Lolita Sewing: Short-sleeved black bolero

Another day, another bolero! This one is black, and I love the lace I found for it! I made it in 2-3 hours last Thursday and I'm happy with how it turned out. I did it properly this time, with a lining and such, and it's so much better than the brown one. I love seeing an improvement in my sewing from one garment to the next like this.

Ta-da! It doesn't like laying flat...

Gratuitous lace shot.

I used a different pattern this time around because the more I looked at the brown one and the more times I tried it on I realised it wasn't quite what I wanted. I'm still pleased with it, but I thought I could do better. This time I used the body from Simplicity 1780 with a shortened version of the sleeve from the brown bolero. I'm still not 100% sold on the sleeves of either one because they just don't drape well in real life, not with lace trim on at least. However, the volume is good for balancing out a poofy lolita skirt. I much prefer the body pattern I used this time around, it's more the shape I was after. I do want to experiment more with different sleeves though, or at least try making this sleeve in something floaty, like chiffon.

I made two outfits using this bolero to show you how it looks. They're both the same base outfit but with different accessories, and I love seeing how much things like legwear and headwear change the vibe of an outfit!

To my mind, this outfit straddles the line between gothic and classic lolita. I'd probably wear it with a long cross necklace to further emphasise the slightly gothic nature.

This outfit, on the other hand, has a very vintage feel to me. And I love how it seems so different when all I've done is change what's on my legs and on my head! This version is definitely my favourite of the two and the one I'm more likely to wear.