Tutorial: Making a half bonnet from waist ties!

Hello everyone! I have my first tutorial for you all today :D! Usually, when I craft I always forget to take pictures during the process x~x. Luckily, today I remembered so I'll be sharing with you how I made my new half-bonnet!

This is the second bonnet that I've made, the first one I made from a straw hat for AWA, and though it was cute, it's basically impossible to wear anywhere other than a convention or costume party xD.

So today, when I got off the computer to clean my room (obviously, thats not what happened;;;) I found the waist ties to my bodyline carousel skirt. I never, ever use them, since the blouses that I own wouldn't show them. ...So what could I do with them? Instantly, I thought to make a half bonnet! Spring is coming, and bonnets are always darling in spring! I've always really liked the look of flimsy half bonnets as well x3

What you will need

-Waist Ties of a dress or skirt

- Seem ripper

-Scissors

-Iron

-Sewing machine (or needle and thread)

- Pins

-Coordinating Fabric

-Headband

Steps

1) Due to my bad habit of not taking pictures while crafting, I totally forgot to take pictures of this step! Basically, all you need to do is rip open one of the side seams so the waist ties become a square of fabric. Cut off the bottom of the waist ties (the part with the lace and ribbons or other details) to use as bows later. Iron it all out!!

2) After you have two squares of fabric, you're ready to construct the base of the half bonnet. (Sorry, I didn't take pictures of me doing this part either x~x). Basically, with scrap fabric, fold it in half and cut a shape like this

Put it on top of your head to fit and see how long it is/wide/how it fits. Adjust this piece with pins until you find the perfect shape. After you have that shape, fold one of your squares of fabric from the waist tie on the seem (the other side seem that you didn't rip out) and cut that shape out. Stitch it in place and now you have the base on your bonnet!

3) With the second rectangle of fabric you have, cut that in half along the seem and then re sew the pieces back together horizontally (finally started taking pictures!). You need this part to be twice the length of the base so that you can ruffle it!

4) Pick out and cut your lining fabric. I just used some scrap fabric I found that happened to be the right length. You only need enough to cover the long rectangle you just made. Match it up to that, and cut. After you have this piece cut out, its time to attach it to that long rectangle. Put the printed side of the waist tie fabric, and the right side of your lining fabric on top of each other, and pin all the way around, but leave an opening for turning this inside out later.

5) Sew the long rectangles of fabric together, leaving that opening. After that, turn the fabric inside out, iron it, and stitch around the edges.

Turning inside out~

Ironed and ready to ruffle x3

6) Now comes the fun part! Gather that long rectangle of fabric to the base of your bonnet. I folded, pinched, and then pinned the fabric together to get the ruffles to look the way I wanted. Make sure you pin the waist tie printed side on top of the right side of your base.

After you've got it pinned, stitch it. This might involve some frustrations between your machine and you ( ;~;) , but if you have patience I promise it will work out fine.

7) Now comes the REALLY fun part! The decorations! Remember the edges of the waist ties we cut off at the beginning? It's time to make those into bows and stick them wherever you want. I won't go over how to do that, because there are lots of places you can find out how to make bows online ;u;. I put mine on the bottom sides. If you want to put lace or ribbons or anything else on your bonnet, you can do so now.

8) So now your half bonnet is done! Except it won't stay on your head. There's a really simple fix for that, though. Grab yourself a head band. Any headband you can use. On the bottom of the bonnet, attach three little rectangles of scrap fabric so that you can slide the head band through. Heres a picture to see what I mean

Now you're all done! Go enjoy your new half bonnet! This was my first time ever making a half bonnet, so if you find any ways to do this more easily, then of course feel free to! You can probably move some steps around to make everything go by faster as well, this is just how I did it ;u;. Also, if you had any troubles understanding a step, you can ask me about them in the comments. I'll answer you as best as I can!

~Pictures~

Finished bonnet!

Here's what it looks like worn~!

And heres the coordinate I came up with to match it~

Last but not least, I took a really cute picture of myself LOL. I want to share that as well x3

So what do you think? Will you be making yourself a half bonnet from your gently used waist ties? If you do, I want to see!!

Thanks for looking~

Momocon post~!

I'm so excited for spring *u*! Lots of great things are happening: the weathers getting warmer, flowers are blooming, and pastel colors are emerging in shops! Yes! I love shopping around for accessories and t-shirts to reconstruct in the kids section around spring, since you can find pretty much the best colors ever hahahaha. I'm excited to go shopping at some point!

Today, I'm pretty much going to recap some things that went on recently, like Momocon! I didn't take any pictures (orz I still need to buy a camera) So I'm pretty much taking a few from some friends on Facebook and others that are watermarked.

First, my outfit! I actually completely forgot to take a picture in the morning x~x. But here's one a friend took at the convention!

Blouse, Skirt, Bow - Bodyline

Belt - Target

Mini Cardigan - offbrand

Shoes- Secret Shop

Socks - Angelic Pretty

Accessories - Handmade, Mintymix

I went with my friend Mana Starre from Star Princess and a few other of my good friends from school. After I had gotten there, I was forced into a rilakkuma kigurumi to take pictures with all the other kigu'd people ;u;. So fun!

Afterwards came the Dealers room, where we met up with Jesse from Teen Mermaid.

Haha, I look pretty derpy in this picture, But Jesse and Mana look good~ ;u;.

After the dealers room, we realized that we had so much time to kill between then and the lolita meet up being held around 4:00. So to the artist alley! I visited a few good friends and bought an adorable sketch of me from my friend Ayu (sgtspud on DA!) * A *!

I adore Ayu and her artwork~! I'm such a dork and kept touching and smudging it though orz. xD I'll learn not to do that someday;;;.

We also killed a bunch of time chilling behind Lindsey of Pretty Pop Designs table. I didn't find any pictures of her display, but it was so great and cute!

We left from behind her table around when the meetup started, (and the meetup happened to be a potluck oooh yeeeah) and basically derped around the room socializing and eating and whatnot ;u;. I had to head home shortly after, but Saturday turned out

to be a ton of fun!

Group shot from the meetup! I love everyone here so much~!

Here's my outfit from Sunday~

Blouse - Bodyline

Cardigan - Offbrand

Belt, Socks - Target

Skirt- Thrifted

Bloomers - Handmade

Petticoat- Thrifted

Tights - We Love colors

Shoes- Secret Shop

Acessories - Handmade, Mintymix, 6%DOKIDOKI, Pretty Pop Designs, Ayu, Taobao,

Bag- Sanrio

Sunday was pretty great as well. We got there late-ish because the time change tripped us up, so we arrived while the EGL panel was going on! The panel was a lot of fun, but I had to miss a good bit to go and change into the outfit I would be wearing as the example for Fairy Kei for the Japanese Street fashion panel

Outfit by Lindsey of Pretty Pop Designs btw! I looove and want this petticoat/tutu/whatever like you don't even know *u*

After this panel~, I went to the Para Para panel next door. I actually really love Para Para xD I used to learn Para Para after I learned Hello! Project dances, and after that I started learning Perfume dances xD. Lately I've been on a Para Para kick though, so it was fun learning some new dances again! I only learned the first two before I had to go and change back into my clothes, and run around and buy somethings for people that weren't able to go.

After the panel ended, I had to go and that pretty much summs up my momocon experiance this year! I always have fun at conventions some way or another :D I'm pretty impressed with myself this time, I only had $20 for the weekend and I managed to still buy some things (A mokomoko pink&purple bow by Pretty Pop Designs, and that adorable sketch by Ayu (sgtspud on DA). I'm now awaiting the next convention here, AWA and I'm super excited for it x3!

I also got to meet up with so people that I haven't seen for so long! I'm really happy with the time that I had x3!

I'm feeling like this post is totally pimping a few people here hahahaha;;

Wishlist: Tops! Blouses,Cutsews, and Cardigans!

Hi everyone~. Sorry for posting so irregularly this week! I've had to take two standardized essay tests at school and they make you not want to write a thing once you're at home haha. I have to say, I love the gorgeous details put into bloses, cutsews, cardigans, etc. I just think they're all so pretty even though they can be simple. Tops have always been something I've lacked, so maybe it's the obligation to get more of them that keeps me interested in them. Or maybe I just have a huge soft spot xD. There are still some very original and creative designs for tops, which I definitely adore seeing as its hard to find much new features design-wise with skirts, JSKs, and OPs.

Blouses

Blouses are so often overlooked! They're probably my favorite individual piece of clothing though, because of all of the detail and care put into designing them. It's easy to skip over a blouse, seeing that it's usually under a JSK, covered by a jacket, cardigan, or bolero, or outdone by a printed skirt. I myself prefer the skirt&blouse combo, but I can't lie, I myself only own two blouses. I want to give blouses some love by posting a few of my favorite blouses ever!

First, blouses from Angelic Pretty( get ready for a lot of AP haha!). They design my favorite blouses probably (lol, my favorite anythings really, though xD)

This is the Cutie Heart blouse by AP. I looove the heart in the center, and would probably wear this blouse until it tears apart xD All of the lace, riffles and ribbons, the buttons, and the detachable sleeves are great touches. I like the pink color the best, because it seems so versatile and the details stick out without too strong of a contrast.

This one is called Glitter blouse, and it combines a few of my favorite things together. The ribbon, contrasting placket, the lace, and is that dot tulle!? It's called glitter blouse for a reason, since the collar has stones on it that shine! I love blouses with yokes on them as well, so this one is calling my name xD.

Call my tacky, but I LOVE this blouse! It's called Pop Day blouse by AP and oh. my. god. Pompom trim, ribbon, lace, ricrac, ruffles, and the colors it comes in just blow my mind. I mean, this blouse comes in pink, blue, lavender, and white. All of them are on my wishlist xD.

Next comes the classic sailor style blouse, simply called Logo Sailor blouse. I'm not gonna lie, I've always really liked cutesy sailor styles and school girl styles in lolita so this takes the cake for me in cuteness *u*. I'm a bit biased with my love for Sailor Moon, but I would love this for a Chibi Moon inspired coordination, or to become my own pink senshi xD.

This is probably my favorite blouse ever. It's called Magic Show blouse. Anyone who knows me knows I freaked out over the Starry Night Theater series. I freaked out pretty badly. It came out around my birthday just when I was starting to really get into circus theme, and it blew my mind. I love everything about the series, especially the halter JSK and this blouse! the buttons and cut of the blouse are what makes it really stand out to me, and the high collar, bow, and long sleeves add a great touch of elegance. Doesn't it remind you of something a magician would wear? ☆ミ

Cutsews

I don't own any cutsews! I've really liked cutsews for the longest time but I just can't seem to get my hands on one. Again, I'm totally an AP girl when it comes to these xD.

I'm not sure if this is right, but I've always called this Wrapping Ribbon cutsew. There are matching socks that I also really want to get a hold of! I think this is perfect casual cute wear, and could even go really OTT and adorable if you wanted it to. I love the blue with white polkadots ruffle and sleeves, it gives a nice contrast to the mint.

This is a Little Bears Cafe hoody. I personally can't put hoods up often (theres always too much stuff on my head) but I think it's more for style than function here, seeing as it's short sleeved and has no pockets. I adore bears and bear motifs, along with donuts xD So I really want this one!

This just screams sweet elegance to me! seven bows in total adorn this cutsew, and the details on the bust and sleeves seem super cute and flattering. The collar is probably my favorite part though, its a turtleneck so it keeps you warm and there are frills on it *u* want!

I would love to own a cutsew like this for fall and winter months. A cutsew seems weird to wear during winter because of cold temperature, but when going indoors or lounging around this is perfect. You'll look wintery and keep warm. My favorite part is that the furry parts are detachable, giving so much variety!

Cardigans

Even though I don't actually own any full length cardigans, I've been feeling the need to add some to my wardrobe, especially with spring on our heels. I wish I had stock pictures for these, but I found most of them on mbok so It's hard to find the originals. If anyone has stock pictures, lemme know! ;u;!

Picture from mbok of an AP cardigan. Every time I scrolled past this I felt like I wanted it more and more. I've never seen it before, so I know nothing about it! I love star motifs though, and black and pink, and those buttons add so much cute!

This Nile Perch cardigan. Oh my god. I love it more every time I see it. unfortunately, Nile Perch is way on the pricey side. This cardigan would run me back the price of an AP jsk secondhand x~x! Doesn't make it less adorable, though~.

This cardigan is probably #1 on my wishlist of tops. The colors, the bows, the polka dots the stripes, the colored buttons! *o* Wantwantwaaant!

This cardigan is from ManiaQ. I'm so in love with pink&purple color combos right now, I definitely want something like this!

So that's it! I hope maybe I've inspired more love towards blouses, cutsews and cardigans. I feel they're so unappreciated. I pretty much hold blouses up there with great print designs;;; xD. I know there's mostly AP here, but I'd be really happy to see your favorite blouses and cardigans and cutsews from other brands too!

Thanks for looking~

Prepping for a Convention: What in the World Should I Wear?

The first of the two local conventions I attend each year (since 2008), Momocon, is coming up next weekend!

I'm pretty excited for it. A lot of people I know aren't such big fans of conventions because its base is the anime community and not the lolita community. However I think it's important to try to enjoy yourself regardless! Not only are conventions a great time to have a super fun weekend out with your friends and local community, but its in a predetermined venue with activities already planned out! The possibilities for fun are endless and, myself being interested in some older anime/manga (Sailor Moon, Creamy Mami, Dragon Ball/Z/GT, Cardcaptors, Digi Charat, Glass Mask) and some newer series (Kamichama Karin, Uumeiro Patissere, Kuroshitsuji, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, cute stuff for 5 year olds...) I find myself enjoying the anime central aspect of conventions as well!

However, being a lolita and going to a convention, I always feel that it's my chance to look as over the top as I possibly can (while still being comfortable! all that walking x~x) and to be ready for endless pictures. Since Momocon really snook up on me this year, I'm not prepared in the least! I have no idea what I'm wearing and my funds are going to be pretty low this time around xD.

The biggest issue is not knowing what to wear at this point, since I'm pretty used to not having much money on me! So whats the best way to figure it out? Well there are multiple ways to play around with outfits and accessories, the most obvious being actually going into your closet and trying on as much as you can to plan it all out. I, for one, am not too much of a fan of doing that because it can actually be exhausting to try on so much clothes. So what else can you do? How do you pick the perfect convention outfit?

This is what I like to do:

☆ First, sort your closet out in your head. What are your favorite pieces? Is there something you want to wear no matter what? Is there anyone that you can borrow clothes from if you need another item you don't have? Can you buy anything you need and expect it to arrive before the convention?

For me, I've decided that I want to wear my Soft Cream skirt on Saturday. Sunday is still undecided. I also know that I only have one blouse to wear, my pink bodyline shirred blouse since I've let a friend borrow the white one that I own. So there are my basic pieces.

☆ Second, think about your schedule and the nature of the convention. Usually the most people attend on Saturday, so thats the day to knock em dead. You want Saturdays outfit to be perfect. Are you planning attending any panels or workshops? Are you participating in any? Plan your outfits accordingly.

In my case, My schedule on Saturday consists of me running/derping around the convention and joining any lolitas at the convention for a meetup later on in the day. I won't have to change clothes that day, so I won't need to worry about ease of getting out of my clothes. So now I know that I can wear eight layers of petticoat and mismatched tights that day. Great!

On sunday, I'll be participating in a panel modeling fairy kei style, so I'll have to change out of whatever I decide to wear. Since not as many people will be around on Sunday, I won't have to dress to impress, and might be able to get away with something more casual. There are a few panels I want to attend on Sunday as well, So I want to stay comfortable. Maybe I'll wear a fairy kei outfit on sunday~.

☆After you have a general idea of how you're planning on dressing, there are multiple things you can do to experiment with your outfit! My favorite few choices are:

1) Polyvore!

Speaks for itself for the most part xD. Put your clothes together, add accessories! You can add clothes from all over the web, so it's likely that you can find the actual items you're planning on coordinating with.

2)Poupee Girl

If you don't have one of these, you should! It's pretty much a fun online dress up game that never gets old, especially because new clothes are constantly added to the game. It takes a while to get your wardrobe started, but its worth it for anytime you just feel like getting dressed up -- without leaving your computer xD. You'll be surprised how many clothes like your own that you can collect!

3) Draw it out!

This is probably my favorite thing to do. If you have any artistic ability, it's fun and easy to draw yourself in the outfit you want to appear in! Be sure to limit the outfit to the clothes you have available to you, or else the purpose is defeated.

4) Try it on!

Definitely don't skip this step, ever. xD It's easy to idealize the way something fits on you, or with the rest of the outfit you have planned. I always pick days before the event to wear the outfit out. It's definitely helpful to see your outfit in action, and know that you will be comfortable in it. There's nothing worse than planning out your outfit to go to the event and realizing your bloomers are showing, or that your tights/socks are slipping, or that whatever you're wearing is way too big or too small. Try to remedy any problems you might have with your outfit before the big day.

Now that you've got your outfit carefully planned and perfected, you're ready to have all the fun you can in your perfect outfit!

This is the way I always plan my outfits when it's for a big event, so I hope this post can be of use to anyone else trying to figure out what to wear for a meetup or convention or any other event ;u;!

Thanks so much for looking~☆!

Two Giveaways! Star Princess & Like Candy Floss

Hello everyone~! I'm posting to tell you all about two giveaways two friends of mine are holding. You get a lot of cute stuff in both of them so be sure to enter!

Mana from Star Princess will be giving away all of this great stuff ~

Rilakkuma Diary/Notebook

2 pairs of falsies

1 eyeshadow pallet

1 pink lipgloss

1 Hello Kitty heart mirror

1 Bunny Rabbit pouch

1 yellow teddy bear phone charm

1 My Melody puff sticker

1 Hello Kitty CUTIE sticker

And Caylee from Like Candy Floss will be giving away all of this ~

♥ 10 set of lashes ♥

♥ sticker flakes ♥

♥ Cinnamoroll screen cleaner ♥

♥ set of bunny clips ♥

♥ memo sheets ♥

♥ purple sparkle heart polish ♥

♥ hamster gashapon ♥

♥ Liole Pore Rich Balm sample ♥

♥ Blue Bear lead pencil ♥

I hope you all enter :D!

(p.s. I really am hoping to hold a giveaway soon myself, so be on the lookout!)

March 2011 Nails!

It's March 1st! Happy March you guys! I'm happy because I actually did my nails around the week after valentines day for march xD. They're not particularly themed or anything, but Momocon (free convention in Atlanta) is being held soon and because I'm participating in one of the panels as a model of fairy kei, so I did kind of want them to match that ;u;.

Anyways, here they are~!

How do you all feel about them? I used an odd technique and kind of just did whatever I wanted xD I hope it doesn't look too weird! Also, I'm loving pink and purple combinations lately~.

I've been thinking of updating my nails maybe twice a month from now on, but we'll see I guess.

Thanks for looking, you guys~!