(no subject)

[megaminokonton.livejournal.com]

Hello... new member here.. Just posting to say hello.

Hello :P

I'm madly in love with EGL for about a year now, but I'm sadly impeded from making too many outfits because I'm stuck living in a dorm (no sewing machine - ah!). Well, that and my serious starving student complex.

So, I'm posing a question. Any tips for folks who want to sew their own stuff, but have very little room to work and even less money? I'd appreciate any and all help.

Now I shall return to stalking Mana... *grin*

Comments

[sakurafairy.livejournal.com]

Deffinatly if you have no sewing machine and very little money, thrift stores and remake is your best option (in my opinion).

find nice blouses, full skirts (sometimes long skirt that are full cut shorter work really well), cute shoes, and then add lots of lace and ribbon. You can usually get pretty cheap lace at wallmart or a fabric store.

since your not actually going to be sewing a garmet together, you'll have to do less sewing, a godsend when you don't have a sewing machine.

[kasumi-ishida.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, except I have *no* sewing skills @_@ I also have to save every penny of my money for being an exchange student to Japan this year. Sure, you might think, "Buy EGL stuff in Japan! *_*" but it doesn't work that way when you're a size 14 in a country where the average size is around a 4 o_o Not to mention it's so expensive! I'm bringing a lot of clothes with me, and will probably only buy socks (I love socks =P), a few t-shirts, and my school uniform while I'm there (Yay for cute uniforms!! :D). However, accessories like purses, headdresses, and whatnot will be a totally different matter ;)

I suggest scrounging Wal Mart and Target and similar places for EGL-able or mod-able things. I've got this wonderful skirt I got at Wal Mart for $12 and it's the best! Not only is it cute, but it's really comfortable. I wear it all the time. Target usually has a lot of cute tops, and I've gotten one EGL-able top there. It's just a black collared shirt, but the sleeves kinda bell out and have pretty embroidered flowery patterns on them. Not the most EGL thing ever, but it works. Another good place to look is ebay. Although it's sometimes hard to find something cheap and nice looking there, it's always worth a look.

Thrift stores can work, but the one in my area sucks and I haven't found a thing there. Although small towns usually really suck for any kind of shopping, even the trifty kind... So yeah, I have no personal experience there. Well, I did buy a top there once but it kinda disappeared o_O No clue where it went... I hope I was able to help ^^;;

Re:

[megaminokonton.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel... I won't be able to get anything when I go either...

Size 12, with a bust-size that make me look like a hentai character if I'm not careful. :(

Thriftstores suck in my area of the world too. I miss living in California... I could just go down to LA and get all kinds of things for almost no money.

Re:

[kasumi-ishida.livejournal.com]

Aww :( *huggles* I know how you feel! Although I wish I was still a size 12 @_@ Maybe I will be after eating veggies and rice for 10 months =P lol :)Sizes are so funny, though. Sometimes I fit into a 13, and sometimes a 15 won't even zip up o_O

I live in rural Minnesota. There's not much out here ^_^;; There is always ebay, but it's not nearly as cheap as a thrift store.

Re:

[ex-pantheria458.livejournal.com]

Completely irrelevant but while I'm here: Ohhhh California, ever go to AnimeExpo? Just looking at some pics from there, Ohhhh *Drools*... Eeep!

Re:

[megaminokonton.livejournal.com]

Oh ya! Last year was the first time I went, and it was incredible. Going again this year, and I'm going to lose my mind doing cosplay.

This time I'm actually going to get to go to the J-Rock fashion show too. Yippee!

Re:

[ex-pantheria458.livejournal.com]

Wow, I want to go so much! We (Me & my Fiancee!) want to get married at AnimeExpo if we can in our Cosplay costumes...

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[megaminokonton.livejournal.com]

OMG that would just be wild! I haven't heard of anyone getting married there, but who knows? Just about anything can happen at cons.

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[ex-pantheria458.livejournal.com]

Yeah we'd like to organise it properly, maybe in 2006 or 2008 or something! We thought it would be so much fun, it would only be me & my Fiance as most of our family couldn't go to the US as its too expensive (UK here BTW!) so it would just be us two & maybe our parents & 17, 000 or so other strangers, fun, neh! Dunno what costumes we could wear though, something really extravagant though...

[sumirechan.livejournal.com]

I'm stuck doing little hand-sewing projects, too. Last year, I improvised a gathered drawstring waist to an A-line/babydoll thrift-store dress, and it turned out better than I expected. All I had to do is sew a band of bias tape around the inside, then run the drawstring (more bias tape, in my case) through and tie. Finished it in an evening while watching videos.

I've wanted to try remaking dresses and shirts into skirts, but I'm insecure about the strength and straightness of my hand-sewn seams.

[xelyna.livejournal.com]

The best things to start with are headdresses and other accessories, because you can sew them by hand. All you need is a needle and thread, and some carefully chosen materials. Sure, it'll take a few hours to get used to it, but after a while you'll get really good! Before I had a sewing machine, I used to sew headdresses on the bus on the way to university!

Mini sewing machines?

[czol.livejournal.com]

Have you thought of getting a mini sewing machine? I don't mean one of those handheld ones for emergency repairs - actual sewing machines, but smaller. I've got my eye on one & it's only £20. Obviously, as you can tell from the currency, you can't really go for that one, & I've not got links for where you can find one, but I'm sure you could find one somewhere.

Re: Mini sewing machines?

[kireipanda.livejournal.com]

I have a mini sewing machine! It cost about $80. I bought it from the Sears website, but I was able to pick it up in person in order to save myself the cost of shipping - yey! Its a Kenmore machine, which is part of the reason I trusted it to be good! (The little old lady who taught me to sew recommended kenmore for going through layers of thick fabric, aaaand how!) The best part of all though, is that its light blue!!!11 AAAAGH! It works beautifully, and in many cases even better than my big machine, which is a 30ish year old singer. It has nearly as many stiches as that machine and certainly all the ones i would be using. I'm also a college student and I have found that while its ecome possible for me to bring my machine to school, its rough finding enough time to sew... but that's another story. Anyhow if you've got a bit of cash or can save some up a mini machine would be highly recommended!