Welcome to Gaia! ::

As I always say: "If you can't sew, find friends that do!" 3nodding

I think that sewing your own clothes it the best way to go. That way it won't only be cheaper, but you can customize it the way you want. You also don't have to worry about your size being out of stock.

As a handmade and thrifty loli I can definitely recommend this way of building up your wardrobe smile

I haven't made very many lolita clothes so far, but I used the commercial pattern New Look 6599 to make a very cute strawberry-print blouse. I modified the pattern a little to have a totally button-up neckline with a button-up collar. I put less lace on than the pattern showed and left off all other details apart from the lovely ribbon corseting at the back.

http://www.simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=6599

I chose to make style C with style D's sleeves.

http://www.simplicity.com/designFrame.cfm?dvPage=designFrontBack.cfm&design=6599

The great thing about me making it myself was that I bought cute ladybird buttons for it, and I made the front darts smaller to accomodate my little pot belly biggrin

This pattern is fairly involved, so I only recommend it if you have sewn other clothes before and are happy with making darts and attaching sleeves. Otherwise, maybe try a skirt for a simpler project.

I made circle skirts so far, but I think that gathered skirts made from a rectangle of fabric might yield better results.

Depending on how well you sew, you have lots of options. If your comfortable with doing some basic pattern-alterations, like taking sleeves from one blouse and attatching it to another blouse, or lengthening skirts, for example, i recommend looking through pattern books to get ideas, and possibly meshing a couple of patterns together to get what you want. If your less comfortable with that idea, the thread that Mae Lime linked to is where you want to head. 3nodding

@ seamstress: Lol. I'm thinking about using that pattern to make a blouse for my sister in a while.