Otome no Sewing #12 – Updated!

13 Thursday Jul 2023

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OTS - Book 12 - 001Here we have the latest edition of Otome no Sewing as of November 2017. They’re usually released twice a year, in May and November – which you may already be aware of. So let’s see what they have in this issue! We have a pretty obvious Alice in Wonderland theme going based on the cover. There have been many variants on an “Alice” dress, but this is the first we see paired with two other “character” Lolita dresses – Queen of Hearts, and the White Rabbit.

 

 

Alice in Wonderland

Queen of Hearts

This pattern, as well as the White Rabbit and the Wa Lolita styles in this issue uses a base blouse pattern, on page 66 of this issue. Use this for modifying into the Queen of Hearts and White Rabbit variations.

The White Rabbit (Ouji/Dandy style)

The vest pattern base for this coord is in the “Other Patterns” section.

Other Patterns Included (click on image for PDF)

Tutorials for Accessories

As these books are sponsored by Clover in Japan, they often include highlights of Clover products like Yoyo Makers or flower makers. This time, they’ve included a tool or form to create luck knots.

In Japanese it’s called “mizuhiki” – 水引

In Chinese it’s called “Zhōngguó jié” – 中国结

There are plenty of tutorials online that can show you how to do this knotting technique without the Clover product. But I imagine the forms they sell make them easier to do for beginners.

Suggested Materials

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Also a common thing you see in these books are ads for various new collections or pieces from popular Lolita brands in Japan. This time they featured Physical Drop. They have numbers next to the models as if to indicate that there is a pattern in the book somewhere for something. I hunted through the book back and front and could not find any patterns numbered 25, 26, or 27. Not sure why they’re numbered.

Files for you

OTS 12 – Cape, Fur Collar, Rabbit Ears PDFDownload

Gosu Rori No. 16

07 Friday Jul 2023

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All this time, I never realized I hadn’t uploaded any patterns or photos of this issue. This was the last issue of Gosu Rori before the same publishing company went in a different direction and began the Otome no Sewing books.

Click for Pattern PDF (if available – still updating)

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Additional Information and Tutorials

Gosu Rori Vol. 2 – UPDATED

06 Thursday Jul 2023

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As I have since acquired hard copies of many of these old GOSU RORI issues, I am slowly adding my own scans to the archive. Better quality, and no watermark. Yay!

Click For Pattern PDF

I feel like Old School Lolita is making a bit of a comeback for its simplicity, so it’s fun to have these old magazines available to us if we have a desire to make some. There are a lot more Ouji styles in the old magazines, as well, which I find is somewhat lacking in the new Otome no Sewing books.

Additional Tutorials

Please let me know if you have questions!

Gosu Rori Vol. 13 – UPDATED!

04 Tuesday Jul 2023

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Huge news! I finally got my hands on this issue, completing my collection of all the GOSU RORI magazines. This means I was able to fully scan the book myself, and there were a lot of missing pages compared to before. A lot of it is filler with advertisements from 2009, featuring brands like Algonquins and Putumayo, et al.

I scanned and compiled all the coords in this issue, and will include it here at the end of this post. Please enjoy!

New Rule! Click on the pic and get the pattern!

But Wait! There’s More!

Here are some included tutorials for various accessories, and gel nail designs (if you wanna!).

All The Ads

Where have I been? An explanation.

23 Friday Sep 2022

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Firstly: Hello, my lovely friends! I am aware of my distinct absence from this site and the comm in general, and I feel I must explain. At least a little. All I ask is for your understanding and patience. Your continued support of this beautiful hobby and my work within it has been immeasurable. And now I must explain myself.

Earlier this year, I have been tasked with a major family event. I was named the Executor of my grandfather’s estate. It was decided when no one else in my sparse and distanced family wanted to take up this task, and it would have been left to the state if no one stepped up. My 93 year old grandfather was dangerously close to becoming buried in his hoard of 50 years, and no one else was willing to help. The reasons why no one was willing . . . is a long and complicated story full of personal family drama that I will not divulge. However, it can be said that my grandfather had burned many bridges. Save one. Me. It would seem.

And even I had come from a place knowing some of the history of this person, but I was uniquely removed from it enough to be able to navigate my grandfather’s progressing dementia. Enough to be able to convince him that he could have a better life with us in New Mexico, where I and my family live. My dad and my uncle are grandpa’s children, and they were briefly willing to give it a try.

Realizing how dangerous my grandfather’s living conditions were, we had to mobilize quickly and drastically. I had to fly out to help my grandfather legitimize his trust documents, witnessed his living situation (as it was horrifying), and worked tirelessly with my family to move him out of his house and sell it. This has all transpired since March.

The most major portion of the operation was going back to the hoarded house for 8 days, and attempt to clean it out and salvage any family heirlooms that might not have seen the light of day in over 45 years. It was an archeological dig of the strangest proportions.

My life since the beginning of this year has consisted of phone calls, meetings, trips, cleaning, moving, packing, lots and lots of docu-signing, and now . . . only now . . . am I finally getting back into a place of rest and solace.

I am so sorry I have been so quiet. This is the short version of the story, without revealing too much personal info, I feel. It’s been a very stressful year, and all of it was so far removed from this realm of creativity and imagination that I had trouble finding the spark for it again. Not without trying, and I promise that “spark” is being nurtured again. Just a bit dimmed at the moment. Taking mental health days has been a blessing, but I am feeling a need to get to work again. Soon.

For those of you who have requested diagram scans that have not been fulfilled, I will begin to do those this weekend. Again, I apologize, and hopefully can pick things up again in the coming weeks.

Thank you everyone,
Carol

Otome no Sewing #16 (November 2021) – Updated with links

12 Sunday Dec 2021

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Whew! It’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it? Well, I’m back to share the newest issue of Otome no Sewing, and they’re really leaning more on the Otome kei this time, with some Lolita inspired coords.

Starting with the cover feature, we have these two outfits, which I feel leans more toward Otome Kei instead of Lolita, but it could be a blend of both. Very comfy, homey style that I’m sure could be dressed up with trims or otherwise modified for something a little more ostentatious. The variations of these dresses seem to just be the same outfits, but turned backwards so that the button closures are on the back. Cool, I guess?

1950s style circle skirt (left), Belted JSK (right)

I feel that here we might be getting into more costume territory, though the obvious cultural influence can’t be ignored. Wa Lolita (Japanese Style) has been around for a while, as well as Qi Lolita (Chinese style). I really like the jacket from the first Qi Lolita outfit featured, and thought it would look pretty cool if the collar were changed to something more Steampunk, as it has the asymmetrical front closure. It gives me some ideas to be creative with it, as I’m not a huge fan of the Mandarin collar.

Here we have some conservative outfits, very old-school in my opinion. Which I like, and I also realize is super popular these days. The brown outfits remind me of Innocent World’s aesthetic (not too sure about that jacket, but there are plenty of other jacket or bolero patterns to choose from in previous volumes).

I’m also not entirely sure what’s going on with that full B&W OP, especially around the waist area. Not sure if that’s just how the sample fits on the model, or if the pattern itself might need tweaking for proper line and fit. Hmm…

Some tutorials and patterns for accessories. They always include these in every book, though I feel they added a few more this time around for filler. But hey, it’s a pandemic, so everything is either delayed or on-hold right now. Oh, look, another face mask pattern! Because we really needed more of those.

The hat patterns I’m a bit mixed on. On one hand, I think it’s neat they include hats to be made. On the other, they do not work very well, if you follow the tutorial exactly. Knowing how to make hats is a completely different animal (kind of like men’s tailoring vs. dressmaking). Get some nice buckram, starch the heck out of it, and use millinery wire for that brim. Best advice I could give.

I think I get what they were trying to do with the chiffon apron, but it still reads kind of weird to me. The apron or more like a smock, I suppose. Out of chiffon, it’s not very functional, but it could look nice if it were made out of a lightweight cotton like a chambray or shirting fabric.

And finally, we have our Crazy Town outfit, which is something they’ve been adding since the last few issues. The class designs something, one design is chosen, and they create the pattern and the sample. I see these as the Final Boss class challenge, where they push themselves to make something a little over the top and complex. This outfit is great to showcase one’s skill, and would look good at a fashion show or some grand event, but definitely not a tea party outfit. Then again, who am I to judge?

And that’s it! Those are all the pieces in the latest issue of Otome no Sewing. Hang out with us in our Discord server if you want to discuss this juicy mess.