Fabric Haul - Cotton blue and white yabane bolt

Something down to earth.  

A cotton white and blue yabane bolt.

I think it is cotton as it does not have the same feel as the wool bolts that I have in my collection.

Plus the colouring has a feel of a yukata and these are normally made from cotton fabric.

From a distance, you can make out the yabana pattern but when you look at it close up it is not so clear.

I would love to make a lolita dress from this as metamorphose every so often release a wa-lolita dress  with yabane pattern.  However as much as I love them, they are just too fussy for my liking which is more toward the classics side of the fashion.  I will probably get some matching navy blue cotton fabric and trimmings when I make the dress.

Fabric Haul - Blue with red blossoms

This one from Kimono Petit Japon (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/kimonopetitjapon) caught my eye.

Why you may ask?  It looks like any other bolt but does it?

For me it stood out because although it is wool bolt ( well 95% wool and 5% Nylon) the pattern is not as dense as the ones I had previously.  It is more spaced out.

Here is the little label telling you the fabric composition.

Not sure what this label is saying but probably the producer of the bolt.

Here you can see a closeup of the flowers.  I think they look like plum blossoms but alas I am not that good at identifying flowers.

I really do buy fabric that just look pretty.

And here is the back of the fabric.  At least I can not mistake the right and wrong side.

Making a Dress - Song hanfu trousers

Inspiration

As a Chinese girl, I grew up on a diet of Chinese period drama and the one thing I love about them is the costumes or hanfu.

So pretty with the flowing sleeves and elaborate hairstyles.

I have spent many hours staring at hanfu and last year I decided to take the plunge and make something.  However what period?

Most of the female hanfu are dress which is fine for summer but I would like something practical and for me that is trousers and guess what there is a dynasty which features them, the Song Dynasty!

Design

I decided that I would make the most distinctive part of this style of hanfu, trousers.

If you look at the pictures above you will see that they come in two parts, an inner part and then the side split part.

At first I need to find out how these two were put on and fortunately I managed to find a site that show you how it was all tied here.

Therefore time to draft my first ever trousers and so I needed to find a user-friendly guide.  The best one for me was this one from "In the mood for Couture".  The tutorial led me from one step to the next and finally I managed to draft a pair.

I took some liberties like making them extra baggy and straight leg so the chances of it not fitting was zero.

Construction

I went on a fabric buying spree and one of the fabrics I picked up was a cotton jersey.  It is lovely!  Soft and very comfortable and has a lovely drape.  Brilliant for the inner trousers.

Sorting out the front placket.

I used the tutorial from historical sewing website as it has the most detailed and clear instruction.s

And before you now it, finished.

And here they are.

Now to make some over-trousers which is part two.

Fabric Haul - Hot Air Balloon

I will start my fabric haul collection with the latest fabric I have brought recently.

Isn't it gorgeous!

I feel in love with it as soon as I set my eyes on it.

I brought it from A&L Fabric facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/alfabricss/)

It is 100% cotton and cost £15.00 plus £3.90 for postage which is not a bad price for 5.5metres

I love the fact the hot air balloon are big and bold.

Seriously they are big and I do love big prints.

My first thought is of course a yukata/kimono as it is so unusual and I seem to like wearing kimono that standout.  But part of me would love to make a lolita dress from it.  Maybe if the seller has another one for sale, I might get it so save me the trouble of deciding.  However then I would be hoarding.