Friday, May 8, 2015

The Road to RuffleCon Part II

Well, folks, it looks like I'm going to have a busy and (hopefully) productive next 146 days. What's in one hundred and forty six days, you ask? RuffleCon. And why am I going to be so busy? Yes, that's right! You guessed it! Atelier Sucré has been officially accepted as a designer for RuffleCon 2015's Fashion Show.



Over the next five months, I will be creating 4 to 5 distinct looks for the show. As mentioned in my previous post, my theme will be an 18th Century take on Lolita fashion, and I will be responsible for at least 3 dresses, 3 bonnets or headpieces, probably one ouji coordinate, and a bunch of other accessories/garments. I hope to begin production of these garments immediately, assuming that I have no serious problems in procuring the remainder of the materials that I need. Currently, I do not have the rose silk nor the special scalloped pinking blade that I require for my Mme. de Pompadour dress, and I will also need to find coordinating ribbons and trim to match whatever I find. I also need to get my <insert many curse words here> serger up and running, and get a mat for my rotary cutter. This will be a very big endeavour on my part, so I want to make sure that I'm fully prepared to take it on.

As I work on things I will try to keep you updated with photos of my progress! Thanks for reading!

NYC Adventures

Last week, I found myself perusing the stores of NYC's Garment District with my friend Jessi. We were on a mission looking for silk and trims. Jessi is trying to start making floral headdresses, and was seeking out pretty laces; while I was on a quasi-insane quest to find silks for a line of clothing for a fashion show that I hadn't been formally accepted to yet. In particular, I was looking for either dupuioni, shantung, or taffeta in rose, mustard, navy, and white/ivory stripe. While I found a lovely mustard shantung, and a very nice two toned navy taffeta; rose eluded me (and my budget). I found out from Jessi that the fabric stores prefer cash when you're trying to negotiate with them, so that somewhat limited my purchasing power because I was a little financially unprepared, but in the end, I wound up with some great deals! The best probably came from Hamed Fabrics, where I got 6 yards of a beautiful semi-sheer ivory striped silk for only $10/yd!

Semi sheer striped silk  |  Mustard shantung and navy taffeta

A lot of the shops had fabrics much glitzier (and in some cases, gaudier) than I needed, and looking through the piles was a little like finding a needle in a haystack. There was so much to see that sometimes, I missed things completely, only to have Jessi point it out to my oblivious self. I disappeared into some stacks of fabric more than once to come out empty-handed, but in the end, I came up with some stuff that I'm really happy with. Jessi is an absolute doll, and did most of the haggling for me since I'm really awful at it, so I owe most of my bargain success to her. She also has the patience of a saint, between waiting for me to emerge from the giant fabric piles, and having to deal with some occasionally sleazy sales guys.

My sewing-related haul

As usual, we made the Lolita pilgrimage to BTSSB/Tokyo Rebel, Kinokuniya, and Laduree. I picked up a lovely Innocent World umbrella at Tokyo Rebel, as well as something special at BTSSB. ;) I also got two of my favorite Japanese sewing books, Otome no Sewing vols. 6 & 7, at Kinokuniya, and a small box of macarons at Laduree. 

 
My non-sewing haul (stock photos)

My new parasol is great, and I'm very happy with it. It's nice and compact, and doubles as an umbrella in rainy weather. The macarons, as expected, were delicious! My box consisted of one chocolate, a sea salt caramel, a pistachio, a rose-lychee, a Marie Antoinette tea, a cherry blossom, an orange blossom, and a raspberry! I also got a beautiful little Plaisir Sucre pastry for my husband. He shared some with me when I got back, and it was divine! 

Fooooooood (well, sorta.)



My next update contains some big news, so keep reading, and thanks for stopping by! :)