Project Began: March 10, 2022 Finished: June 09, 2022 (sort of)
This project was a big first- I've never made a lolita dress before, or a whole dress from a pattern... or honestly even finished a piece of everyday clothing before, haha. I based the pattern off of my favorite Metamorphose dress, it's a very old piece but a pattern they used several times- with a tiered skirt and button-up back. I think the back is so cute, and the pattern is simple enough to make a good day dress! I basically just put my Meta dress down onto Swedish tracing paper (I use it for all my patterns; it's thin and semi-transparent, but much stronger than regular paper, almost fabric like) and measured and traced the pieces to create a pattern. I adjusted some of the measurements, like making the bodice a bit bigger and longer for a better fit, but I definitely made the waist too big, so I think I might alter it smaller again. The fabric is actually from an old sheet I found at the thrift store! I loved the pastel yellow color, and the thrift store is a great place to find fabric as it's super cheap. I have plenty left over, I want to make a few other pieces out of the same fabric at some point :) I had trouble keeping the pieces in the correct order as I sewed; a couple times I had to frog my stitches and re-sew something because I accidentally sewed a piece together inside out, etc. I definitely need to work on that, along with lining up my buttonholes- I had to re-mark a few of them, and I still haven't been able to get the pencil marks out... not sure how to fix that :( Unfortunately, the fabric is super thick, which makes it a pain to sew. The whole dress was done by hand, and I ended up breaking a few needles :O I don't usually like using a machine, but parts of this dress definitely would have been easier with one. I still need to finish adding some ribbon bows and possibly waist ties... I've just been waiting to get in more ribbon, I ended up not ordering enough on accident. So technically it's not 100% finished, but it's wearable so I'll say close enough :) I'd like to make this dress pattern again I think, I like how it turned out and I think the tiers and buttons would look really cute with a variety of different fabrics! I'm thinking of doing bloomers and an apron along with matching hairbows from the fabric I have left (Yes, it's really that much- it was a king size sheet!). I wore the dress for the first time at Paradiso! I even got a few compliments on it, and some really cute photos :) It's pretty comfy too, I really like it! I feel like I really can make my own clothes now, and they'll actually look good- it's a really nice feeling since I've only made costumes before. I want to try making more dresses, and different types of things too- aprons, skirts, pinafores, bustiers, etc. I've been picking up some more secondhand fabrics, so there's a couple of things ready to go.