Choose an OnS Project with Me

As you will know from my last reassessment post, I haven’t even picked an Otome no Sewing project to make as part of my 2023 goals. The one thing I know about myself is that an element of accountability works wonders for me and also this gives me something relatively quick and easy to write about during a month when I would like to prioritise other things (hello, I am doing Camp NaNo once again). So I sat down, stealing some time when I should have been working, browsed through all three volumes of OnS that I own, picked a bunch of projects that appealed to me, and I will explain my thinking process behind them now.

Skirts

Both of these skirts came from the Otome no Sewing Book: Best Selection (which to me seems like a great way to get the most potentially useful patterns in one book, so if you’re new to sewing lolita and/or new to OnS, I recommend tracking this one).

The obvious pros here are that they would result in something that is very visibly usable and made by me (in a good way). The creative control over the process means that I could get exactly the kind of skirts that I like the look of in a size that fits me (similar styles produced by lolita brands are often too small), as well as select the fabrics that I would overall get the most use of. In other words, if I made any of these skirts, I would kill two birds with one stone by adding items for daily wear, like I keep wanting to on my wishlist. And although I am very much a sewing novice, way more comfortable with hand sewing than with using sewing machines, some of these are mostly made up of long straight seams. Surely even I could manage to overcome my fear of a sewing machine to zoom through a couple of bits like this, which if I did, would speed the process up and potentially free up my time to create something more.

The con of choosing a skirt, especially a design like one of these, is that it is probably deceptive and not as easy as it seems. Particularly the high waisted A-line ones - making them look good relies on making them fit very well, which is a skill that may be beyond my beginner understanding of sewing. Combined with patterns, which I do not yet have any experience in reading (in any language!), this may be a challenge of the ‘biting off more than I can chew’ category that may be better left for a slightly later point in my sewing journey. Additionally, whilst making things allows me control over how the end product will look, these days it is absolutely not cheaper to make something than it is to buy it. Good quality fabrics are not cheap, responsibly sourcing fabrics is not always cheap, and novelty fabrics that fit the lolita aesthetic are not typically cheap. For something that, like pancakes, may not be that nice on your first attempt, it feels that starting off with a less involved item is a much better way forward.

Corset

This particular one comes from OnS vol. 15, from the ‘Journey to Mastering Lolita Sewing’ section that they do, where they show an elaborate ensemble all the way from the design project, through mock ups, to fitting, and finally construction. Whilst there are elements of the whole outfit that I like, it’s the corset specifically that I am drawn to.

Once again, the pro here is that it’s an item that I would very much use and the kind of layering piece that my wardrobe is in need of these days. This particular corset is pretty elaborate at the back, so I would end up simplifying it to only include the corset itself and the hip overlays of sorts. Also, whilst I know that constructing a corset requires some extra maths brains, this is also a project that I would be much more comfortable tackling entirely by hand, as the slower construction pace would enable that thinking time. It is also only a waist cincher, so yes, a lot more fiddly sewing, but in shorter bursts that don’t feel as long and boring to do by hand. Lastly, as I have been looking around for other patterns to make my own boned garments, this could be good trial run before I attempt a bigger one to get my head wrapped around the numbers.

However, upon closer inspection, the actual pattern instructions within volume 15 are way too short, barely taking up half a page and with each step consisting of ultra-basic instructions like “make the drape” with no explanation on how. This could be because there are more detailed instructions in the 6-page section on that ensemble, but as a novice seamstress I need something more substantial and ideally supported by visual cues. Sure, I could go chaos demon on this and try to wing it, but I’m not sure whether it would produce the result that I am after or how useful the learning process would be. Considering that my goal with corsets specifically is to be able to make them well, this just ain’t the way.

Hair pieces

Again, all three of these come from OnS volume 15. Anyone who knows anything about sewing and what it’s like to start sewing is probably shaking their heads at this post and thinking why haven’t I started off with these since these are clearly projects at my level of experience. And the answer is: because I want to be honest about what it’s like to decide to make something and browse through a book like Otome no Sewing. All lolitas are magpies, so of course our eyes gravitate towards the big things, towards the main pieces that would actually be the point of a coord. But whilst some will have the guts to jump straight into the deep end, in my outlining the process for how I dialled back that magpie instinct to match what I am actually capable of doing right now I also hope to show why we fall into these traps of thinking that we could attempt something more complex sooner.

Since the pros in each of these three are the same: simplicity, accessibility, detailed instructions - I won’t go into those. Moreover, it’s not like any of these projects has a con as such. The differences between them boil down to aesthetic choices and personal preferences, so determining which one might be the best one to tackle might actually be solved by my wishlist. And based on that logic, I can instantly rule out the mini hat. With all my love for mini hats and with all my adoration of the pillbox hat, whilst this design is very cute and retro, it makes next to no sense for me to make that since I prefer my retro hats full-sized and I can obtain that second hand somehow at a much better value for money for time.

So it’s between the headbow and the beret, both of which are currently on my need list in various colourways. On the one hand, I have made a headbow before, one which I use fairly frequently too, although that one was a winged attempt rather than a structured process. My worry here is that this particular design would not sit as flat on my head as I would prefer and although there have to be some tweaks that can be made to achieve the desired looks, it’s a matter of whether I know how to achieve them. On the other hand, finding a beret the right shade of pink has proved to be harder than I thought, so making that instead of adding another red headbow to my collection of red headbows seems like a much more sensible choice. However, I’m not yet fully sure how I feel about this particular shape of it. I can always adjust the design to remove the oversized bow decoration from the back, but being used to wool berets that are much flatter, this almost puffed out design is just different enough where I wonder whether it would still count as a beret or if it’s its own category of hats.

Final choice

And so, after taking into account the patterns that I have available to me through the GLBs, I have decided to make OnS vol. 15’s beret as my first proper project from the mook. The headbow came incredibly close, but in the end, whilst it’s a style that I probably would make at some point, I am more excited by a different headbow pattern from a GLB that I can see myself make more readily.

Honestly, GLBs were often pretty generous with the patterns included. This one is a big stretch, but eventually? Maybe?

I know, did all of that really need an entire post written up? Well, yes. Writing is a form of talking something through with someone, but on my own - it helps me organise my thoughts and clearly separate the cons from the pros by applying a realistic approach to the decision making at hand.

This isn’t to say that I will fully stop at this one project or that the other ones don’t appeal to me at all. They still do and it might very well be that in some sort of reverse order I will tackle each of them sooner or later. Also, new volumes of Otome no Sewing will be coming out, which might have something that I am interested in, as well as they aren’t the only source of lolita patterns and crafts, as I already mentioned, there are a few interesting ones included in the GLB volumes that I own. The main point is that one has to start somewhere - and starting with something small and doable that is still a bit of a stretch to challege my skills should mean an increase in confidence that will then hopefully lead to an increase in difficulty levels tackled.