Fashion Week: 1st Garment

Hello hello my lovelies, as promised your first sneak peek at the 1st dress for fashion week!
Now... I have not slept much this week so I do apologize for any grammatical or spelling (i.e. sleep deprived) errors that I make. Bear with me!

I will probably go into this in more detail at a later date, but this dress was one of the most difficult things I have ever made!! And we had to make it in 3 days, and took 1 entire day to sew because the organizers decided to randomly have a photo shoot and spring it on us Monday morning... With the help of my trusted friend and partner in crime, Joella, we managed to whip this together on such short notice. (Note to self or others: Chiffon ruffles are a PAIN and SUPER TIME CONSUMING. But...oh so cute. >.<)

Hope you love it my dears! The rest I'm keeping a secret so come to the big runway show October 14th! ; )



*Design is copyrighted by and belongs to Pop Princess/Annika Simmons.

Fashion Week Columbus: A Royal Inteview

I thought I would post up my designer interview for Fashion Week Columbus! I had the very nice pleasure of being interviewed by a singularly witty and nice man named Renard Green from Web Tv Columbus! ^_^ Skip ahead to 3:15 for the interview! Enjoy, my sweets!

Fashion Week Columbus: Eye Candy Casting Call from WebTVOhio on Vimeo.

In other news... A Petticoat Review!

It seems like forever since my last post updating everyone on how the first garment for FWC was going! My delay has been due to, among other things, not enough time in the day. Which I'm sure is a common issue that most of us suffer from and I feel like their ought to be a cure to that by now with all the technological advancements in place. Alas! We'll have to wait till they sort that one out...

Fashion week is coming up so so so quickly! I've been wearing my cute little fingers to the bone draping, making patterns, sewing samples, adjusting, re-sewing samples, but I have FINALLY begun the actual sewing in real fabric. I might say it's a little overwhelming but I'm just trying to take my time, go slowly, and do my best to not make any mistakes---should have a full garment posted up by Thursday to show!

Speaking of said garment, I recently purchased my first ever chiffon petticoat as I needed something to give me that nice cupcake poof! : ) In light of such an exciting event, I've decided to write a quick review and then proceed to flounce around in it till my heart's content.

Petticoat Review of ReSashay:

I was in a tizzy near the end of last week because I realized that though I was using a lightweight chiffon and gauze cotton that my ruffled dress was going to weigh a ton and therefore not have the full fluffy shape that I hoped for! So I scrambled about on the internet to do some research to see where other Lolita had purchased their petticoats, read reviews, and see where to buy what for the best bargain. I was about to shell out $50 dollars not including shipping when......

I stumbled across ReSashay by complete accident and was delighted (neigh, ecstatic! thrilled! overjoyed!) to find a square dancing consignment petticoat website! Customers have the choice of purchasing brand new items from the site for normal price, or buy used items that are graded from a scale to show how worn/used if it all. (And in some cases, like mine, they are re-manufactured, meaning they bought out a store going out of business and are selling them at half price!) And at $35 dollars and up for gently used petticoats you bet I was happy happy girl!

The petticoats were made of all different materials so you had your pick: nylon, organza, organdy, or chiffon! They came in all different shapes, sizes, and yardage too and even different colors like bubblegum pink. (They even carried the infamous Malco Modes petticoats all the girls rage about!) The price was based on condition, wear, and brand of course.

I wavered between choosing the fabled Malco petti and one called Sam's Manufacturing, which was only five yards less of chiffon than the other but still the same price. I chose Sam's because... well it looked cute, and to be honest I wanted one in pink... : o I inquired as to the shipping with one of the ladies via email there who was VERY quick to respond, very sweet, and helpful! She told me it would take 2-3 days to reach me, which met my deadline for a photo shoot.

I purchased the petti on Thursday evening and by Friday it was on it's way! I tracked it online as it came from Maryland and on Friday at 3:30 pm it was waiting for me at my apartment! Like a princess in a candy store I went to town opening it!


At first glance the petti might not look very fluffy, but as I took it out and tried it on, twirled around in it, tried on my Baby the Stars Shine Bright dress, and eventually put it on the dress form (reluctantly I might add) it just got fluffier and fluffier and FLUFFIER! : O It was like it had a life of it's own and kept growing!

LOOK HOW AMAZINGLY FLUFFY IT IS. I just wanna squish it! On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the fluffiest, I would definitely give it an 8.5! If you're looking for a petti that's adorable, cost effective, and super super soft and fluffy then I suggest checking out ReSashay online! ; )

Go on! Take a peek...

http://www.resashay.com/

Pop Princess' Royal Court

I would like to welcome a new member to the royal court today, and may I introduce her as one of the kindest, sweetest, and most sugary coated fabric seller that I have had the very good honor to buy from. Not only will her fabrics make your heart ache with your willingness to break open that precious porcelain piggy bank, but her gentle hearted spirit will fill your eyes with stars and endless smiles.

Let us welcome one of the Princess' favorite Etsy fabric seller...

Yoshimi at: http://www.emicraftinjapan.etsy.com

I first fell in love with this jewel of a fabric store when browsing Etsy one day searching the endless search for kawaii fabrics. (Can't we all relate to spending hours and hours squealing inside our head, twirling in circles, and jumping with delight over cute fabrics? Er... maybe that's just me.) Normally, when I'm searching on Etsy perhaps I see a few adorable things sprinkled here and there, but none that really grip my soul and whisper softly, "Buy me, buy me." When I clicked on Emi Craft though... oh how my heart raced! Pages and pages of beautiful, sweet and kawaii fabrics, so many it could cause even the most rational girl to swoon!

Most recently over the summer I was swept up with great passion of a girl in love, star struck and starry eyed... over possibly the cutest fabric I'd ever laid eyes upon! Bunnies, oh bunnies, their fuzzy faces and beady soft eyes just staring up at me from Emi Craft's store! Oh how I swooned over this fabric, and I knew, I knew, that I had to make it mine least I die of a broken heart... (I have no real substantial evidence to support said claims, but I believe the outcome is quite possible and the eventuality of a broken heart real enough.)

When I was about to expire from excitement... my knight and prince in shining armor road in and promised that he would fight dragons and wield his sword to the death if only to bring me back sweet, sweet bunny fabrics! With a kiss on his cheek, my prince road off into the sunset and...

Oh my, that was a bit dramatic wasn't it. : ) My prince did buy me said fabrics, the darling dear, and in about 3 weeks they were at my door! The pink one I will be using in the fashion show!


Back to my real story, ahem! When we purchased the fabrics, it was the first time I had a chance to interact with the seller of Emi Craft and let me tell you, if you don't walk away with sunshine in your eyes and happy birds twittering around your head in happiness... well, I don't know! Because that will never happen. Dear Yoshimi-san is genuinely the sweetest, most kind hearted person and knowing that her precious fabric is going to someone is special to her and after talking with her for a long time, I admire her so much for that!

Before I ramble on to much, please go check out her store and buy many cute things as they will fill her heart and yours with pink parfaits and smiles!

Fashion Week: Progress

I do apologize for the long time in between updates, but until now I really didn't have much to show! Which is a shame really because I ought to have something to share with you on a more frequent basis. I give you permission to fully chastise me on the matter, and tell me to write more often!

The weekend was a particularly long one as I spent most of it in the lab trying to delve back into the world of pattern and draping. After having a 3 month hiatus away from it, I realized quickly that it is very hard to simply jump back into it. It's like I needed someone to jump start my brain with sweet treats to get thinking again, so mostly I just blundered around until I found my bearings again and felt like such an idiot when I realized the mistakes I was making were so elementary. Hmmm...

I am pleased to be able to share with you some progress though finally!! Now I know it does not look like much right now, my dear followers, but I promise you it's only a test muslin mock up and needs a lot of refining until I put it into real fabric. This will be one of my dresses for Columbus Fashion Week.... Now just imagine a cute print, tiered ruffles all the way down the skirt, and a darling little blouse to go underneath it and the model will have a pink hat with a big bow.


I do hope to have further progress photos for you by the end of this weekend! And if you'd really like perhaps I'll even do a "Sewing with the Princess" entry showing you my start to finish process, but only if it interests you! ; )