and cosplays. I guess that's better advice. My first lolita dress wasn't the best design (lol white and ivory) but at least I had the basic skills to line it and sew in the straps correctly.

I feel like someone should make a "handmade lolita noob" guide to send to people like OP. It would include quotes from different websites on people's opinion of handmade-only lolitas in the community (they're fine and I don't care), expectations and goal advice from experienced sewing lolitas, and some good tutorials.

>>8762784

When I posted the picture of my handmade version, I made it very clear that it was a handmade version and I gave proper credit to the original brand who designed it. I always do. Sure, it's a one-off/knock-off of a burando design, but really, the implication behind the word "replica" just rubbed me the wrong way. I think because there is such stigma with the word that it just felt like an insult.

>>8762768
Yes, made to look like it, but in no way did I make it so I could pass it off as the real thing and lie my ass off about it. That's the kind of implication the word "replica" has behind it. To me, a replica is a complete (and cheap) fake made to fool others into thinking its the real thing. When I make something, it's never with this intention as I always state its handmade and give credit to the original designer brand.

If I were to wear my handmade dress out and were asked about it's origin, I would simply state: "It' a dress that I made." I would never say "It's a replica that I made." If I do no refer to my own work as a replica, please don't take it upon yourself to call my hard work a "cheap fake". (And by "yourself", I mean the general you, not you-you.)

>>8763022
Isnt that an issue with you and not the term replica? If you copy the design that is a replica, there is no other way to describe that.

>>8763061
i think anon is trying to say that
design replicas =/= fattychan poorfag ripoff bootleg replicas. they're meaningless and not really a thing in the first place, for the most part. replica has some bad associations but design replicas don't fall into that category.

>>8763061
>Isnt that an issue with you and not the term replica?
Absolutely. I don't like the word and the meaning associated with it.

>>8763069
>design replicas =/= fattychan poorfag ripoff bootleg replicas
Pretty much this.

As I stated in another comment:
>To me, a replica is a complete (and cheap) fake made to fool others into thinking its the real thing.

>If I do no refer to my own work as a replica, please don't take it upon yourself to call my hard work a "cheap fake". (And by "yourself", I mean the general you, not you-you.)

>>8762681

>Sewing and making proper, real lolita clothes is very difficult
>It's really not, you obviously don't sew.

You probably don't find it difficult because you already know how to sew. It's not the same when you are a beginner with no experience in sewing whatsoever.

>If you're already a tailor or happen to be highly skilled at sewing clothes, and you've sewn at least 1 entire dress from a pattern before, sure go ahead, give it a try and enjoy.
>You can be experienced without being a "tailor"

True. But I think in the first statement, anon is talking about needing proper experience in order to make a quality garment. Using a store bought pattern does not produce a quality garment. Wearable/passable, yes. Quality, no.

>I know someone's going to harp on me for saying this, but lolita can be cheap if you sew it. If you go to a wholesale fabric place or joanns with coupons, materials can be under $15 for a jsk. And for the people who always say "you can't find good fabric for cheap!!!"
>wholesale, coupons
>know what "quality" is
>found a good white fabric? Dye it with rit dye
>for the love of god don't look for prints, just stick to solids or simple patterns

I don't know of any good wholesale fabric places that sells good quality fabric for cheap. They would never make any money if they did. Even Mood Fabrics (in NYC) that sells designer fabric remnants often go for $15/yd at the cheapest price.

If you stated "know what quality is", you should not have mentioned Joann fabrics at all then. Their fabric quality is not great, and you would know that if you knew what quality was.

I would never encourage anyone to dye their own fabric if they have no experience in sewing let alone dyeing. Sure it takes practice and experience to be able to do a good dye job, but it's not something I'd encourage newbies to take on while learning how to sew, so this is a bit misleading.

And I agree with your last statement. Solids, no prints.

>>8762626
What am I reading?

>Sewing and making proper, real lolita clothes is very difficult, and probably far beyond your skill
Making lolita clothes is not hard, the patterns aren't complicated at all and there is a wealth of resources and guides available with otome no sewing book and everything. You're not trying to make a tailored suit jacket here.

> Handmaking clothes is very tumblr-ified behavior and is something that many kawaii desu 15-year old shouldnot-be-on-4chans girls are notorious for.
Making clothes is a perfectly normal and rewarding hobby, and the fact that special snowflakes also to it because they're "so unique and brand is stupid anyway uwu", doesn't make it less true.

Making lolita clothes is not more difficult than making any other kind of dress, if you've never touched a sewing machine you should probably try make a pillow or something and work your way up, but it's nowhere near as difficult and expensive as some people here claim. The only requirements are some semblance of taste and not being a moron.

>>8762805
Wasn't there a google doc of commercial patterns that could be modified to work for lolita? Maybe we could combine a noob guide with that?

>>8763236
>modified
ain't nobody going to do that with their first dress.
http://sew-loli.livejournal.com/208428.html is the guide that should pretty much be given to anyone and everyone who wants to make their first proper dress, but with actual premade patterns

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>>8762656
I haven't had any time to get better at this. But for inspiration here's some pieces I made. I found some tutorials about romanian point lace which uses premade (crochet) braid in the outlines. For me it's easier to do than the proper way.

These four are bad, I know it, I'm going to remake the spade and heart when I have more time.

>>8763246
I mean use the bodice but switch the skirt out for a rectangle one, nothing too difficult.

Can we start a 'terrible handmade Lolita' thread? XD

>>8763850
Go ahead and start one, but please do not use "XD."

>>8763261
They aren't perfect but they aren't terrible either. I think the spade came out the best.

>>8763158
re: fabric, discount fabric places absolutely exist. I got some good quality wool suiting the other day for $5/yd, and I have some lovely rayon shirting that was $3/yd. They make money because it's mill and industry remnants and they don't spend a lot of money on making the store look fancy or shit like that. And JoAnns has some great stuff among the shitty stuff - my main objection is that the good stuff is overpriced without coupons.