Wearables Sewing Project: Mori Style/Dark Mori/Cottagecore [ Round 132 ]

Nice, I can join this time! Looks like a perfect prompt to finally make an outfit for Michi! I'm thinking if recycling some old bedding or dish towels for a dress and perhaps knitting a long cardigan. I also found some lace that I haven't had any ideas for so that's a perfect addition!

Here's my victim:

 

I plan on using my failed punk outfit and modeling it into a dark mori style. Im planning on making a flowy shirt or jacket for her, while also a longer skirt to go under the frills

The oufit start:

 

Alright! I’ve been waiting for this round! I have a few Mori inspired ideas for my Minifee I call Lyla. I’ve already got a bunch of leftover and new fabrics and lace trims to work with. The hard part is deciding which ones to use! This is just what I need to make myself sit down and finish an outfit for her.

 

This is Petronella. She is a Withdoll Emma.
My only fashion rule for her is that there has to be some element of fun in all her clothes. It can be pattern, colour combinations, interesting sewing techniqes or decorative elements, it doesn't matter as long as each garment is interesting on it's own in some way.


I don't have plan yet and I don't eally have a lot of time dedicating to this project this month, so we'll see what I manage to produce. I'll make an atempt and if all else fails at least I will just be cheering the rest of you on.

 

I'm thinking of joining with my Ybeedoll Nora, Naomie. She definitely needs some clothes. ^^' Will try to think of something for her. ^^

 

I'm going to try and make a poncho for Mellori, my little crow-themed girl. I have the fabric and a human-sized poncho to base the pattern on. If I have time, I'd like to make her a shirt and shorts as well

 

I'm sewing for Jaala, my Gem of Doll Capricorn. Here's my girl-

 

Yay! A new round to follow

Teddy

 

My plan is to pick up where I left off last round with Vivienne's distressed sports top and capelet set. I had envisioned it as a sort of post-apocalyptic wastelander, desert wayfarer sort of thing. Definitely outdoorsy, maybe the wasteland was a forest before and now it's all sand and petrified wood

Round 131 project starts by Jules B, on Flickr

I think I'm gonna use Lillith's wisdom about decorative bleaching and experiment a little with a partial dip-dye, see if I can get a bleach gradient going on the capelet? We shall see how this works out, lol

 

You mean the: "Just splash some on and let it do it's thing"- wisdom?
As for a gradient, a smooth transition would be dificult. Straight bleach is quite agressive, that's what makes it possible to get the high contrast patterns that I got on the black t-shirt. You can get softer edges of the bleachd areas by applying the bleach to damp fabric, rather than dry. Or you could use the bleach diluted and reapply it over and over on the areas you want lighter. Any way you do it, just be prepared that it can be somewhat unpredictable.
If you have scraps left, a few tests on that can probably let you work out a good method.

 

@Lillith that's exactly my plan, dampen it on the bottom half first and do an initial bleach layer, then do a second one after it's completely dry!

 

Could work. It will be interesting to see your results!

@PoeticSoul Oh, that is going to be beautiful!

 

@PoeticSoul I've made some lolita dresses/skirts for me, it's not very complicated, just take your time. ^^ Good luck with it !

 

This month I'm hoping to make a new skirt for Cassandra. The current one I have (which I bought years ago at a meetup) is the right style and material, but the color palette is wrong - I want something more autumnal. Unfortunately, I suspect the material is going to be the tricky part. I've been hoping to upcycle a human skirt, but my occasional searching at Goodwill hasn't turned up anything floaty enough, and I don't want to get anything online, because I want to make sure the fabric feels right. Hopefully if I expand my search (and focus more on Cassandra specifically) I'll turn something up.

 

could you dye it a more autumnal colour...?

Teddy

 

Using a nail file I sanded the fabric in strategic spots to add to the weathered and worn-through effect, and tweaked some of the slashes previously made with scissors by extending the cuts.

Round 132 wastelander capelet process by Jules B, on Flickr

I also realized I talked about my process plan backwards here, where I said

What I was trying to say was I wanted to soak it, then do the initial bleach layer on just the bottom half, then rinse and let dry. I'm at that step now, and the results are interesting so far! Unfortunately I didn't have any spare bits to test with first... I did last month, but they were juuust small enough I decided at the time that I was just causing myself undue stress fixating on how in the world I would use them for zero waste, and I was tired of the fretting holding me back from actually wanting to work on this so I dismissed them, lol. I don't regret that because I know I would have just continued to be weird about it in the intervening weeks. But it did mean that in the present, I was braced for a disaster I knew I wouldn't be able to correct without starting fresh with a different bit of fabric.

Fortunately it worked out fine, the uneven result works perfectly for getting that "worn through a radiation storm, or something" look for my petrified forest wastelander ~vision~

Round 132 wastelander capelet process by Jules B, on Flickr
I'm going to more or less repeat this process for the final bleach treatment. Full soak, gently dip the bottom portion (in this case just whatever of the uneven edges I can reach) to get a sunbleached gradient effect. I'm not at all worried about realism, lol, who cares if actual sunbleaching would be on her shoulders This Is For Fun

After that I'll do another few rounds of thorough rinsing to avoid any lingering bleach transfer onto the doll. And then it'll be on to the tank top worn underneath this!

 

@Mamo That looks very promising!

 

I like it as it is well enough that I'd hate to risk damaging it, and I don't know exactly what the fabric composition is (probably a poly-cotton blend?) and what dyes will work with it.

 

Fair enough.

Just in case you ever decide to go for it - I've dyed a couple polycotton dresses (started out pastel pink... I'm not a fan) for my doll and a friend's. I used dylon dye for natural fibres, so would obviously achieve a much lighter result as only the cotton fibres would tae the dye. One of them I dyed with royal blue dye and got a nice light purple/lilac colour, the other I dyed with vivid yellow dye which came out a slightly peachy yellow.

If you used Ritt Dymore for synthetics, you'd get a stronger colour, but would probably mostly obliterate the printed pattern on the fabric.

Teddy

 

Totally understandable to not want to overdye the skirt - it's quite cute! But yeah if you do decide to try it, or you do find a skirt that needs the color palette adjusted, maybe tea dyeing would give the sort of autumnal warmth you're looking for? I've done it a little bit for a cosplay, and I suspect the fabric I used for that was either poly-cotton or cotton (shreds of an old white t-shirt) and it came out a nice pinky-brown. Plus the supplies are cheap and easily available, hehe!

 

Joining in to make a sweet cottagecore outfit for Saga! (DF-H Xiao Chan)

I'm planning to make a maxi skirt with gathered frills at the hem and an off-shoulder shirt with puffy sleeves. I also have been drafting a pattern for a simple dress that I will make if I have the time, but so far on the prototypes I've made, sewing the bodice for the dress takes forever (mostly because I'm a perfectionist but also not very skilled yet)
I have fabrics for the skirt and the dress already, but I need to go looking for a fabric for the shirt. I'm thinking a very thin white or off white cotton or cotton blend, depends on what my local fabric store has in stock.

 

Photo of my fabric and part of the RAD pattern I'm using.


And the shirt in progress
Shirt in progress by Zoe Gold, on Flickr

 

Rather than work on doing repair/corrective work to Sena's current dress, I'm taking this challenge as a chance to experiment for her. Sena is a Resinsoul Ju on a whole mishmash of RS parts:



While I'm experimenting and not just looking at historical stuff for inspiration, I am wanting to make something that would be in-character for her to wear. So my concept is mori-meets historical-meets fanatasy/D&D. Shift with some bell sleeves, top of the dress is viking apron dress-inspired, and then for the lower half I'm thinking either a broomstick skirt look or a layered skirt using Requiem Art's mori girl skirt pattern. This'll at least help me destash fabric, by using a fabric I've been saving for a Sena project, leftover mint green fabric, and a new patterned fabric that I picked up for another character's jacket.

 

Sounds like a fun blending of styles.

Teddy

 

Quick drive-by post to see if I can maybe make myself accountable to finish this darn thing!

I nabbed some fabric scraps back in February and zigzagged the sides when the internet was out one morning. Felt incredibly productive. Haven't managed to get that back since. RIP.

I also recently found a big bag of random lace lengths and was like oh boy, THAT could go really well together! So gonna sew the lace to the fabric bits, sew the bits together, and make an elastic-waist maxi skirt. For whomst? Probably Clover (DV Olivia) or Nova (Seed Arts Wol) since they're my Mori/Cottagecore/Grandma's Quilt Stash girlies. You're gonna see a lot of those two these next few months, considering the themes + a project I have for Designer's Choice.

Fabric:


Ran out of time for dolls! Aaaaa good luck everyone excited to see your projects!!!

Nyoom...

 

Looking at my stash, I found some faux turned leather so I'm thinking something a little more western than mori/cottagecore but... I guess it's not too far off the theme either The skirt will be simple white lolita type, using the lace trim on the photo. If I have time, I also might make a hat! Let's see - I'll get going with the skirt today I think.

 

So many nice plans this month!

And here I sit in confusion, picking at a pile of fabrics with not even the vaguest idea of what to make.

 

I thought I'd just start cutting the pieces out today but ended up speedrunning the whole skirt. The trim is unfortunately too stiff so the fit is a little odd but it makes great use for wind effects! Maybe I'll make an apron to hide the wonk?

 

Try the wash and hang to dry, arranging how it handgs while it's wet trick, in case that helps...?

I'd be tempted to wash it on HOT and add lots of fabric softener to see if that takes some of the stiffness out of the trim too.

Teddy

 

I'm hoping to join in this round and make some things for my swamp witch, Lotus!


I'm hoping to make her some layering pieces, including a vest and belt similar to my sketch:


I'm also considering embellishing the vest with some embroidery, but I have to decide on fabrics first to see how well they play together.

 

Thanks for the tip! I don't think fabric softener would do much to it (at least not enough to convince myself to buy any) but I'll see what washing does to the trim!

 

Today I accidentally did a lot
First is my quick sketch of the plans for the outfits, I'll focus on the outfit on the left first and then if I have time I'll work on the one on the right.

I went and bought fabric for the shirt, ended up picking up a soft off-white viscose instead of a cotton blend. I like the feel of it more, and being so soft, I feel like it'll flow more ''naturally'' in doll scale clothes.
After fabric shopping I started working on the skirt. Just like cobaltconduct, I was not meant to finish the skirt, but something happened and, poof; skirt! this ended up being my favorite piece of doll clothing I've made so far! Not only was it a breeze to sew, but it also ended up looking really nice! The fabric is lovely to work with, it's some sort of a cotton blend (my local fabric store sold it as ''italian shirt fabric'') that has a very slight stretch to it, and it's very very thin which makes it perfect for doll clothes! It does wrinkle very easily, but with this skirt it was an advantage.

Spoiler: another picture of the skirt

And then I worked on the shirt. I made an ill-fitting prototype and cut the adjusted pieces to sew at a later time (I have to keep reminding myself; ''not today'')

 

Everybody's work is looking so lovely, and so are the ideas!!

 

Scrounge a cup of it for a friend/neighbour/relative...?

But I know what you mean - it's not worth buying a whole bottle of the stuff if it's something you don't generally use.

It's LOVELY - My Morganna would be envious of it

Loving that concept. It looks so cute!

Sounds like a good plan. I'm impressed tht you zigzagged arouond all the pieces beforehand - it's the sort of thing I should do, and even, sometimes, plan to do, but never get around to doing beofre I snatch a moment to start throwing a project together.

Teddy

 

Poncho complete! It's a bit uneven at the neck hole, but I'm happy with it. I'm also in the process of drafting a pattern for some shorts

 

Nice.

Teddy

 

I had the tiniest sliver of trim left from a skirt part that was too long so I made this top/vest thing out of it to go with it. I'm almost getting a nipple slip there so I think it might add something underneath but for a thing made out of pretty much nothing it's quite cute!

Spoiler: The back

 

Very pretty.

Teddy

 

Ah! I've been meaning to get my dolls out and show them some love...I fall in and out of hobbies fast, but I've been trying to focus on human sized crochet as a "job" due to life circumstances. Since the weekend is upon us, I will spend some energy on this challenge.

For now, my thoughts are centered on accesories. I feel like the maximizing of accesories is a key part of the mori kei aesthetic. If I can pull off a nice head piece in the form of a crochet bandana, plus some layered socks (or tall socks with a decortive top), and then have a shawl with complimentary colored scarf, the rest of the outfit will sort of follow as long as I can make a basic dress and skirt combo or shirt and multiple skirt combo. The other factor to making a mori kei outfit is long lines of layering, which is why I would want to make a dress plus skirt or a shirt plus multiple skirts. At the very least for the bandana (but also maybe some of the other parts of the outfit), I plan to play with the Gutermann Top Stitching Thread I've been steadily acquiring; it should provide plenty of fun color choices and a nice drape. As for the doll, I think I'll use little Nora (a Luts Tiny Delf Yeondu Elf), whom I clearly don't show enough love, because I don't even have a picture of her!

Those are my thoughts! I'll see y'all (hopefully before Monday) to share my progress

 

I had a real quick go this round since I was working with something I'd already started, and what I had in mind could be accomplished very easily with a few quick stitches, snaps, and some strategic layering. So I'm already done! I've really been enjoying the look of combining commercially-made items with my own projects, I feel like I end up with such interesting outfits!

Round 132 Wastelander outfit! by Jules B, on Flickr
Here's Viv giving me her best 'it's 2005 and I'm ready for a grungy apocalyptic photoshoot on somebody's personal doll website cross-posted to the Gallery subforum' impression, lmfao (aka, the kind of thing I used to fantasize about being able to do as a broke teen picking up quarters off the school sidewalk to save up for my first doll "faster" )

Spoiler: Finished pieces

After having a good amount of time away from this project and coming back with fresh eyes, I reconsidered my overly complicated plan from last round of sewing up the cut edge for a side seam, then cutting into the full back piece for a back seam. A good thing, too, because every time I work with this body (old AoD) it is eager to remind me how absolutely keen the nips are on being center-stage; it would have stretched the fabric too much and I would have been unhappy with the result. But dismissing that idea meant having to come up with some other way to get it on and off of her without having to remove her head every time. Then it hit me that I could sew up one of the tied shoulders, but leave the other as-is to be tied and untied as needed, and add snaps to the existing side edge rather than turn it into a seam. That worked out really well honestly, the left shoulder got sewn in place with the right one left alone, almost like a really sad wrap lol.
Round 132 Wastelander outfit! by Jules B, on Flickr

Trying it on all together, I decided I liked the look of the weathered capelet as it was after one round of bleaching and added a bit of detail to it instead. Especially since I needed a way for it to stay on, but I really did not like the look of the temporary safety pin. Somewhere I do have another dolly-sized cloak pin, but I'm not about to be held up by tracking it down. Using a very sad beige yarn in a plying style I don't usually work with, I knotted the ends and ran it through the collar like a channel. The sanding I did previously left a great hole in the outer layer which was perfect for adding an extra bit of visual interest and really emphasizing the feel of something cobbled together from scraps that were on hand (both in real life and in my vision for this project lmfao)! And to keep it from sliding around, I did some decorative stitching along the outside to form little channels of thread over and around the yarn, not through it, to hold it in place and just take it over the finish line.
Round 132 Wastelander capelet by Jules B, on Flickr

I've got plenty of time left in the month to think about any changes I might want to make, like if I want to hem the neckline of the tank so it doesn't look quite so raggedy. But at the end of the day, I'm pleased! I'll be cheering everybody on and coming back with more updates if I get any ideas for what else to do (crochet bag, perhaps? Actually test out the sad yarn I don't know what to do with? We'll see!)

 

Fingers crossed!

Well done!

Teddy

 

@Mamo - well done finishing early! Your outfit's so interesting to look at and I love the tied shoulders of the top!

I tried making a cowboy jacket out of the weird faux leather thing and... yeah that didn't work out. The material fell apart so easily, the tassels kept breaking and falling off, everything is covered in little brown bits now... so I ended up dunking it into the trash after snapping the pic below. Adding sleeves would have been too much fiddling for the material to stay together well. I might make something less complex out of it (maybe a bag?) but will try to complete the outfit in other means in the meantime and return to a more mori kei direction. I wasn't quite convinced by the colours either - another time, another project perhaps.

Spoiler: The tassel disaster

Looking for something less frustrating to make, I knitted a test patch and think it'll look nice as a lacy sweater on top of the white parts of the clothing. Maybe it's good that my cowgirl bebop took a sour turn because I'm quite exited to make this instead.

 

Here's my thoughts made manifest by digging through my stash! Textures are an under-appreciated part of making a mori outfit, so I chose fabric with many textures, including a knit, but I'm unsure I have the right tools to sew it; any help on sewing knits at this scale would be appreciated! Regardless, little Nora is going to look so friggen cute if I can pull this off

 

Nice - shoudl be interesting to see what you come up with.

Teddy

 

For knit fabric, at such a small size, hand sewing will be many times easier than trying to use a sewing machine. Use a backstitch rather than a running stitch, as the former is stronger and has a bit more stretch. Be careful not to pull the fabric too much as you work with it, since it can be stretched out of shape, but if it is, you can fix this somewhat by running it through the drier on high heat. You can also starch the fabric to make it more stable, but the trade-off is that the less stretchy fabric won't fit properly if you want to try it on.

You don't really need special tools to hand sew knits. For machine sewing, you would want a ballpoint needle and some kind of stabilizer (paper towel is an easy option), but the machine may still try to eat your fabric, especially with small pieces.

 

Thank you so much for the insight!

 

The fabric being used for this project. I'm very excited to finally put the Tula Pink foxes to use; I've been saving my fat quarter for awhile.

fabric by Cryptic Cryptid, on Flickr

Realized while making the broomstick skirt portion that things would be a lot easier if I did the top and bottom separate. So I put in elastic (it's a tight fit but I'm hoping that means no sliding off) and I need to do the wetting/bunching, but I'm pleased with my progress so far.

skirt by Cryptic Cryptid, on Flickr

Next: swerving into wenchwear for the top, as I'm opting to go in a more bodice-y direction. Should I probably have started on the underlayer first? Yeah, but I want to play with the fun fabric first.

 

You've alredy got some good tips. I can add a few more.
1. Test your seams on scraps. Regardless if you are working on a machine or by hand, do a few tests to make sure that the seams, needle and thread all work for the fabric and the function you need. Check to make sure the seams don't interfere with the behavior of the fabric more than you can tolerate. See how wide you need he seam allowance to be for the machine to feed properly/for you to be able to hold your work comfortably. If you intend to use fray check, starch or anything else like that, make sure to test that too. If there is a problem with the fraycheck staining or the heat required to set the starch, you want to know it sooner rather than later. Fail faster, and all that.
2. Plan your cutting based on those tests. Some things can be sewn before you even cut the fabric and that can make thing a lot easier for a sewing machine to handle.
3. Be gentle with the fabric and take you time. Some knits can be very sensitive while working with them. Some fabrics will run stitches if you stretch an unfinished edge. Cut edges may curl if they are stretched and while you can sometimes rescue it by ironig or unrolling while sewing, it can be annoying.

With all that said, though, the fabric in your picture doesn't look too terribly dificult to work with, as far as it's possible to judge from a photo. You will probably be able to figure out how to handle it.

 

Back already because I decided in the end I did want to make her a bag. And I had these little insulin needle caps I'd set aside to try making a pair of homemade goggles - that didn't work out but the caps were in good shape, so instead I put some yarn scraps in them and glued them together to make a kind of futuristic science-y looking thing for her to hold or keep in the bag. Is she a courier carrying precious samples across the wasteland to the last lab standing? A weird mutated food ration? Is it a plant, a biohazard? No telling lmfao
Round 132 Wastelander accessories by Jules B, on Flickr

 

Ah thank you! I appreciate the vote of confidence and the tips!

 

@Mamo That looks cool! You will have a very well equiped little wastelander.

 

I stitched up the under-skirt and dress for the outfit I originally sketched, but the outfit seemed to be missing something. I decided to make a short-sleeved dress to go under everything, and I really like how it turned out!

 

Lotus looks great in her new outfit! Fantasy coloured dolls can be tricky to dress sometimes, but I think you've nailed it.

 

I love a lot of the Tula Pink print but they really don't suit the style of most of my dolls so I only admire from afar - nice to see such a pretty skirt usng this one.

Yay for appropriate accessories! I seldom, if ever, get around ot them myself.

It's a lovley layered look.

Teddy

 

@Cryptid @kaschan502 - you've picked such beautiful prints for the fabrics!

I spent the afternoon yesterday making a sweater that looks like it's been eaten by moths. It's so soft and nice, I wish I had enough of this yarn to make one for myself.



I'm thinking of an overskirt to add more layers (can't stomp around the woods with a paper white skirt come on), probably a mossy colour as well.

 

@cobaltconduct the outfit is looking really great so far!