Wearables Sugar Bouquet JSK for SDM

I realised over Christmas that I've got disproportionately few things I've sewn for my SDM, so my new year's resolution is to make more clothes for her. What better way to start off the year than making her a miniature version of my favourite Baby, The Stars Shine Bright print?

I have quite a collection of Sugar Bouquet items... I swear I don't have a problem!
By my estimation, there's been 16 different dress cuts across the original and revised version of this print, plus a few skirts and a yukata. That's a lot of designs to choose from! I picked the 2013 ribbon JSK in pink to replicate. I decided a JSK is better than an OP for versatility, but I didn't want one with a bustle at the back or a fully shirred bodice. I could have picked the one I own, the 2012 tiered JSK, but I like the red ribbons on the 2013 one as a pop of colour.

For the fabric, I considered going to a commercial fabric printer but I thought that might be a bit iffy due to copyright issues. While watching a dollhouse Youtuber, I discovered there's a product that allows you to easily print your own designs on fabric with a regular inkjet printer, called A-One 布プリ. I had an open order with my Japanese proxy service in December so I bought a pack off Rakuten.

The next step was to get a clear, repeating image of the print. At first I thought I'd have to use the revised ~Maiden's Eternal Longing~ version because the I couldn't find a high enough quality image of the original version. However, I discovered the San Francisco store had used the pattern as a background on their blog! They'd modified it to be desaturated, so I took it into photoshop and adjusted the colours as best I could. I then resized the print so that it would be approximately 1/3 scale when printed on A4 and printed three sheets of the A-One cloth. My printer was misbehaving so only one sheet printed perfectly, but I think it should be enough. Compared with regular paper, the colours are a bit more warm toned and I could have saturated the image a bit more.

Now I need to draft a pattern. I think I can take the pattern I made for the Babydoll JSK and modify it. In terms of construction, I'm going to base the closure off of the Volks Veronica Elise set. That dress has a shirring panel in the back seamed to one side panel, then thread bar-tacks on the other side, and the other side panel of the bodice has hooks. There's lace trim on both side panels that is threaded with ribbon over the shirring panel, creating a nearly unnoticeable closure.

*Note: I will not be sharing the image I used for the print as I am not the copyright holder for it. I am against producing commercial replicas of lolita brand prints, however this is a personal project that I will not be making money from.

 

I got out the pattern I used for the Babydoll JSK and found the shapes weren't really right for the lines of the Ribbon JSK. I flipped through my collection of magazines and pattern books, and decided the best fit was the Alice and the Pirates OP in Dollybird 8. I traced the pattern out, drew the new lines I wanted, then scanned and scaled it up 200% in photoshop.

I then traced over these pieces with my pattern paper and added the correct seam allowances. I drafted a few extra pieces that weren't in the AATP pattern and calculated the various rectangles I need for the skirt and frills.

At this point I realised I'd need another sheet of fabric, so I printed that. Now I've reached the point where I could cut out the fabric, but half of my sewing tools are in the room that my sister is currently sleeping in so that'll have to wait.

 

I didn't realise it's been almost two months! I got to the stage of picking out which laces I wanted to use then realised I'd have to order more, so I was working on other projects in the meanwhile. The lace arrived weeks ago, but I had lost the momentum and didn't pick this project back up until today.

I printed out some reference photos and sketched out the design, then colour-coded which lace will go where.

I then cut the pattern pieces from the printed fabric, fussy cutting the front bodice pieces to get the best bits of print. I dug through my stash of fabrics to find a lining and ended up with two slightly different shades of pink, so I put up a poll on instagram and it's looking like the cooler-toned one is winning. I'm still undecided though, so I'll see how they look in daylight tomorrow. I made a start on the constructing with the shoulder straps. Very straightforward rectangles with lace on the seams, but they gave me so much trouble! It's not at all easy turning a tube that small, and in the end I cut another set 0.25cm wider. It's almost comical how much of a difference that made!

I then noticed I was playing thread-chicken with my bobbin, so that's as much as I can do before I can go to the haberdashery tomorrow to buy some more.

 

It's really quite straight-forward. I loaded only one sheet at a time in the paper tray and set the print quality to high. The instructions on the packet say to let the prints sit for half an hour and then iron them to set the ink. The issues I had were because my printer's wireless function was playing up and cut out part way through a print, so I ran that sheet through again and the print didn't perfectly align, then the second sheet with an issue was because the printer got jolted and slightly misaligned part of the print. I haven't tried washing the fabric yet, but the print has stayed bright and crisp with repeated handling and ironing.

To continue from my last post, I ended up going to the big craft store rather than my local haberdashery, so I left with significantly more than just thread...

The cool-tone pink still looked better in daylight, so I cut the necessary pieces from it. The waistties are just two pieces stitched right-sides together, turned out, pressed, and topstitched.



I did the darts on the bodice piece and then applied the lace.

The bib part was a bit tricky. I ended up turning under and pressing the seam allowance, then stitching it down my hand.

The braid then got applied on top and stitched by machine. This whole seam ended up quite bulky, so I trimmed it down with my pinking shears.


I then stitched the lacing loops to the back pieces, and seamed those pieces to the front with the waistties sandwiched inbetween. I seem to have forgot to take a photo, but I then stitched the lace along the top of the bodice. This had some tricky curves, so I basted it down before stitching with the machine.


Then came the back shirring panel. I thread-marked all the stitchlines for the channels, stitched the top seam with right sides together, turned and pressed it, then stitched the elastic channels. I ended up taking out the bottom channel later because it got complicated when attaching the skirt. I threaded through the elastic then stitched down the channel ends.

The panel then got stitched to the rest of the bodice. The seam will be covered later by the lining.

Next up, the skirt!

 

Work on the skirt started with hemming the frills. The small frill got rolled hems on both edges and the wider one was overlocked on one side. This side was then turned under and pressed.

The turned edge then had lace applied and stitched to hold the hem.


The skirt panels were also overlocked and seamed. By chance, I got really good pattern-matching on the side seam. The back opening had a wider seam to created a placket.


The frill was then gathered and stitched to the skirt and the seam overlocked.


The little frill was stitched over this seam and braid applied over the stitchline.


The open edges were then overlocked with white thread so it would blend with the lace, then this second side seam stitched closed.

 

I once again forgot to take photos, but the next step was gathering down the skirt to the bodice. I'd previously calculated how much to gather down each skirt section for each bodice panel, so these were marked and gathered accordingly. This is the point where the shirring panel started giving me trouble.

I had to take out the bottom elastic channel and stitch the lining down by hand, then sew the channel again on the machine .

The raw edge on the far side of the shirring panel had the seam allowances turned under and slip-stitched by hand.



Next I had to attach the shoulder straps. I did this and stitched in the lining, then realised the straps were too short, so remade them a third time. Thankfully, this last pair seems to be the best of the bunch. This top seam was tricky because there were all the different layers of lace and the straps, so I backstitched it by hand because I did not want to fight with my machine. Some of these layers then got trimmed down to reduce bulk.


The rest of the lining got slip-stitched in place on the bodice, and whip-stitched on the waist seam. I then topstitched the bodice with the machine.

Finally time for closures! I bought a pack of "invisible" snaps but found they were slightly too thick, so I changed them out for hooks and thread loops.

 

Now for all the decorative bits!


The tiny bow on the bodice is pretty simple, but so fiddly that I had to sew it by hand. The top "wing" is 4cm by 1.5cm, and the bottom one is 5cm wide. They got stacked and pleated, then around the middle I wrapped a band 0.75cm wide.
I do have some red ribbon currently, but it's bright red and looks totally wrong. I think I'll get a more wine coloured ribbon, similar to the red shoes my SDM has. I think I need a trip to the specialist haberdashery in London soon...

The final piece to complete the look is a head accessory. I've looked at a few different ones; I don't like how the rectangle headdresses don't show off the print, and I don't think I have enough fabric left for a bonnet, so headbow it shall be!

The matching 2013 bow is a wired style with folded double "wings", and having previously deconstrusted and remade these, I think they're far too complicated for doll scale.

By contrast, the 2022 headbow is very similar, but doesn't have the double "wings". I think I'll cheat a little and do this design.