London Anime Con

This year London Anime Con is being held on Saturday 9th February through to Sunday 10th February at the Rocket Complex N7 8DB and I am lucky enough to have a table in the Upstairs Zone exhibiting as ShinkuRose (same as my Etsy shop).  This is both very exciting and scary all at the same time.

The first decision I had to make is what to stock as this is the very first Lolita stall I have run.  After a lot of thought and discussion with my sewing partner, I decided on Jumper Skirts (JSK’s) and a few one pieces (OP’s) and these would be designed in such a way that one size would fit size 8- 10 and the larger size `12-14/16 with the offer to make to order both smaller and larger sizes.  I had made myself a JSK for MCM Expo which was complemented on and photographed a lot, it was also very easy and comfortable to wear and the construction was based on brand Lolita designs.  I used this to make the patterns for my garments which have  lovely shirred backs and the JSK’s have elasticated straps.

  

After making the patterns, fitting the toiles on my willing volunteers, the next stop was fabric shopping, always a joy, never a chore.  So on a sunny Sunday in December we set off for Bath where there is a super fabric shop in Green Street called Fashion Fabrics which has a great stock of cottons and spent lots of money and bought lots of super cotton.

      

I want to offer sweet, classic, country and gothic Lolita styles but the fabrics I found in Bath just covered Sweet, Country and Classic, there was nothing for Gothic so a couple of weeks later we had another shopping trip but this time to Shepherd’s Bush where there are some amazing fabric shops.  I felt like a kid in a sweety shop here as there were so many to choose from.

So far the JSK’s are nearly completed and the OP’s are started.

I am also going to have lots of hair accessories, canotiers and brooches which I have started but more of this later.

Bow from Gothic Lolita 40

I have been busy sewing dresses and accessories for London Anime Con, The Rocket Complex, N7 8DB on February 9th and 10th 2013 and needed a different bow to decorate a simple gingham JSK.

Looking through my Gothic Lolita Bibles I found a lovely bow in no 40 which had been used for a headband but was perfect for the waistband of my dress.  Unfortunately all the instructions were in Japanese and I had to work out how to put it together.

These are the pattern pieces I copied in paper and then cut out in gingham

I worked out that there was a main bow piece (the top and biggest piece) of which I cut out 2, two tie pieces (bottom right in the gingham) of which I cut out 4 and a small piece to wrap around and complete the bow, 2 pieces needed.

I decided not to cut out the three long strip pieces you can see in paper as these were for fabric to gather and decorate the bow and I thought the simpler I kept the first one the better and easier it would be.

I sewed the ties first, right sides together leaving a gap at the top to turn and then put a pleat in the centre.

Next I sewed the two pieces of the main bow together, turned and pressed it.  I then placed all the pieces together on my table to work out where to sew the above ties.

 here you can see what the finished bow will look like.

Once the placement was determined I opened it up and hand sewed the ties in place

To complete fold the ends of the bow piece in, sew together and finish off with the very small wrap round piece which I had edged with lace.

The bow is now ready for use.

I added it to the JSK which you can see below.  This should be worn with a pretty blouse but you can see the basic dress here

I am making quite a few JSK’s in different fabrics, some dresses and lots of hair accessories, one of which you can also see here, for London Anime Con where I am  going to have a stall.  I am very excited and am working hard to make some lovely items.