Completed July 2008

Inspiration
I bought a yard of red asian-print fabric on a whim about 5 years ago and it has sat in my fabric pile unused. I finally decided to get rid of it – I mean, use it. I’ve always wanted a Wa-Lolita dress. They’re innocent and elegant at the same time. I tried to adhere to the Lolita “rules” so it’s not as bright and flamboyant as I would have designed on my own. Fails as fashion. Can’t take the cosplay out of a cosplayer, I guess.

My friend Carrie took these lovely shots in my hometown state park. Autumn is my favorite season and the leaves had just begun to change. I’d originally thought of this as a Summer lolita, but after seeing these photos, I changed my mind!

Construction
For the top and obi I used Simplicity pattern #4080. I drafted the dress, hairbow, and sleeves. I had a pair of red flip-flops I was going to throw away but I hotglued some fabric and lace onto them. When I made the hairbow, I used iron-on craft interfacing so it’s extra stiff. It keeps its shape, but because it stands up on its own it’s HUGE on my head! It kind of reminds me of Minnie Mouse. The little flower pouch hanging off the obi tie was a pattern I got from a book on Japanese pouches and I sewed it by hand. It’s so cute! Oh yeah. And when I made the skirt, I accidentally put the red stripe down the wrong side of the wrap skirt. DUR! Since I only had one yard of the red, I had none left over so I had to rip off the red stripe and sew it down the other side, change the clasps at the waistline, etc. It sucks to have completed something, then find out you did it all wrong!

Photos by Carrie – Kankakee State Park, IL