Gothic Lolita Blouses

AND WE'RE BACK!

The human has survived her trip to China.  (So did Z.  And as it turned out, poor Z spent the entire time in a backpack in the hotel instead of going out on photoshoots.  Alas.)

And we are showing off our new spring wardrobe, featuring the brand new Gothic Lolita Blouse pattern from Jinjia Mixed Goods.  This pattern has been months in the making, and is the very first pattern in our Gothic Lolita wardrobe.

It's a super versatile blouse pattern, with so many different variations:

• 2 blouse lengths (long and peplum)
• 4 blouse fronts
• 4 collar styles 
• 8 sleeve styles
• Optional corset back lacing

If you're counting, that's 256 different blouses in one pattern.

Get it at our etsy store here:  Gothic Lolita Blouse Pattern.  Use the code JMG10TH until May 10 for a 10% off $5 or more.

Kana and Lily are the models for the detailed blouse pictures.  First up, the peplum blouse with corset back lacing.

 Kana's blouse has giant puffed sleeves with lots of lace insertion, a pointed collar, and a simple front (to counteract all the lace on the sleeves...).

 The best thing about lolita style is just how much trim you can put on one blouse.  If there's a seam, there's trim.  Best trims include 1/2" lace, flat or ruffled and tiny braids.

Lily's blouse is the opposite:  a super complicated blouse front, with very simple straight sleeves and a standup collar.  The sleeve also has lace insertion, and the blouse front has trim at almost all the seams.

 We don't know about you, but lace insertion is just so fun and easy, and makes anything look elegant.

Next up:  the long blouse variant with a plain back.  The corset lacing is for adjusting fit, since AG seems to be changing doll sizes with every production run.

This blouse definitely the classic blouse with a Peter Pan collar and (for the human) minimal ruffles and lace.  Just tiny ruffles at the front placket and around the collar.  It's good for a mid-century look.

 But there's also the flared/bell sleeve, if you want something a tad more 70s.

Summer Sewing 2/5 (with free patterns)

It's not summer without some aggressively patriotic prints.  These were actually made last year, only I forgot to photograph them until now.

Nora's dress is made from a free pattern by PACountryCrafts (twirly lace doll dress)

Sam's dress is made from a free pattern by Wren*Feathers (halter sundress).  The pattern needs a good 1/2" to the center back for it to fit.

Late summer in Vermont

This is Shepard.  In late August, the humans took me up to Vermont for a weekend of sightseeing and general relaxation.  We stayed in Montpelier, at the Capitol Plaza hotel across the street from the statehouse.

It was an amazingly nice weekend, though we got there too late to visit the museum.  We did get to wander the streets and do a bit of shopping.  I did not come home with a quidditch set, much as I wanted one.

 We also visited Bragg Farm while on our way to the Caledonia Distillery.  The human was too busy eating her maple creamie to take pictures of it.  I, on the other hand, enjoyed the rural Vermont scenery.

For this trip, I did get the new button down shirt with real buttons with a resized pattern from Jenwrenne (original here).  The shirt has a nice loose fit for layering over tshirts.  There's no instructions but it makes up like a human shirt would.

AG Buttondown Shirt Pattern

For Science!

Kana here.

The good news:  the human has a real job and a real paycheck, so we get more toys.  YAY!
The bad news: the human has much less time to actually spend with us...  BOO.

And that is why it's been so quiet over here for the last month or so.  That said, the human is still making things for us.  It just takes longer.

What happened this time was that the human discovered a source of science themed novelty prints  And then inflicted them on us.  (OK, so at least half of that was Lily begging for a Ms. Frizzle cosplay, but that shouldn't involve the rest of us.)  There will be a proper photoshoot as we set up a massive doll-scale science fair in the coming weeks, but for now, the quick and dirty photoshoot in the parlor will do.

Most of us are wearing periodic table applique t-shirts with somewhat coordinating skirts or shorts.  Cauthrien's shorts have contrast cuffs, which are super cute.  I got the nice black-and-white dress, which despite having rather large-and-out-of-scale print, looks pretty darn good on me.  Also, Shep and I match.  Kind of.

Take chances!  Make mistakes!  Get messy!

And of course Lily got what she wanted.  Except the actual frizzy hair.

Because we're feeling super generous (and because misery loves company), we're providing the pattern for what I'm generously calling 'The Frizzle Dress'.

The Frizzle Dress

The pattern has the bodice, collar, and placket pieces.  The waistband is 1.25" wide by however long the waist is (about 12.5", but cut 13" to be sure and trim it back.)  The skirt is a straight skirt 7" long by the width of the fabric.  The human used the sleeve piece from Molly's blouse pattern (here) for Lily's dress and the sleeve from a free BunnyBear pattern (here) for mine.  The cuff is from Samantha's patterns.

I think we're all assuming that if you're using the human's patterns, you kinda-sorta know how to sew already.  The hardest part with this dress is the placket.  Just make a faux one if you want.  Just follow any of the Kirsten or Samantha dress patterns for how this should go together.

See you at the science fair!

Now with lightsabers (Free Star Wars doll clothes patterns)

Lily and Shepard here.  We're evil twins.  Or evil clones.  Or something of that sort.  (Only since Shepard is such a renegade, I think I might be the good twin by definition.)  But we're both persuasive, and in this case, we convinced the human to finally do something with the giant pile of old clothing in her sewing room.

With all the talk about the latest Star Wars movie, and the fact we *already* own a droid, it was only fair that the human should make us Star Wars costumes.  I'm dressed as Rey, and Shepard is dressed as Luke from 'A New Hope' (desert planets are pretty much the same, right?)

 Shepard is wearing a modified Japanese hippari and monpe made from an old gi.  Turns out there's no better way to get the weathered and worn look than actually using weathered and worn fabric.  The leg wraps are a pieces of woven brown ribbon, and the belt is a piece of nylon strapping with a buckle.

And I'm wearing a tunic and a pair of shorter monpe made from the same gi fabric.  It's a lightweight twill.  The sash is a piece of vintage Japanese cotton 3" wide by about 45" long.  The belt is all one piece with two buckles.  The arm wraps are the same woven ribbon as Shepard's leg wraps.

Download the patterns here!

These is a modified and resized version of the Little Darling in Japan patterns offered by JenWrenne.  Her instructions for making a hippari and monpe are here.  The pants have elastic waists.  Rey's tunic closes in the back with velcro.

Also, you can buy the lightsabers at the Museum of Science store here.

And now for some more pictures! (Yes, the lightsabers actually light up when we hold them.)

Dual wielding!

LIGHTSABER DUEL!

This should be a book cover pose.

End of summer sewing (Free Tea Dress pattern)

Hi!  Sam here, up in a very nice tree.  It's much easier to climb trees when you're not wearing a dress.  Though I suppose next time I'll also remember to not wear anything white...

This is the last batch of new outfits we'll have before the dreaded seasonal fabrics attack, but I think they're rather nice ones.

Kana and Anora are showing off the semi-formal robin's egg blue and white dresses.  Both dresses were made with patterns from JenWrenne.  The human resized the tea dress to fit us.  The original pattern was for a much smaller doll.

You can get the patterns here: 

Anora's one-shoulder dress:  

Pattern and Instructions

Kana's tea dress:

Pattern

Instructions

Nellie and I have coordinating outfits made from Lee and Pearl's Bonjour Paris wardrobe.  The shorts have real working pockets.

So that's it for now!  Come watch the hilarity when we get our Halloween outfits.

Sunshine and Daisies Summer Outfits (Links to Free Doll Clothes Patterns)

 One pack of 6 fat quarters, one pack of 20 2.5" x 44" coordinating strips, eight summer outfits.

Outfit 1:  Lee and Pearl Bonjour Dress
Outfit 2:  Lee and Pearl Bonjour Tunic and Shorts
Paris Mini Wardrobe Free Pattern from Lee and Pearl:  These patterns came together really easily.  The dress would have looked better without the ruffles on the sleeves, I think.

Outfit 3:  LJC Bandeau top and mini skirt
Outfit 4:  LJC Peplum top and ruffled capris
Discoveries:  I actually hate the peplum top pattern and will probably put that out of my pattern rotation for the time being.  And the capris...I'm pretty sure that front leg pieces are upside down, but somehow the pattern still worked.  The bandeau top and mini skirt were quick and easy to make.

Outfit 5:  Carpatina sundress with patchwork maxi skirt
Carpatina Sundress Pattern:  This is the third time I've played with this bodice pattern, and as it turns out, I dislike the look of it and won't use it again for sundresses.

Outfit 6:  Peasant blouse and tiered broomstick maxi skirt
Gathers are a pain in the arse.  Enough said.

Outfit 7:  JenWrenne's 1930s embroidered dress
JenWrenne's 1930s Dress Pattern:  I decided to use some daisy applique trim I had on hand instead of embroidery.  The background fabric clashes a bit too much for my liking, but it's still cute overall.

Outfit 8:  JenWrenne's Pointed yoke dress
JenWrenne's Pointed yoke dress:  This came out better than it had any right to given the fabric.  I used contrasting strips to make the pleats.  When using this pattern, extend the bodice by 0.5" to fit AG dolls.  Otherwise it's too short and you can't set in the sleeves.  Sleeves are from the BunnyBear 1940s tiered dress pattern (here).