We Sew Loli

Hello! I am a passionate hobby seamstress making my first foray into Lolita, aka the prettiest clothes I have ever seen. I am on a fixed budget so I shop secondhand stores for XXL clothes to use for the fabric, or the discount bin at my local sewing store (where they know me by name).

I am attracted most to brands like Mary Magdalene, Yolanda and Jane Marple, so my creations tend to have fewer frills than others.

This is a military inspired coat and matching skirt. I found this length of chocolate fabric for 2$!! This allowed me to splurge on black braided trim and fancy gold buttons. I'm super happy with how it turned out ^_^. I like to learn a new skill or technique in every project if I can. In this case I will have to figure out how to close the jacket with hook and eye. I've tried once and it was too loose so I'll have to troubleshoot and see how it turns out! Oh, and I had enough scraps left to make a removable bow which for the moment is pinned to my beret (darn you, frigid Canadian winters!)

I bought the wackiest Metamorphose kimono style fabric a few years ago. Orginally it was for a summer dress, but it was a little too much.

I thought it could be pretty awesome skirt for Wa lolita. Anyway I have only 2m of it, but the fabric is 140cm wide. I don't know about a circle skirt would be a option, but it wouldn't look right. So any tiered skirts tutorials? I found some, but they wasn't petticoat optimal.

Hello, my girlfriend wanted this dress by Angelic Pretty, and it seems to be discontinued by them. It's the dolly cat one, and she absolutely loves it. I have a picture of it as well. I was wondering if anyone could maybe make a replica of this dress for a reasonable price? Thanks.

Hi everyone! It's been quite a while since I've posted as I've been going crazy applying to all sorts of colleges, so I thought I'd share most most recent work in progress. It's a star themed jumper skirt which I'm also making some silver harlequin socks for.

( Collapse )

There's a whole bunch I have to do to finish this jsk, but hopefully once I'm done it'll look at least decent. It was inspired by BTSSB designs with chiffon bodices and chain pearls. I can tell you after experiencing making this jsk, if I didn't already, I respect Lolita brands now. This was my first time making a jsk, so I take the information I've gained and chalk it up as a learning experience. I'll finish either tonight or tomorrow most likely. If anyone has some constructive criticism or feedback, it would be highly appreciated. Thanks:)

Project Title: Pink Gingham Tank Top
Short Project Description: A crop top spaghetti tank with a circular cut out, rounded bow, and ruffles. It also has a shirred back detail.
Project Deadline: None
Patterns: Self-Drafted
Materials Needed: Pastel pink cotton fabric, White cotton lining, elastic, light/medium weight interfacing
Project Started: 9/2-9/3
Project Completed: 7:30 am, 6/26.
Did you discover something you would like to share? The back shirring isn't as nice as it looks. Mostly because of how tight the top is. If I had a bit more eleastic to would probably fit a whole lot better.
How happy are you with the result? 75-80% pleased. The next shirt will be and fit a whole lot better, but for a muslin this is great.

Originally I wanted something cozy to sleep in, so this is technically sleepwear. I drafted the pattern and tested it out on this lovely pastel pink gingham that was gifted to me a few years ago, and a soft white cotton. Both of these fabrics were bed sheets at one point, so I’m re-purposing them for the sake of pattern testing. Unfortunately there are only scraps left, so I’ll have to make do with these.

( Collapse )

Nickname: ~A, QueenSpade, Or DarlingSpade
Country: USA
Found Lolita: I think around 2010 or 2011. It was a good bit ago. I was more aware of it than anything at first, because, I was introduced to it by manga.
Experience: 12 years in counting. (It feels odd to say that...)
Equipment: Bernina B215, Janome DC3018, Singer 99-K, Singer Fashion Mate, and Singer Ultralock
Specialties: Designing, Pattern Drafting, Alterations, Detailing, Hand Embroidery/Sewing
Improve: Beginind/Completing Projects in a timely manner, Mens wear, Pressing (Yikes...), Pattern Drafting (A Constant- You can't STOP improving.)
Style of Choice: Classic, Casual, Country, Sweet, Hime, Shiro... Mori(?) - It depends on how I feel.
Things I can help you with: Sewing Machine Issues; Alterations; Design Elements; Construction Issues; Pattern Drafting(To a degree... I'll explain)

Hello Darlings~!

I'm ~A, but on Live Journal I go by DarlingSpade. I have finally bit the bullet and decided to join the community (Yay!)! I'm very pleased to join you all. For a few years I would go through each and every page and silently admire everyones work. I hope I too can share my experiences and learn from the many of

I have been sewing for a long time. I'm not that old at all, but I have a great many memories of sitting in from of a machine or with a needle and thread. Since I'm nearing adulthood (Honestly, who am I fooling... I'v been told I was an adult since 11. The quote-end quote: benefits of being an "old soul") I've decided that I should fufill my childhood dream of dressing in lolita. I'm a "penny-less" little lady, so I've decided to craft this "Lolita" wardrobe myself.

It should also be noted that I like to combine styles. So, I may stumble into a category of Lolita and mis-name it, or completely step out of "Lolita"- if you know what I mean. I will need help with these corrections if you don't mind... I'm not very good at memorising the sub-genres. Also, is Mori Lolita a thing? I love Mori Girl style, and incorparate that with almost everything (The "real" country lolita where I come from. Awwwwww Yeeeesss- petticoats in the woods...)  Anyway, I've rambled on a bit much. It's time to get to the first project.

( Collapse )

Nickname: YaYa
Country: USA
Found Lolita: 2011, I think. It was a long time ago.
Experience: 5 years sewing by hand, 2 years with a machine.
Equipment: Brother XL2600i
Specialties: Garment repair, Decorative stitching (by hand)
Improve: Measuring, Pattern Drafting, Gathering, Detailing, Pattern Editing
Style of Choice: Sweet, Country and Classic (what ever I like really)
Things I can help you with: Sewing malfuntions (?); idk I'm still learning

Nice to meet you all!

Hello everyone!
I knew about this community a lot of years ago and I like from time to time take a look.
I finally found the time and inspiration to make my first simple lolita dress and I notice the most hard thing is (at the least for me) is to find the right fabric.
Now... I can't find the right 'light' fabric to make a simple dresss like this:
(tutorial is right in this community):


I ordered some kawaii fabrics from Japan but even if cute, the fabric -weight is too high and in fact the cotton is more suitable for making zakka items, for home decorations etc.

So I understood that 100% cotton for clothing
is not the same 100% cotton for sewing for home items.

Now... I can't find a light cotton 100 % with strawberry (TINY!) or (tiny cherries) to start my project.

Someone can suggest me (and to us) where to buy a fabric that is perfect for this purpose of sewing lolita clothest?

Please create if you can, also a database in this forum so that we can update or suggest websites everytime we find the right fabric...

Thank you to all for the help in advance!

So a while back, I asked the denizens of We Sew Loli to help me with getting an A-line shape out of a rectangle skirt. I finally completed the silly thing, and I wanted to thank you all for your help. The pleating worked like a charm!

( Collapse )

I've run into a little bit of trouble, and I could use the help. :(

Some things are just meant to be. Fortune smiled upon me yesterdayday, and I managed to find 4 and 2/3s yard of a 20 year old Daisy Kingdom borderprint, the Scottie Dog gingham print in particular, in my local thrift store for less than 4 dollars. I've lost multiple auctions for this material over the last two years, in both my preffered pink-b/w-green colorway and the red-b/w-brown secondary colorway, and I had all but given up on finding it. Here it is though, in my preffered colors, and it's MINE. AHAHAHA!

Link and photo under the cut to save space.
( Collapse )