Hi I'm hoping someone will be able to answer this asap.

I'm looking at something like this skirt concept as the basis for the inspiration to this

And I've got it to this stage


Now... do you think the first picture shows a skirt with the patterned piece actually seperate and done up like an apron?

Do you think it would work better that way or should they be attached?

Would it maybe sit better if it isn't attached, but seperate like an apron? (Because the skirt will have elastic in it)


Generally that style of lolita skirt seems to be a dress... so I think I'm a bit stumped... help!

It looks like an apron to me ... cos I think I can glimpse part of the ties at her back waist level.

You can make your apron separate to your skirt and not have the extended ties ... have the ties as a waistband, a small overlap and fastened with a couple of snap fasteners or velcro (if you think that will be secure enough). Does that make sense to you??

It does. I stared at that picture for about an hour last night and I was starting to come to the same conclusion myself.

I'm starting to think that would be the best way to do it. I wonder how well it would hold up, or if I would need to attach it more firmly to the ruffled skirt underneath.

My other idea was to attache the "apron" part to the shirt. But I don't know how well that would go...

Because it seems the loli style has invaded fashion for the last few years (please don't let me be the only one to have noticed it!) I would think this is made like most of the skirts around at the moment. So it's probably all one with the ruffles on one layer and only covering the back and the apron sewn at the top... possibly tacked in places to keep it moving as one piece. I see the ties too, but it's not that hard to fake them anyway... a few examples of that around too.

But frankly I would just make it as two seperate pieces, temporarily tacking them together so they can be made to mix and match later;) But then I'm all for making my wardrobe go further anyway!

I know in a dress style like this the ruffles are actually only for as long as you can see them, then the overlapping part is sewn about where the lace border is (so about 3 cm or so in to make it seem like the ruffles keep going)

But with a skirt... I don't know. The concept works for a dress where you can either sew it like that and have an opening at the front... or you can have the ruffle skirt seperate and have the dress done up at the back, but showing the ruffles.

But... if you have just a skirt you can't put a zip in to get it on if you have only partial ruffles. And I'm worried that if I have the panel built in then put the elastic through it will make the panel crinkle and won't look as nice.

Dilemmas... I think I will have to make it seperate.



PS I know what you mean about it creaping in to fashion. I get excited when I see an abundance of lace, or a dress that would look even nicer with a petticoat underneath to make it bell shaped. Its kind of exciting.

Not sure where the difficulty is with it being a skirt:) You could sew a zip through the ruffles or close each ruffle with domes so they still float in seperate tiers on top of the actual fastening. You can also hide a zip on the side and the apron overlap to hide it a short way... Or have I just done too much looking at Edwardian and Regency dresses with crazy complicated openings that they feel a little too natural;)?

I have a skirt that has just ruffles in the back. While the closing is covered by a cuirasse bodice it wouldn't matter as the ruffles disguise the opening anyway:)
http://costumes.glittersweet.com/historical/1876voile.htm

I really can't get my head around how to do an opening on a skirt that has ruffles all the way around without making an area where the ruffles aren't sewn into a seam line, or without it being impossible to get over my hips...

I wonder if you could explain what you mean by closeing each ruffle with domes please?

I would say that this image is either a dress with a jacket over top or it is a skirt with a waist band.

The ruffles underneath probably go all the way around with only the ends of the very top most ruffle being cause into the back seam to allow for a (most likely) invisble zipper. The apron MAY be seperate but I expect its attached to the same waist band with the ties either sewn to the waist band to be allowed to tie after its zipped up or are a permanent bow which snaps into place over the back seam. The lolita outfits from Japan that I have seen have all be very fond of 'faux' ties and snap on bows, especailly on the back and on the necklines.

To construct this as a skirt, I'd make the under skirt with a back seam, attaching the top most ruffle before sewing the back seam together (baste ruffle ends down to seam before sewing or overlock the whole edge, catching up the ruffle ends as well), leaving just enough unsewn for a zipper. Sew in zipper, then attach the bottom ruffles over the skirt, attach the apron by basting to the waist, attach waist band and either have the faux back ties or the snap on bow. It would be all one easy peice to put on and remove without the worry of something not sitting right or pieces shifting as you move.

Does that make sense? I hope so. <lol>

I made a mini skirt for clubbing that had a victorian style apron across the front. The way I did the opening was to attach the apron all across the front and to the non opening side. I put a zipper in the underskirt bit and had that side of the apron wrap over the zipper around to the back and attach to the waistband with a hook/bar.

The back waist is a little messy but I always wear it with a corset over the top so I hadn't worried about it. If you wanted to do false ties they could cover the wrap from the apron.

My lolita skirts I wore to the Himeji Picnic was two seperate skirts.

The bottom layer was pretty much the same as the ruffled layer that you're looking at. It didn't have an side opening, it was elasticised at the waist and the ruffles (and lace) went all the way around, not just at the back where the 2nd layer was lifted and bundled into the bow.

My strawberry skirt zipped up the side but that certainly wouldn't be necessary with an apron that didn't have the bulk that the strawberry monstrosity had.

I put on the petticoat the normal way (feet to waist) and then put on the second two skirts over my head.

I suspect that if you look through the Gosu Rori mags you will find a few different skirts like this, most of them elasticised rather than zipped.

Well I've started making a pattern for the apron (harder than I thought, its definately not a rectangle, a circle is too flowy, I'm currently pinning and examining and trying different things)

I've found that in order to try on the skirt and petticoat it is easier to put the top skirt on first, then pull the petticoat up underneath. It is soo bulky! lol. The first thing I did was turn around and knock over my pin box. Looks cute though.

I made the ruffled skirt from looking at an example in Gosu Rori, but all the "apron" type things showing ruffles seem to be dresses.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I'm going to try a combination of Cat and Wendy's suggestions. Hope it works