5th Anniversary Giveaway Outfits

---

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've shared any sewing here (#thanksgradschool), so let's get up to date! Here are some photos of the two outfits I made for the winners of my 5th Anniversary Giveaways.

---

DrMeowgon won the art contest giveaway and asked for a LittleFee sized skirt in the new 'Little Foxes' fabric I had recently bought. It's so adorable that I had to go buy more after I finished the skirt.

She also asked if she could commission a cardigan to go with it and picked out the yellow-orange colour. It's a little fussy to work with, but this fabric always looks great. I hope I can find something similar to replace it soon - it's almost gone. :(

I'm particularly fond of how this outfit came out. The fabrics go really well together and the colours play off of each other perfectly. Also, sewing for LittleFee is so much fun, I need a reason to do it more often.

---

Photojoda won the big outfit giveaway and asked for: a floppy black hat, a white bustier top, and a skirt, cardigan and bracelet in brown/gold tones.

We went through all of my white fabrics trying to choose the right one. In the end, I found the perfect lace in the fabric store near my kitties' vet.

The skirt, cardigan, and bracelet were all old designs so they came together relatively easily. I'm quite fond of this colour combination for the bracelet. (Please excuse the paint on my finger ;p)

The top and hat I had to design from scratch. Generally my pattern making takes a while, but when I'm designing something entirely new that is nothing like anything I've ever made before it feels like it takes forever.

I experimented with a few different techniques for the hat, including wet felting and glue moulding. In the end neither were quite right for this project, but at least now I have a MNF hat block and some kinda weird shaped proto-hats? I'm hoping I can make a smaller hat block for Jonas. She really needs a little 1920s cloche. :)

The hat went pretty quickly once I figured out the proper materials and technique. I've got some more cut out for Etsy, and one for Bella to keep, because... look at her.

I spent a long time fussing with the pattern for the bustier top. I think I remade it about 6 times to get it just right. A lot of my clothes fit really tightly, so I have to be exact with my patterns. I think I've finally got this one down though - at least for small bust. ;p

---

I'd like to thank the winners for being so understanding of both my school obligations and the long development process that goes into making my items. You are both amazing.

Lots more updates to come now that classes are winding down and I have more time for dolls, so keep an eye out here for details. Hope you all have a wonderful day. <3

Etsy Update: September 30th @ 7pm EST

---

Hi everyone!

To round off the anniversary funness, I'll be updating my Etsy shop tonight at 7pm. Unfortunately, it's not going to be as giant as I had planned due to some irritating issues with prototyping. My apologies for that. :(

However, there are still some new items and older designs in new fabrics going up (and a lot of purple! and Bisou Ai stuff! Finally!), so I hope you'll enjoy. <3

Hopefully I can work out the kinks in the other items and have them out soon. Until then, thank you all again for your support. It means more than I can say. You are amazing. <3

Mini Giveaway: Art Contest!

---

Hello again everyone!

It's time for another 5th Anniversary Fun Fair activity!

This one is a little bit more work for you, but hopefully still enjoyable - the challenge is to draw one (or more if you're feeling ambitious ;P) of my 4 character dolls. It doesn't have to be coloured, you can do chibi, realistic, draw them as cats, up to you! The most important thing is that they be recognizable as the character you are depicting - so pay attention to Mali's hair and Bella's bitchface, but feel free to get crazy with Tobi's hair and outfits.



To help you out (because I am a fail and don't post about my girls very often) here's a photo of each of them and a few words to describe their personality. For more in-depth information, you can also read the answers to the 20-ish questions set I posted a while ago: [link], or check their '10 Facts' on the 'About my Dolls' tab.

This giveaway is only open for 5 days from September 19th-23rd. Entries will be taken on Instagram: #inessencedrawme, or you can post it wherever and comment the link here.
** Contest has been extended to September 26th because weekends**

The prize is the winners choice of one of three custom items: a custom wrap bracelet, or a custom cropped (or regular length if you prefer) shirt, or a custom butterfly cardigan.* Wrap bracelets can be made for any size, but the top/cardigan is only available for MNF. 

I will be picking my favourite entry, so this will not be a random draw like the big giveaway. This is meant to be just for fun, so please be respectful of others and above all, enjoy yourself. Please don't stress. <3

---

*I might be willing to make something else around the same price point if you really have your heart set on a different thing. ;)

5th Anniversary Giveaway Winner!

---

Hello potato friends!

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway! Your support means the absolute world to me and I'm glad I can give back in this small way. All of your responses were so thoughtful and it was interesting to see the variety of outfit ideas you all suggested. I wish I could make everything! DX

That being said, I'd like to announce the winner:

***

Photojoda!

      

***

Congratulations! I'll be sending you an email later today, so keep an eye out. :D I look forward to seeing what you dream up.

For anyone who is disappointed I hope to hold other giveaways in the future so there will likely be more chances to win. <3

Additionally, check back on Monday for another announcement. ~(^3^)~

Thank you again everyone, you are seriously all so amazing.

<3 Melissa

---

Winner was picked via random name generator, if you have any issues with this, please take it up with the math gods.

Now Open: 5th Anniversary Giveaway!

---

Hello everyone!

While my storefront has been open for far less time, I started taking commissions on DoA 5 years ago. To mark this anniversary, I've decided to offer a special full outfit commission including one prop and one accessory (+regular shipping*).

'Full outfit' can mean say, a top, pants, jacket and some jewellery, or maybe a dress, a sweater and a hat. I'm fairly loose on this definition, so you can be creative. :)

This giveaway is open to anyone, in any country, but I can only make items for dolls I have (unless you want to send me your doll :p). The dolls I have at home are: B-Line, A-Line, M-Line Minifee girls (small, large, and full busts), LittleFee, Bisou Ai, Maskcat Special Size, and Azone Picco Neemo.

The giveaway will be open from September 1-September 14 at 11:59. I will put all the eligible entries together and draw for the winner on September 15th then email them to start discussing their outfit.

I will announce the winner here and on my Instagram page.
If I do not get a response by September 18, I will draw a new winner.

Please keep in mind: this commission may take a few months to complete - if you are not okay with waiting this long, please do not enter.

---

How to enter:

1. Fill out this form completely: [link]
• To make it fair to people who follow me on different platforms, I will not be accepting entries in any other form.
2. Go do a fun thing.
3. That is all.

---

I am being very flexible about what kinds of items you can request, but please keep in mind that I am doing this for free and on top of everything else in my life, so there are some things I will need to pre-veto in order to get your items to you in a timely fashion and with my sanity intact.

These include:

1. Shoes
2. Replicas of another artist's work
3. Extensive embroidery/embellishment
4. Bodysuits/leotards with designs on them
5. Lots of hemmed ruffle layers

Other than these things, I'm willing to work with the winner to come up with a feasible outfit - so go forth and design! I look forward to reading your messages. ^^

---

*If you want tracked shipping you'll have to pay for that yourself. Sorries!

5th Anniversary Extravaganza!

---

Good aftermorning lovely people!

We are creeping up to the 5th anniversary of my little shop (how did that happen?!) and I wanted to do something to thank everyone who has supported me over the years. Since I don't remember the exact date anymore, I've just decided the whole month will be full of cool stuff.

Mostly it's just three things... not really an extravaganza. A fun fair maybe? That sounds more right.

1. The first half of the month I will be hosting a big giveaway. There will be more information here on the blog closer to the date - I'll be posting a notice on Instagram (and maybe Flickr... does anyone still use Flickr?), but you can only enter here on my blog.
   
2. Once the winner of that is decided I'll be hosting a little giveaway - but you'll need to do some work for this one. ;)
   
3. At the end of the month there will be a huge Etsy update with lots of new stuff - new designs, old designs, and new-old designs. Hooray!
   

So get ready, it's going to be crazy. I might explode. @.@

Thank you all for coming on this insane journey with me, I hope you're all doing really well. <3