Steam Punk Progress

Gathering Lace

I feel like i have been gathering lace for days. I have spent the best part of the day working on this now, beginning at about midday with the measuring and cutting for the velvet. I then stitched the upper part of the skirt, including inserting an invisible zip. This time around I used a friends metal invisible zip foot and it was so much easier. I think because it is a proper foot instead of the plastic kind it held everything firmly in place and so I was able to just sew instead of having to make sure nothing was coming loose.

I have also completed the bottom frill by gathering 10 metres of lace and attaching it to the velvet. This took the most time. I spent well over two hours altogether as pinning the lace onto the 4.5m (approximate) length of velvet was very time consuming. I have a couple of progress photos over on my flickr account.

Who Watches The Watchmen?

Watchmen Costumes

Friends recently got dressed up for the premiere of the Watchmen movie. Their costumes all looked absolutely fantastic, so if you are a fan check out the whole photoshoot. -> Watchmen Photo Shoot

Steam Punk Lolita

Types of Lace

I am finally making some progress! I have just cut out the frills, which took quite a bit of effort as I had to spread the fabric out on the floor because the table wasn't long enough to cut a 2m24 length. My sudden burst of energy is due to actually having a clean house at the moment which is lending itself to being inspired to do other things instead of feeling depressed about the amount of housework that is piling up.

Earlier in the week I scored some acceptable lace at DK Fabrics which made me feel confident to cut into my lovely blue cotton velveteen. This is the best lace I could find without having to spend over $4/m on Torchon Lace. I needed about 65m of the stuff so I was happy to get it for under $1/m and even happier to realise that one of the designs I purchased might be the same as what was used in the magazine example, so I am sure it will be OK.

The only downside to sewing lolita is the amount of gathering, but the end result is worth it.

Putumayo Skirt Replica

Skirt Replica

I began this skirt after a burst of inspiration. This is the tartan that I found in a remnant bin for $2 and I also had left over black cotton. I had to get half a metre more of black. After the first weekend I have it almost complete. I still need to make 3 more bows, but I haven't been able to get silver badge backs so that they will be removable. Perhaps I should just sew the bows onto the skirt. I also need to sew on the waist band.

The pattern for the skirt is from Gosu Rori magazine volume 12. The finished skirt will look something like this.