Buying fabric for handmade lolita fashion

A while ago, in 2017, I wrote an article with some tips for if you have the ambition to start sewing your own lolita fashion garments with some tips. I already talked shortly there about where to find fabric, but sometimes I still get the question where I get my fabric from so I'd like to write something more about that. Upfront I want to say that this article reflects my own opinion on fabric choices in lolita/egl fashion, and you may think differently. That is totally fine, it is not meant as a rule, just to help some lolita's starting to make their own clothes.

Fabric and lace choices for EGL/Lolita Fashion

A short extension of what I said in the last article, something to consider is the print of the fabric. Besides a choice of quality plain fabric, most people would like to have some print/pattern on it. 

Simple prints

Striped skirt by Putumayo

Some common fabrics that are not plain that you can find in lolita fashion are ones with stripes, gingham, tartan and polka-dots. Stripes you often find in classic lolita and gingham and polka-dots more in sweet. Tartan is used in several styles. Simple prints are nice for using in all kinds of silhouettes and I think are a good choice for people starting to sew their own clothing. Also, they are usually available in a lot of fabric stores.

All-over prints

Most prints in general fabric are spreaded and scattered out all-over the fabric. It is not uncommon for them to appear in lolita fashion. The more simple ones have small elements against a more plain background. Such as small bows, flowers or fruit. What I think most of these dresses have in common is that they also have other elements to them to make the dress stand out a bit more. Such as a tiered skirt, small ruffles here and there, lace, pintucks or ribbons and bows. Just as you would see with simple prints or plain fabric. Sometimes if a print looks very busy that is not really needed, but it is a nice touch and makes the dress more interesting.

Rose print from Victorian Maiden

 

Bows on this nice Angelic Pretty jsk

A big all-over print on Wrapping Cherry

Borderprints

Prints that are proportioned in such a way that they have a visible more complex image on the border (on the lower part of the skirt), or have a horizontal print so that there are several borders on the fabric, are called borderprints. Sometimes this is combined with a spreaded all-over print, but sometimes there is also just only a border next to plain fabric. 

Crystal Dream Carnival is a borderprint

These prints are harder to find in normal fabric stores. It used to be more common before 2000 I think, maybe because things like quilting were more popular and they use borderprints more in there. And also because for home decor it was used more often. From the border prints you find on 'normal' fabric shops it might be tricky to see if it is a good choice for lolita. Sometimes the fabric is meant to be used for children rooms, sometimes more for curtains. Both options can still be fine for lolita if the print is refined enough and fits in the style. There are several Japanese fabrics especially made to be used for lolita fashion that have a border print though.

The choice of material

Besides the print, of course the kind of material and the weave of the fabric matters as well. Although I have used a range of different kinds of the years and you can accomodate with certain other things to make it look or feel better, I think it is good to look for decent quality fabric. A lot of quilting fabric for example is very light, but if you use good fabric for the lining it might look better. Nowadays brands use a lot of synthetic fabrics, which also has a consequence for sewing. Cotton-like fabrics are easier to sew with in my opinion. Overall I can see in lolita there is not a lot of very shiny fabric, but here and there it does pop up. I also don't see a lot of stretchy fabric being used, as the silhouette of lolita is quite fixed and not too revealing the body so much but also because of non-stretchy fabric looking a bit more refined. Things like jersey are more meant for the cut-sews. So take into account the material as well.

Where to get your fabric from

Normal fabric stores/markets

In normal stores you can definitely find good fabric, especially for plain fabric and simple prints. I can not imagine a fabric store without any gingham for example. Sometimes if you are lucky they also have some nice over-all prints that you can use. I browse all sections, children fabric, curtain/home decor fabric, more mature fabrics and even (or maybe especially) ones that are 'party-themed'. For example sometimes you can find a simple card suit print in the party/holiday-section, because they think it is for halloween or carnival. Some children fabric can be really cute, like featuring small hearts or bows. Beware of the art style though, if it comes to prints that are too much cartoony, in my opinion it might look a bit too childish to match lolita fashion.

I got lucky at certain markets throughout the years as well, because at bigger markets there are stands from all over the country or even outside the country bringing in all kinds of fabrics. So definitely check things like Facebook or newspapers if there are fabric markets announced and take your chance to go there.

Fabrics I once found at a market. It feels like finding treasure!

Online specialized fabric stores

Not sure about the international market but for us in the Netherlands there are plenty of online fabric shops with all kinds of fabric. Some are more specialized in certain themes like for children or for certain hobbies. Once in a while I browse the web for these shops to see if they have something I find interesting and can use. It is also a nice way to snag some discounted material as sometimes there are older collections they want to get rid of. One of the brands I've seen multiple times in both national and international stores is Timeless Treasures, that feature a range of great prints.

What you do need to check though is the size of the print. If it is a good store they either say it in the description or have a photo with a ruler next to the fabric to give you an impression.

Modes4U is an online shop specialized in kawaii and Japanese items, they also have a nice fabric selection, not only kawaii but a range of things so also for classic or gothic. I however did discover that some of these fabrics you can find cheaper on sites like Etsy or AliExpress.

It is so easy to find lolita fashion fabric on Etsy!

Etsy

Etsy is a goldmine, I have found so many nice and interesting fabrics on there because it is international there is plenty of choice. What I always do is search in the search-bar for 'fabric + theme'. So say I'd be looking for some forest animal themed fabric I'd search for "fabric forest animals". Then you can browse through all the pages to see if there is something you like. But you can do the same if you are looking for border fabric for example.

All kinds of countries and shops are represented on Etsy, so there is Japanese fabric on there (meaning actually fabric meant for lolita fashion, which might be a smart and easy choice to go for), as well as stores that you also might see on AliExpress or Taobao. Sometimes these fabrics are also imported in another coutry. For example for me it also matters if I get a customs fee if I order over 22 euro, so I'd rather look for shops within the EU and luckily you can filter on that as well.

AliExpress/Ebay

Same as for Etsy, there is plenty on offer on other sales websites. On AliExpress there are lots of Chinese stores selling great fabric, sometimes even Japanese fabric, for amazing prices, so just like Etsy: use the search function wisely.

Spoonflower

This is a website that is known for where you can make and print your own fabric, but you can also find fabric made by others and yes there are also some lolita fashion prints on there. The fabric might be a bit more expensive but at least you know it is quite unique and you might even support a fellow creative. I have my own little shop on there as well where I sell some of the fabric I made for myself. You can find it here!

I love it when I can find the right color and right embroidery lace fitting the dress and print ♥

Lace

Something I almost forgot is lace. Of course lace is super-important in the fashion and just as for fabric it counts that there are different kinds. Often you see synthethic lace with a certain pattern in lolita fashion. Luckily there is plenty of that made but I almost never found it in normal stores, so for this I also look on Etsy and AliExpress. If you search for "lace trim + color" you can already find a lot of things. I'd go for some nice embroidered lace.
Sometimes though I just use simple broderie cottton lace from the store. What is important for me is the quality, that it doesn't look too cheap. Raschel lace for example is not really my thing and more meant for lingerie if you ask me. The thick knitted lace is also a fine option, but for me does match with old school lolita or classic, and not if you have a modern print. Venetian lace can look good in classic. 

Also don't forget the choice of color. If your white in the fabric is more like an off-white or nearly cream-colored, then don't buy the truest white lace there is, as it won't match. I know because I made the mistake when I started out. And sometimes that simple cotton lace is much better because the tone matches better with the fabric. The whole garment should be taken in consideration after all. 

Some useful links for lace stores (do also browse the other parts of the store for other kinds of lace!):

- Lacetrimwholesellers on Etsy

- Beautyfabric on Etsy

- Skulllace on Etsy

- Daily Tesco Shop on AliExpress

- Fancy4U on AliExpress

- FantasicTouch on AliExpress

- Somelace on AliExpress

- Gaby's Lace store on AliExpress

- Ganssia on AliExpress

The same kind of lace can be cheaper elsewhere so it pays off to browse several stores!

What can be used for lolita fashion and what not?

This is of course just an opinion, but I do think you need a critical eye when you view and need to choose fabric that can be used in lolita fashion. As I mentioned earlier, it can be found in all kinds of categories, but there are some lines that might be harder to judge for beginners. It takes time, so take your time. You can take a look at all kinds of existing dresses, colors and prints and then find something that looks in the same range, or if you are not sure you can always ask another lolita friend or in your community. Of course your own opinion and taste counts as well, but let's just say that using plain neon-yellow for a dress might give you some strange stares. 

Sometimes it also really depends on the cut/silhouette of the dress and the details of it. A very busy print can be balanced with a plain top part or a ribbon around the waist or lace between tiers. A bright-colored border print can be balanced if the rest of the fabric is more plain. An all-over print can look great if there is plenty of space between the printed elements or you can balance things out when you wear a plain cardigan over it. Most importantly: be creative and have fun!

Tips for handmade lolita fashion

Since a while I wanted to write about handmade lolita fashion. There are plenty of people who are creative in the fashion community. I myself have sewn lolita dresses almost as long as I've been wearing it (3,5 years now). When I started out, it was really useful to read tutorials and tips. By then lots of it was on LiveJournal or other blogs. Now we also have patterns we can use, so maybe it's a bit easier.
If you'd like to try it, please go for it, learn to sew and go create your own garments, it's so much fun!

The start: Learn to sew
If you can't work already with the sewing machine, that would be first thing to learn. Don't start with a dress, but see first how a sewing machine works on smaller parts of fabric. I started out (years ago) with for example a pillowcase (since it's just a square). If you find that too boring, a head-bow can be nice start as well (it's actually just two rectangles on top of each other, but okay getting the lace in or having it the right size might ask for some practice).

After that, you are probably ready to make more complicated things. I always found it nice to look in (normal clothing) sewing magazines, they usually have patterns in several levels of difficulty so you know what to start out with and have a clear explanation. You can learn very useful tricks and skills from this! Of course you could also start with making lolita pieces by then.

Learn more: Read/Watch Tutorials
There are lots of things already written and shown out there, so I'm not going to repeat all that.
A nice page to start from would be at Fyeahlolita, which has a long list of links to useful pages. Otherwise there are also people who make video's on Youtube (although not all of them are great).
The next step would be to try it out yourself multiple times. Practice makes perfect!

Lolita sewing magazines

In the old (Japanese) Gothic Lolita magazines they used to add some patterns, but for some years there is even a special magazine for lolita clothing patterns called Otome no Sewing. They are very affordable and can be bought via CDJapan for example. You can't read Japanese? Well that is not really a huge problem. They have step-by-step explanation with pictures, so if you know just a little bit about sewing already, you probably understand what they're doing. Great, right?

Different sizes
There are also lolita's that probably start with sewing because they can't fit in the usual sizes. The patterns in Otome no Sewing go up to size L (however, I'm not sure if this is exactly a western size L). For those who need a larger size, it might be good to learn a bit about how plus-size clothing is made (because proportions matter, it's not that every part of the pattern gets bigger). Or you could buy a mannequin that goes up to your size. It's certainly not impossible to learn, for this also counts that it wouldn't hurt to start trying to sew normal fashion first so you see how it works for your size.

Is handmade lolita fashion accepted?
What is accepted or not depends of course who and why you ask and who it would matter to, but yes in general it is accepted. There is however a sort of standard in Lolita Fashion, whether it is handmade or not. Sometimes handmade can go wrong as much as a lacemonster can go wrong. So therefore it is necessary to look for a good choice of fabric, lace and pattern that suits the style.

For example last year an American company published a lolita pattern but it's actually not all that great if you look at the details. For example, for the JSK on the right, the wide fake corset-lacing on the front is more or less an exaggerated anime-like version of lolita (it can be done right, but because of the color this just looks cheap). The blouse-sleeves on the left are obviously a bit bigger than usual and although I could see a refined version of this JSK from a brand with a better fabric choice, all the different elements are bit too much for this model in my opinion. But if you'd tweak it a little, let some things out, it could possibly work.

What material to use
For fabrics, it can be tricky, but when you study existing pieces you can learn a lot. There are generally three sorts of fabric-prints that lolita fashion uses. Plain fabric, fabric with a border print (on the bottom of the dress) and fabric with an all-over print.
Plain fabric is the easiest one to find, but it does of course matter what material it is from and how it falls. Cheap cotton will look just like it says, but this could be compensated with if it is a more intricate model with more refined details. However, it can be a good choice for starters because it is cheaper and easier to buy.

Plain fabric, all-over print and a border print.

For fabric prints, it really depends how busy it gets and how big the elements in it are. If you have a busy print with very small elements, this is usually a bit too busy for lolita. If it is more spread out and you would make a not-too-detailed model with it with lace in between or something, it could work. Border prints can be hard to find, they are (outside of Japan) sometimes found in more hobby/deco-categories but those aren't necessarily the right choice for lolita fashion.
The same goes for lace, most brands work with fine embroidered lace, not the scratchy cheap type.
But for everything counts: there are exceptions. In fact there are plenty of brand-pieces that have very busy prints or have the simplest designs with plain fabric. It also all depends on how it is used and would look in the end.

Where to find it
For suitable fabrics I think the best resource is Etsy. You can search for "lolita fabric" there and find plenty of useful fabric. Another website is Modes4u, they sell Japanese fabric too. Another option is designing fabric yourself and ordering it via Spoonflower for example. But that deserves another whole article.
For lace there are plenty of options, but some nice and cute lace can be found for example on Etsy and AliExpress if you search for "mesh lace" or "embroidery lace" + the element you are looking for.
Just remember that not everything you find would be suitable for lolita fashion, although there is so much cute stuff available!

Some border-print and all-over print fabric from Beautifulwork and lace from Lacetrimwholesalers, both on Etsy.

So, it is not all that complicated as it might seem, you just have to start somewhere and go from there.
If you have any questions I'd like to help of course, although things like actual patterns and such would take a bit too much of my time at the moment. What also could help is to join lolita sewing groups on Facebook, there are plenty of us who are willing to help out a creative fellow in need!