Black Princess Jumperskirt

This weekend, I finished a long-awaited Lolita project for a black jumperskirt. I've had the fabric for a long time, and sketched the initial design concept months ago, but I just never got around to making it until now. I feel like the finished dress has a very hime-style look to it, so I decided to call it "Black Princess".

Read on for more pictures of the finished dress and construction notes.


The design was inspired by a couple of different Alice and the Pirates JSKs, all cobbled in to one dress. I was worried it might end up looking too busy, but I think it's just "over the top" enough for a princess-style dress.

Back

The back of the bodice has cutout-style bows and very large waist ties for an impressive back bow. It's shown here on the dress form with a previous project, a black chiffon blouse. I'll probably try and wear it with a short wig to show off the cool back design!

 The fabric is a cotton sateen that has a pretty substantial weight to it--it needs two petticoats for the right amount of poof!--and the center panels have an overlay of dotted net. The bottom ruffle is also dotted net. The net lace on the skirt has a very pretty pattern of crosses, and the rest of the trim is Venice lace and velvet ribbon.

My original design didn't have a front bow, but when everything was put together the front just looked too plain, and the waist seemed odd to me. A nice big front bow fixed it, and added to the elaborate feeling of the dress. I used a bow off of one of my Alice and the Pirates JSKs for size reference, and put it on a pin back in case I ever change my mind about having it.

With Flash

You can see all of the different textures with the lace and velvet ribbon in the flash photo--it has a nice variety in person. The only element I am not entirely happy with is the bottom ruffle; it feels a little too long to me, or maybe too texturally thin. I might go and add some more trim along the bottom edge to try and balance it out.

I didn't keep strict track of time for this project (since it wasn't a commission) but I would guess probably around eight to ten hours of work from cutting to completion. I worked on it off and on last weekend, in the evenings, and this weekend. Up next is a boystyle project, already cut out and ready to sew!