Children’s Dress to Shiro OP!

Hi all! I wanted to share how I turned this vintage children’s dress into a Gothic Lolita Lacemonster! I was inspired by Marble, Antique Beast, and Old Metamorphose. When I saw this dress at the  vintage store, it looked really unassuming (and kind of grey-ish) in the dark lighting. However, the shiny organdy material caught my eye and reminded me of Meta’s babydoll op. 

The full set in action!

Being a children’s dress, it felt silly that I would even consider buying it. After all, it wouldn’t fit me at all, and wouldn’t it be a bit embarrassing to purchase it for myself? 😳

While Lolita fashion is intended for adults just  enjoying cute clothes, I do have to admit that there is more nuance to the argument typically expressed to normies that geos something along the lines of, “HEY! These look nothing like actual children’s clothes if you even bother to look at it 😡 Like what child is wearing a $300 dress??” 

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So…back to me staring down a $35 child’s dress and wondering how I’m going to make it EGL. 😄Would I have been burned at the stake in 2010? Maybe! But I’m going to show you how I did it! 

Inspiration

Organdy Babydoll

Metamorphose’s Babydoll Organdy OP is a dream dress of mine, but honestly, the old school prices and rarity make me feel like acquiring it is not worth the hassle. I was lucky enough to get the black Dot Tulle OP from 2009, which is somewhat similar. However, the OG is a truly iconic piece!

Honorable mentions are the following:

Princess OP

Trumpet Sleeve Babydoll OP

Trumpet Sleeve Tiered OP (Cotton Blend Raschel Lace)

Obviously, there are way too many Meta Lacemonsters to count… love them all!

Process

Here’s what we are working with:

First, I had to adjust the neckline and make the bodice more form fitting. The bodice is completely flat so I needed to find a way to accommodate my bust. 

Instead of the front being the front… aha! I will use the backside of the dress as the front instead. The back of the bodice closed with buttons originally. I sliced the skirt right down the middle to open it up. By adding pintucks to the top area, it added a modest curvature for the bust area. (Later, I trimmed away the excess fabric until I achieved the square neckline)

Then, I created this shirring panel. Have I mentioned that I love shirring panels and hate zippers? If you fluctuate in weight or make a mistake while sewing, there’s not much of a consequence. Zippers on the other hand…. we are not on speaking terms…

Anyway, here it looks with the first half of the skirt attached. There is lace that will ruffle up nicely when the elastic is inserted.

Added the ruffle to the bottom to copy the rest of the dress!

For the sleeves, I added one more layer of raschel lace and cinched them in with elastic. There seemed to be some wimpy old elastic that was… not doing much of anything? I’m just gonna ignore that and sew right over it…

I wanted some detachable princess sleeves so I made a big ol circle. The inner cutout should be somewhat bigger than your arm diameter, but gather it slightly to size. Once you sew it to a cylinder, behold! A detachable sleeve.

I’m on friendly terms with the button hole foot now, so I decided to make them this way instead of using elastics. Less handsewing for me.

Now we attach the middle panel to the dress… and it’s wearable! Then, just slap on some good ol corset lacing. Wait, this was pretty simple after all?

I also made a little choker from scraps I gathered from the dress and a faux flower, as well as a matching capelet!

Now, I did take it outside in the middle of sewing for the dreaded “mismatched” whites test. Something that is really apparent on an overcast day! Surprisingly, it’s not too bad. You can see that it’s symmetrically mismatched (kinda). I’m more forgiving because this is an upcycling project and not a dress made from scratch. (I’m really particular if I have to start a shiro project from the beginning…😭)

Okay, that’s all! Thank you guys for reading this diy post. I’ve been missing making them. Sometimes it’s a toss-up between making a DIY reel or writing a blog post. I think blog posts are much more informational even if it’s not a tutorial. Reels are more just for entertainment (at least when I make them). I know there’s some people out there who like reading these, so I’ll keep posting as long as I’m not too burnt out!

Until next time~ 

Valentine