Handmade Cheap base outfit for Harajuku Day meet up!
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Finding the right item for a coordinate isn't always the easiest, in fact when you have a vision in your head of the exact garment, it's sometimes downright impossible to find what you want when you're on a budget and searching through your local thrift stores.
I definitely had that problem for this outfit, but for both my shirt and skirt, I spent less than $10! ($ 8.89 to be precise)!
Thinking outside of the box, at least my own Joanns/Michaels box, was the answer for my picky outfit problem. For this outfit, I really wanted a pink pleated skirt, and I went to a lot of thrift stores before I realized that that was probably not something I was going to wander across anytime soon. Of course next is Google for online shopping--but I wasn't prepared to pay over $20 for this coordinate--I was going off of my tip money for this.
So instead of going the usual fabric route from a big fabric store, I instead bought 2 packs of felt squares from the Daiso--so each $1.50 for a total of $3+tax! Felt is really great, and I feel like its really under-appreciated outside of kid's crafts. I love felt! I use it for everything! A thick felt can be one of the best things to have on you for crafting and fashion appliqués.
Of course there's a trade off; paying $3 for material means you have to spend the time actually making the garment, but I had limited time and using felt is surprisingly easy, so it only took about 2 hours to make (and I only used half of the second package, so I was able to make my collar and a lot of new badges and accessories with the extra)!
For my shirt, I definitely wanted to show my love for Harajuku Day with a shirt, but I don't have any plain white shirts since I've modified all of them already--so I went to goodwill and got a plain white shirt for $5!
I didn't have any paint to paint on the design, and with all of the colors of the icon, it wasn't cost effective for me to buy all the colors along with a black line color.
So instead, I cut and sewed the base of the design in white cotton, used the Daiso felt for the eyes and 'Harajuku' kanji, and then used my mask fabrics for the colors--I just cut and glued these on instead of sewing, and thinly covered the edges in fabric glue so they wouldn't fray. Then I just glued the entire appliqué to my new shirt!
I really liked making this outfit because it's pink AND colorful, saving money was super great, and I have reaffirmed my love for felt. 
The skirt after a few wears will definitely have to be shaved down with one of those little fabric shaver things, but I'm definitely okay with that! Also, since the material was very pliable yet stiff, when it was moved out of place of the pleats, it would stay like that, so it definitely doesn't have a flowing effect like most pleated skirts, and definitely had to flatten it when I got up from sitting, but I really love the poofy and stiff effect so I was very happy with the result. 
I hope to see everyone at the next Los Angeles Harajuku Day meet! ♥
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