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Pinned post!
Here’s my live stream. If you follow me on Twitch, you’ll get a notification when I’m online.
I auto-host friend channels HelloNorthStar and Omni Prime, as well. So sometimes you’ll see them on my channel instead of me. But make sure to follow me if you want notifications specifically when I’m streaming.
11 Friday Oct 2019
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Well, my friends . . . I did it. I finally did it. I was originally commissioned this piece a long time ago by another client, and unfortunately that project ended up falling through due to circumstances in my own life at the time. But I had initially designed an entire outfit based on a client’s request of “Can you make a Catbug cosplay in Lolita for me?”
So I had no idea, in the beginning, who or what catbug was until my partner at the time said something to the effect of, “Oh! From Bravest Warriors!” I think I was told that the character is voiced by the producer’s son, so when I watched it, I could see the instant appeal of this adorable character.
Needless to say, looking at the color scheme was my first job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any Lolita style with those exact colors, so I felt it would be pretty unique and (possibly) recognizable to anyone familiar with Bravest Warriors and Catbug in the first place. So I designed a thing. Looked something like this.
I figured the star of the show would be the skirt, which I intentionally layered with a crystal organza “as the wings” idea. Lots of ruffles, minimal lace, and bows (of course). The top was to be a simple cutsew, so I got stretch knit fabric and thought about following one of the cutsew patterns in Otome no Sewing (I forget, now, which volume). The hardest thing to find was an appropriate “ladybug” type printed fabric. Like, really, it’s super hard to find exactly a red fabric with black polka dots!
But anyway, the first client I had to refund, get my life in order and all that stuff. I had posted that sketch on my blog at that time with the intention of following my progress here on the blog. Time goes by, a couple years, in fact, and a second client approaches me on Etsy. They found the design illustration I’d posted on the blog and asked if I could make that for them. This time, I was in a more stable place in life, and accepted the challenge.
I had no idea how I was going to put everything together, since the design was original. There were the basic building blocks and patterns, sure, but this thing was layered to heck.
The skirt has two different types of fabric; a very fraying cotton sateen (that’s “sateen” as in a satin weave but not made with silk), and an all-over eyelet lace . . . in exactly the right sky blue catbug colors. There’s half elastic in the back of the waistband (full elastic waistbands make skirts WAY too bulky, in my opinion, so I try to avoid that when I can).
The overskirt with the ladybug print is a separate pieces (also, again very bulky) and ties in the center back. The crystal organza is cut into four “leaf” shapes to emulate the wings under the dotted “shell” of the overskirt. The top is a simple cutsew out of sweater knit fabric. And then there’s the detachable collar (which I’ve never made before). I’m glad I had the right venice and embroidered lace lying around for that, because those details are delectable (IMHO).
I think it came out pretty okay. ^^
02 Wednesday Oct 2019
Posted in Patterns
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Yay! A new Otome no Sewing book for us to enjoy . . . until next year, anyway (hopefully). I may have mentioned before that these books used to be semi-annual releases, and have now become only annual releases.
While many of us who received the book when it came out feel that it seemed lacking, there are some choice gems in here – like all the rest. Some are hit or miss patterns and coords, but all of them are adaptable in their own way to make something truly unique. As I say many times, all it takes is a little skill and some vision to make the basic building blocks you get in these books work for you. Modify a little here and there, add some embellishments, and you’ve got yourself something of brand quality.
Anyway, without further ado, here are the pieces included in Book 14.
These are the designs that have received the most criticism from new owners of Book 14. But I feel some explanation might shed light on why these were included. It may not be obvious to some that, with the subsequent pages of an article detailing the design and making of these outfits, these are student projects.
Both these outfits were designed by students, 2 were chosen as the “best” within their class, and with some guidance from the instructor, patterning was done, toiles (mock-ups or muslins) were made, and the outfit finalized with the fabric choices and constructed. The designs were featured in the Otome magazine to partly advertise the fashion academy that hosts a class in Otome or Lolita fashion sewing.
The themes of the outfits are Rococo x Retro Pop (the brightly colored patchwork outfit), and Rococo x Lingerie. I find the corset/waist cincher thing of the second outfit to be ill-fitted, but I really can’t hark on either of these too much. They were bold and creative efforts from students who are trying to push their limits and are still learning.
I won’t even go into the atrocities I pulled off when I was in school and first starting to learn. These are lightyears beyond those early attempts of mine.
If you like them, or if you don’t, they are both available within this issue as draftable patterns. I’m sure many elements can be changed. I like the puffy blouse of the “Lingerie” version, but might choose a finer fabric than whatever stiff material they decided to go for in their sample. All the coords in the book should be taken with a grain of salt and a dash of creativity.
Let me know what you think or if you have any questions! See you in Discord and on Twitch! ❤
04 Wednesday Sep 2019
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Live stream class on making the Blouse from Otome no Sewing book 8 (8-68) will be held today from 12:30pm – 4pm MST.
The stream is being recorded for editing into a more concise presentation of this class, which will be added to YouTube when the live stream is concluded. But if you want to catch all the bloopers and funny stuff live, check out my channel on Twitch! 😛
29 Thursday Aug 2019
Hey friends! Just a reminder about my Twitch streaming and a schedule I finally came up with!
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 12:30pm – 4(ish)pm MST!
https://www.twitch.tv/lunarcrystai
First class will be held next week. We’re making the blouse pattern from Otome no Sewing Book 8. Class Materials can be found on the discord server. If you missed it, here’s the invite link:
22 Monday Jul 2019
Posted in Patterns
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Finally, after months of my scanner being a pain, I finally got around to this issue.
The quality of the scans isn’t great, but I improvised by using an app on my phone called Scanner Pro. It does a decent enough job, and high enough quality to see the numbers on the instruction pages.
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18 Thursday Jul 2019
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Hey guys! I mentioned before that I’ve been live streaming my studio work on Twitch, and I’ll be doing so again today at 4pm MST.
I wanted to invite all of you to join me in Discord, too! We have an active chat discussion about sewing and design in Lolita Fashion, and would love for you to get involved in conversation! WIPs and questions always welcome!
Come join us!
Check out the live stream on Twitch too! Be sure to follow my channel if you want to get updates on when I’m live.
26 Tuesday Mar 2019
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Hey guys! I mentioned in my update video that I’m trying a new thing with Twitch streaming for my Let’s Lolita Sewing adventure! ^^ Here’s the link to my channel! I have my streams recording while I stream, so you can see past . . . streams. Gosh, that’s redundant. Sorry.
Anyway. Go here!
https://www.twitch.tv/lunarcrystai
Also, here’s my update video, if you’re curious.
#kthxbai
20 Wednesday Mar 2019
Posted in Blog
Hey everybody!
Thank you all so much for subscribing to my various social media things, like this blog and my YouTube channel! Seeing so much interest in what I do and what I want to teach is really encouraging, and I wanted to reach out and let you all know that I haven’t forgotten my mission or goals.
As of last year, things have been in flux a little bit. I teamed up with a local cosplay shop for a while before we decided to close the physical store. My entire studio was moved twice, and we had to learn how to pick up where we left off. Moving has made filming new tutorials difficult, but I do intend to continue to do this.
From October through February, I worked in a local sewing factory. I learned some amazing techniques regarding efficiency and speed, and using these tools, my business partner and I are developing limited edition items that we produce in bulk ourselves. We can now produce 20 units in our home studio, using the equipment and tools that we have at our disposal.
Currently, my scanning abilities have been limited, but I do still want to keep up with the requests I receive from all my wonderful subscribers. I ask for very little in return, however, as sharing the patterns I have in my library does take some time to provide. I have added a donation button to this blog, and you can give as little or as much as you see fit. Anything you can offer in exchange for the plethora of information and diagrams I provide here on this site would be absolutely appreciated, and I can be sure to continue sharing as much as I can.
We have more Alice aprons in stock! As our first trial run of limited mass production, we went on to create 24 units of Alice aprons, 12 in white and 12 in black. They’re in black now, guys! ^^
We have a new brand called Alt Mode, tied to a new Storenvy page, and we will soon begin taking pre-orders for the aprons.
You can visit the new Storenvy page and pre-order now, actually!
New videos are planned to be out in late spring/summer. In the meantime, I’ll try to keep up with diagram requests as best as I can. The Mode a la Belle Etsy store is still open, and commission slots are available as well. So if you have something special in mind for your Lolita closet, let me know!
Thanks for your patience, everyone! ^^
14 Wednesday Feb 2018
Posted in Patterns
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Here 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.
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.
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 PhysicalDrop. 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.
