Finished!!! And Crafting Videos

So I finished the garment for iSautner!  YAY!!!  She has been awesome an patience with me and I am really hoping she loves this pieces as much as I do.  I really want to make a second one for myself.  I also hope that it fits.  If not I will gladly make alterations as needed, but I think it will be ok :)
I am going to take some pictures of the garment for my portfolio, and I have previously asked iSautner if she would be comfortable sending pictures of her wearing the item.  I will not post pictures until iSaunter receives her parcel in the mail.  So excited!!! 
In other news my classes are almost over so I will have more free time to blog and complete more of my project checklist... which I don't think I have updated yet.  Anyway, i promised a selection of videos that I found on YouTube.  I have not gotten a chance to make any of these yet, but I want to.
The first video I came across by... Googling Pretty Little Victorian... I was curious about what would come up!  And this video came up, on how to make a fan with some materials, and this one piece I have no idea what it is, but I found one half of it in my house and I will be going to the hardware store to find out exactly what it is and I will let you know where you can find it!  Most of the other materials you can get at your local craft store or you can buy online.
Pretty Little Victorian Fan
This person also has a blog that you can check out :)
Second video is done by Sweet Vanity.  This is a tutorial on how to make a sleep mask.  I thought this was really cool because you can do so much with this and make different styles.  It doesn't even have to be Lolita related.  I want to see if putting lavender in the mask would be aright, but I am not going to advise it as I have no idea if having Lavender near your eyes might cause problems.  I will update you on that as I get the chance to research.  Just thought having scents, especially Lavender, would be neat.
Lolita Sleep Mask
Third is a Hat tutorial using a lamp shade so that you can get the small bottom, big top effect.  I saw one before (not using a lamp shade) and I could not do it no matter how hard I tried.  I am hoping that this will be easier, which it does appear to be.  I will try to add fabric to mine, therefore making it harder, but I just like a fabric covered hat.  Nothing against those who want to paint theirs!
Lolita Top Hat
That's it for today.  I do have some more videos to show you, but I will save that for a later blog post :)  Please email me with any questions and I will be happy to answer them here on the blog, or there are any tutorials you would like to see, or if you yourself have one online you would like to share! lolita_doll11@yahoo.com or lolitadoll1121@gmail.com
Hugs and Kisses,
PLV

Turkey Day

Hello Ladies and Gents,

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, an American Holiday.  For those of you who read my blog and are not familiar with this Holiday, it's a day that families and Friends all come together and have a big meal, in Celebration of all the things we are Thankful for.

So, I wont be online tomorrow to make a post, so I wanted to go over the things I am thankful for.  First and most importantly I am thankful for my family.  Though we drive each other crazy, they are the only people I know I can count on for support (and money when I am in a jam...  But I pay them back!).  I am thankful for my very supportive boyfriend, even being across an ocean he is there for me.  My friends, for all the stupid stuff I do, for some reason you still want to hangout with me.  I am thankful for my church that I found with the help of a friend.  I can't make it a lot of the time to services but I don't feel judged when I can go.  Really thankful for all the people I met in the Lolita Community, and I am looking forward to becoming a bigger part of it.

So I am thankful for other stuff too, but I only have so much time.

Today's plans:  Help mom prep for tomorrow.  Stuffing, buying the booze for consumption and the Turkey! Yum!  Cleaning the house, and then sleep for three hours before getting up to start cooking with my mom!

Tomorrow's plan: Cooking in Early Morning, Talking to Mason which will probably be followed with my Mother talking to Mason (I am 85% sure my mother will ask him what he is doing for Thanksgiving... forgetting that in England they do not celebrate the holiday.  Love you Mom!  Admittedly, I probably will do something equally as funny if not more so!).  Have an early Dinner and try not to pass out from the food coma!  Work on iSaunter's garment, hopefully finish it over the Weekend, and then I also have to work on my dress for my class.

So yeah, probably wont post any Turkey Day pictures as I don't really have a Lolita outfit for the Holiday.  But I will try to post these neat videos for making jewelry and neat gift ideas!  I am probably going to go ahead and actually make some of these items and use them for gift ideas.

If you have any neat crafting idea's, videos you would like to share, have any questions you would like to ask me, or pictures of your favorite Lolita co-ordinate; I will post them on the blog and try to answer the questions as best as I can. Please keep the questions PG :)

Email me at Lolita_doll11@yahoo.com 


Ok, well It's time to finish the work day.  I hope everyone has a happy Holiday!

-PLV

Officially Closing the Contest...

Tomorrow I will announce the winner of the contest.  Thank you so much everyone for your submissions and patience!  There were really good entries and it was hard to decide the winner.  The Winner will receive an email from me, and I will make a blog post.

Now don't think this is the end Ruffle-butts!  I will have another contest in the future :) 

Love and kisses,

PLV

Tea Time...

So for my project that I am redoing, I came up with a theme for my color inspiration book.  Tea.  I have created a Lady Grey Dress, and a Longjing Green Tea dress (Chinese Green Tea) dress design, and will make designs inspired by Chai, Camomile, Darjeeling, and Assam .  I will be making an Earl Grey to go with Lady Grey as well (He counts as his own tea!).  I really want to create the Longjing Tea Dress, the design is simple, but the print is crazy.  Most likely I will have to paint the design on because I do not have the money to have fabric costum made!

So as I said before, what I am making is a Color Book.  It's a book that has the colors I want to use and what inspired me to use them.  Tea has inspired me, and not just tea, but tea from other cultures.  In our project we could either do magazine clippings, or we could sketch designs.  I first did clippings, but decided that since I am doing my project over, I am going to sketch this time.  The only thing that makes me nervous is someone possibly stealing my designs, but I really want to impress my instructor since the project is coming in late and I need to make up for that!

For others who are interested in starting your own line or going into Fashion and design, I would recommend making these.  It's basically your ideas in a book that you would present to a distributor or someone who would possibly be interested in selling your line.  It's an easy way to make a collection as well, so long as you are staying with a certain theme.  Will I post pictures?  I don't know, I say that I will do a lot of things :P  So lets just see how this goes!

Well, my break is up and I still haven't worked on my project yet today... Kinda need to get a move on that.  Don't forget to submit for the contest! Take advantage of the extension!

Hugs and Kisses,

PLV

Dear Loli's

Dear Loli's,

Hi!  I know I have not gotten a chance to really update that much.  Here is why!

1) My sister is getting married, and not only do I have the responsibilities of being the sister of the Bride, my little sister and I are the Maids of Honor... I don't know if she is allowed to have two but she is doing it anyway!
2) I have started school, working on getting my degree in fashion and design!  (insert applause)  I am only part time so I have a little bit of a way to go, but I am doing it!
3) Work is in over time mode.  I spend most of my week doing 12-13 hour shifts... yeah, it's crazy but I like the money.

So that are the three main reasons as to why you might not have heard much from me.  A lot of exciting stuff going on!  Oh!  Mason is coming for his second visit here and we are super excited about that.  He will be in town for my sister's wedding and then we will have some time together! 

Expect pictures to be uploaded on the Facebook page.  The pictures might not be Lolita related, but I am going to post some pictures from my sister's wedding because it is "craft" related.  I am making the ring barer pillow and two sashes for the Jr. Brides Maids.  Because I am running out of time my Friend Sunny Sprocket is going to be assisting me, and I will be paying her in the form of Taco Bell.

Speaking of pictures and the Facebook page, if you haven't already liked the page, you should because its where I am post all my Lolita and craft pictures... and because I asked you to <3
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretty-Little-Victorian-By-Lolita-Doll-11/156610104368041?ref=hl
If this link does not work, please let me know!

Also, reminding that the Contest has started!  Don't think that because I am busy that I forgot.  Thank you to those who have already sent in submissions!  Those of you who have yet to enter, you still have till the end of the month!

I also wanted to make a note about one of the questions.  If you're not a designer or don't sew, you can either leave that question blank.  You can write what your hobbies are!  Like if you do crafting or singing, anything is good!  I will edit that question.

I would love to write more for everyone, but I have got to hop off of here and get busy.  I will try to make more regular updates.

Hugs and Kisses,

PLV <3

Contest Entry!

Ok, so today after one of our meet ups, I remembered I promised a piece of clothing to whomever wins the contest XD  I feel that I should once again let you know, I am self taught when it comes to sewing.  Anything that I make are not going to be up to retail standards, but so far I think I have made some pretty cute stuff.

Rules are as follows:
Answer honestly and you can put as much or as little details as you want.
Nothing offensive, I shouldn't have to go into much more detail than that.
Please try to answer all questions.  I do understand that not all questions may apply to everyone or you just might not have an answer.


On to the Questions!

1) What is your name?  I suggest using a fake name, since this is the Internet!
2) What kind of Lolita are you?
3) Favorite brand, and why?
4) If you could live in any era, what would it be and why?
5) Are you yourself a designer, or do you make your own Lolita clothes?  Or do you have any other
    hobbies you feel like sharing?
6) What do you think will be next for Lolita, or what would you like to see?


Well that is it.  Not much I know, but I figured I would keep it short and sweet.  Please email all entries to the following email:
lolitadoll1121@gmail.com

Dress = FAIL!!!

Ok... so I didn't mess up on how I cut the fabric, but I did forget something very important... I did not wash the fabric before cutting.  So now I have two options.  1.  Continue making the dress with the current fabric.  2.  start over again with new fabric that will be different from the original.

If I go with option 1 I will then need to get the dress dry cleaned, or at the least wash it and let it drip dry.  Option 2 gives me the chance to make this dress over again in a different color and this way I will know that the fabric will not shrink on me... I think I forgot to tell you that my main concern was that the fabric would shrink.

I think I am going to go ahead with option 1.  Worse thing that happens is that I make a second dress with the other fabric.  On the plus side, once I get this dress done I should feel more confident in making another.  I have a lot of fabric and a few dress ideas that I could use my fabric for.

Hopefully I will be posting new pictures soon!

Busy Bee

Buzzzzz buzzzzz.... ok, so that might be more annoying than cute.

So, I have been working on a few projects!  I just finished a pair of bloomers and they look really cute!  I have a picture of me wearing them... but I have no idea if it would be appropriate for me to post that... With the top I am wearing they just look like fluffy shorts...  and I look cute in the picture, but I don't want to offend anyone by posting it so I wont unless you really want to see them.

Bloomers aside, I am finally finishing that hat box!  I am not going to post pictures of it just yet because it is not done yet.  I have still painting the outside of it and then once that is done I will be making a lining for the inside.  If this continues to go well, I will make hat boxes for all my hats!... that is going to be a lot of boxes in my room.

So... now that I have made the bloomers... I am going to work on the dress that I said I was going to work on but only put it off...  Today is the day that I finally cut the fabric... I'm so nervous... really, what if this comes out looking like crap?  Or I make it too small?... well if I make it too small I am sure someone else will want it so long as it would fit them properly and I didn't make a massive piece of crappy-frill.

Well, I should go work on that since I am now being kicked off the computer.  Stay pretty and pray that I don't fudge this up...

-Lolita Doll 11

Dress Update

So I have actually been working on my dress, yay me!

So as of right now I only have the muslin mock-up made.  The silhouette (is that right?...) of the dress does not look very Lolita, but it looks like something out of the 1920's, so I still love it!  I have pinned everything together and it looks lovely.  The next step is to cut all my fabric, and then put them together.  90% of the dress is made up of this cream and tan plaid, it much more pretty than it sounds, and then 10% of it is fabric from an old shirt that I loved!  I also plan on lining this dress, so before I sew the actual fabric, I will be sewing the lining.  If there is enough fabric, I would love to make a hat for it, and not a mini top hat, an actual normal hat lol.

As I always promise, I will have pictures of the muslin piece and then pictures of the actual dress once it is finished!  This is the first time I am creating a pattern for something, and honestly it was hard work, which is what I expected, but I didn't think it would be this hard after simplifying the pattern!  Though now that I have done it, I am excited to make a new one, or at least playing with the pattern I created and altering it into something new.

Well ladies and gents, I am going to call it a night because I am sleepy and need rest both for work and to work some more on my dress!  Night!

-Lolita Doll 11

Still Without a Computer!

So it looks like I will be without a computer longer than expected.  As you can see though, I am not completely without my resources, but posting will be limited.  This post I am going to tell you about the things that I have worked on. 

Aside from catching up on shows that I have missed, I have taken an old picture frame, painted it, added ribbon and flowers on it.  My mom likes it, so I am going to take the frame into work with me, so that I can properly frame the image she would like to use for the frame.  My goal when I started to make the frame was to make it tacky looking, but my mom does not think it looks tacky, so I might have failed on that note, but at least she likes it!

If you look back into some of my posts, you will find a post where I made some designs and showed the fabric that would be used to each design.  Well for the springy-pastel colored skirt, I made and finished that!  It came out better than I thought it would and I still have more fabric.  Not sure if I am going to make more of the same skirt and try to sell it online, or if I am going to try to make something different.  I certainly have a million different ideas running through my head and not having my computer, I am finding that I am being more productive (not right now though! lol).

Right now, I have a red skirt that I am working on, and once I am done sewing it, I will be adding some beading detail.  Now I really want to post pictures, but my friend and I might be having a small fashion show, and if we have the fashion show, I want to hold off showing you pictures until we take pictures or video of the show.  I still have a lot of work to do so I should probably hop off of here and get back to work!  Stay pretty everyone, and hopefully you will hear back from me soon!

-Lolita Doll 11

Update

I will be without internet for a while.  My laptop has completely died on me, meaning there is no bringing it back, not anytime soon.  The only other laptop avalible for me to use is one that is just upsetting to use because it is so slow.  I would rather not be online at all than use this computer!  For now I am sucking it up so that I can give you a heads up on what I am doing until I get a new laptop.  I am working on a new skirt, also with a scallop hem.  The colors look very Easter, and the print is very sweet.  I have a lot of fabric left over, and if I don't end up using it I will sell it.

I also have a new hat design that I am going to try out.  I just finished buying the materials and will get set to work on it this week after my skirt is complete.  I want to make a video soon of my work.  For those of you interested, some of my hats that are on sale on Etsy are going to be ending soon, so if you see a hat you like you can buy it or at least message me with your best offer.  I would write more, but as you know the computer is slow and so is my typing because of it.  Hopefully update you all soon!

-Lolita Doll 11

PS.  The new hat design did not go well, sticking with the old way.  Don't fix something if it's not broken!

Cupcake Purse!

Ok, so I keep trying to load the picture of my new purse on FB but for some reason it is not taking it.  Grrr Facebook!  But that is ok because I can show it off here!

It was actually not that hard, but it does not look as polished as I would like for it to look.  Either way, I have a cute purse now to go with my skirt!  Hoping to make a headpiece to go with it soon now too.  But first, I am fighting off a cold or something.  Check in with everyone later!

-Lolita Doll 11

JSK Pictures

So I finally found my cord for my camera so that I can post my pictures of my JSK.  I already have two people who want me to make them one and this makes me happy because it makes me feel like one day I might be able to sell what I make.  There is still a lot for me to learn.  Now I am very proud of this and this is actually very simple to make, I didn't even use a pattern.  For the hem, I did look up on youtube.com on how to make it and it was surprisingly simple!  I didn't do a tutorial, but when I make another one for one of my friends I will be sure to document it.

 This is a small corner in my room.  It's a bit of a messy corner.  Ignore the hangers, the empty wine bottle, and It Takes Two VHS tapes.  Just look at the awesome JSK of awesome!  Ok, so I might be over-selling it, but I LOVE how this came out!  It came out even better than my sketch.

 Second full length picture.  I cannot wait until I get to wear this to a meet!  There is also a design for a purse, in the shape of a cupcake that will be made with the same fabric.  Also going to try and make some matching jewlery.  Of course this will have to wait after I finish helping my friends with their cosplay costumes.

 On the two top bows I had sewn on these cute buttons!  Originally I wanted cupcake buttons, but the ones I found I felt that they were too juvenile.  Then I came across these buttons, a tea pot and tea cup.  The buttons matched the dress in colors and also it could go with the theme.  Who doesn't like a spot of tea with dessert?

So cute! :)












So after making this skirt, it just makes me think even more about how I want to go back to school and go for Fashion and Design.  It's going to be really hard, and its a tough industry... but I can't think of doing anything else that would make me happy!  I am looking into my options.  Until I do go back to school, I am going to keep sewing and keep working on my projects.  And to keep me from shopping, I will not buy any new clothing except for underwear and socks.... unless I learn how to make those too.  If I need new pants, I will learn how to make them and buy the fabric.  If I need new shirts... like I do now, I will just have to buy a pattern and try my best to make one.  It kind of sounds extreme to me, but its probably also the best way for me to learn.

Well, it is late and I have work in the morning.  Thanks for reading, and please check out my esty to see the new product pictures that my friend took, they look really good!  Thanks again and stay pretty!

-Lolita Doll 11

PS. Picture of me in my JSK.  I swapped out the top.  Sadly I picked a different pettiecoat because the other one was just too tight.  And there is the purse!

Finally Finished!

So my JSK is finally finished.  I might add a bow in the back later, but as of now, this piece is being labeled done, and I am checking it off the list!  It is so cute and I love everything about it!  If I wasn't so tired, I would be posting pictures but I am very tired.  I still have some fabric left over and I plan on making a head piece and matching purse.  The only thing I am worried about the purse is that it will not make the shape that I want, but we shall have to see.  This of course will have to be worked on later as I have recently acquired even more donations of fabric!

As much as I really want to work on another skirt, I might be putting that on the back burner.  Me and some friends want to go to Otakon, and I am going to be doing my first group cosplay (its a group of 3 but still).  I'm so excited for this group rp, its going to be epic!  I plan on working on my costume asap.  So our first group cosplay is going to be Vocaloid (actually, I have no idea what the line-up is going to be).  As much as I love Rin, I might end up doing another character.  Maybe a guy since I have the height, I will have to take a look and see which ones would be best suited for me.  The next is My Little Ponies.... Don't look at me like that!  It was a part of my childhood, and after watching the show I have decided I am Fluttershy!  And I plan on making a Fluttershy Lolita inspired cosplay.  I have seen it done before, but hopefully I can rock it better!  As for our last group cosplay... I want to keep it a secret.  I'm so excited for it!  I get to dress up as the character that basically started my downward spiral of nerdy-geek-anime-fun-loving-ness.  So I need to figure out what I want to work on First.  Probably Fluttershy as her costume will be the easiest to make (minus the wings... I might buy those... depends on how much time and money I have.)  As for my Vocaloid Costume, Akita is taken and I am not sure who my other friend is dressing as.  I did Rin The Daughter of Evil, and that was fun, I still have the costume.

Well, it is time to sleep and then after that it will be time to get up and do more sewing!  I will post pictures soon of my JSK!  Cannot wait to show it off!

-Lolita Doll 11

Lolita Craft Night! And Hat box!

So Sunday night, Mi - tan and I went over to another Loli's house where we had snacks, delightful conversation, and worked on our own crafting projects!  It was the first night of our craft night, and I had a really good time.  Our Hostess, Sally, let us into her lovely home and fed us.  She also had some of her own creations around her house.  I thought this was really neat and helped with the theme of the night (not to mention that the clothes are beautiful!).  The picture on the left is of our hostess, and yes, she made the dress she is wearing!  She's lucky that I was too busy carrying my sewing machine into her house because I think I would have tried to figure out a way to steal it from her person (kidding... mostly :P ).

Here are the lovely ladies who attended our meet!  There were others who arrived before Mi-tan and I but I didn't get a picture of them.  Left picture is of Mi-tan and Tola.  It would seem that I put the two designers in one picture as Tola and Mi-tan both sew and design clothes!  The right picture is of Angelica and Olivia.  Olivia has her own blog as well, you can read it here, Black Witch.  Angelica is a very sweet girl, she also has made her own clothing (one piece I am still trying to figure out how she made without pulling her hair out!)  All of these girls are great and I am looking forward to the next craft night!

  As mentioned earlier, Sally had some of her own creations around her house.  I took the liberty of taking some pictures!  Sadly the picture on the right came out blurry.  I can only hope that Sally has this dress out again next time so that I may take another clear picture of it.  The skirt (left) is actually a Bodyline skirt that Sally plans on altering, and I cannot wait to see what she does with it!  I have legwarmers I could wear with it, and I love the bow in the front!



I took some more pictures of the girls, to show off their outfits.  Olivia (left) is wearing a skirt from Bodyline (I think that is what she said), not sure where the shirt is from, or the neat little bow/flower thingy she has.  She has cyberlocks, because she is awesome and therefore needs no other reason!  Mi-tan (right) I believe she is wearing a purple gingham dress from HMHM.  Ladies, feel free to correct me if I am wrong on anything.

 Tola (left) is wearing a pink Innocent World dress/jsk.  I love Innocent World, if I had the money I would get myself an Innocent World dress, skirt, everything!  I also love how she paired it with pink sneakers to give it more of a casual look.  Overall, very cute.  Angelica (right), I didn't get to ask her where her pieces from her outfit came from, but I think that what she is wearing is a perfect example of casual Lolita, especially if it is something you want to wear out and feel comfortable but still be Lolita.  Sunday night was a great night to get dressed up!

   And we finally get to crafting!  And Sally's husband comes in to join in on the fun!  Not really, but he did join us in conversation.  Sally is holding a pattern for a apron I believe, Tola is working on jewelry if memory serves me correctly.  Angelica is sketching, I am sad to say that I am not sure exactly what she was working on.  Mi-tan is crocheting, and I was sewing, working on my skirt, which I still have yet to finish (its soooo close to being
done!).

The next day after our meet, I got the itch to work on another craft project, specifically for my hats.  For the longest time I wanted to take mini hat boxes and paint them, decorate and line then with cloth.  So I have been working on one.  The inside still needs to be lined and I am not finished with the outside.  Despite all that I wanted to share with you my current progress.  I hate the bottom flower, so I tried to cover it with the V.  It wasn't until after I finished the second flower that I remembered what and orange rose meant when given to someone.  Yes, flowers had meanings behind them!  To put it simply, it meant that you hated/disliked them.  Oh well, I think over all its ok, but I still have more that I want to do to it.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I am tired and I have a long day of running around, cleaning, and trying not to go crazy.  Hopefully get to some more crafts soon!  Stay Pretty!

-Lolita Doll 11

New JSK

I probably shouldn't make posts about my creations before I make them, but I am just so excited for this!  So after the whole skirt problem, I decided that I needed to take a break and work on some other stuff.  There is this fabric that has been sitting in a bag, in my room (like most of my fabric).  Last night I couldn't sleep, so I made a few skirt designs.  One for a red skirt and the other for a skirt with a dessert print on it.  I ended up drawing a JSK and when I finally got out of bed today I started to work on it.

The skirt has the same basic shape of Bodyline's Music Melody (see picture on left).  I have no idea if I want to have the little ruffle on the top of the straps though.  I will be adding these very cute buttons and that the bottom of the skirt will be a scallop hem.  It was a little frustrating trying to figure out how to make the scallop hem, but I think it turned out as best as it could without someone having to show me.  I still have enough fabric to make a hair bow, hat, bonnet.  I have never made a bonnet before, so maybe I will do that!

After this JSK is done, I will work on a new skirt, after I have secured all the items I will need to make it.  It's a very pretty deep red that will have some black in it.  The skirt will hopefully look very fluffy after I find the right petite coat to give it the volume it will need.  It's very pretty and would be nice for a night out with the girls or that special someone.  Hopefully I will be wearing it in March/April!

In other news, I decided that I am going to take a sewing class.  Even though I have made some great things, I think that I would benefit by being formally trained by someone with experience and can help me make better items, whatever they might be.  Also, I am learning from friends too, it's how I got started.  I am so thankful to my friends and family and the support they have given me in all that I do or have wanted to do.  Here is to hoping that there are just bigger and better things for me!

-Lolita Doll 11

Fabric Shopping

 Hey everyone!

So I just got back from Joann Fabrics and I bought fabric for both my niece and I.  While I am making 'Doll Clothing for Adults' as some of my friends who are not into Lolita would say, my niece is making actual doll clothes and bedding.  We came up with a pretty haul at the store, mainly sticking to their red tag fabrics which had an additional 50% off on top of the sale.  What should have been well over $100, was only $44 for the both of us!

        So, I got some great pieces to make some skirts , dresses, and accessories.  I even found a roll of fabric that looked as though it has girls dressed in Lolita on it!  I couldn't believe I found it, so I bought the whole thing!  So, I am going to be making some sketches of the dresses and skirts that I would like to make with each fabric.  Looking forward to seeing how this all comes out, as well as seeing how my niece's dresses for her dolls look too.

I am also going to be changing how my blog currently looks with the help of a friend.  Just need to make some sketches of that too and we should be ready to go with our alterations!

Here are some Sketches I have done so far.  Hopefully I will be getting started on them soon!

Until next time!

-Lolita Doll 11

Pictures of Finished Tie and Hat

I'm still working on editing the images that show all the steps.  I have to cut them down and make it as one image so that the pictures don't scatter into chaos.  So for now, here are the finished products of the first two crafting projects for the year 2012!

I didn't originally intend to do both in the same fabric, but I like both.  Really glad I didn't over do it with the hat.  I look forward to wearing it to the Maryland Renaissance festival.  As for the tie, I will be wearing it to work tomorrow.  I don't think I could get away with the hat as lovely as it is.

Here is a closer picture if the hat.  In all honestly I had no clue that my hat would turn out this way, but I am glad it did.  The only thing I would change would be that the bottom of the pin is showing.  I might try to fix it later.  It wasn't until after I glued the pin to the feathers did I see that the tip on the pin was broken, but I managed to get it onto the hat (I wouldn't recommend taking it off).  Still, it came out very lovely.

Well, its early in the morning and I still need to sleep.  Until tomorrow :)

-Lolita Doll 11

Ties!

Ok, so Now that we have covered hats (still working on the pictures), next project is ties!

For this project I did end up buying a pattern because I have never made a tie before.  Honestly, I might just completely do away with this pattern because it didn't really make much sense for me (and here I thought I was doing something simple!).  I bought my fabric, interfacing, and the lining for the tie.  When I couldn't figure out what to do from there, even with the pattern, I turned to www.youtube.com!  I was very excited to find a very easy video explaining to me how to make my own tie, and I was able to use my own pattern that I bought (though I had to tweak it a bit).

I love ties!  Never really got the chance to wear them (because I haven't really seen many girly ties being sold) I didn't want to buy a man's tie (how sexist of me!).  So I have some of this black and red silky/satiny fabric with some embroider flowers on them (You will note that the tie matches the hat... when you see the pictures of both!).  Sadly... I didn't think that when you iron such fabric... its probably best to iron on the back or with a towel over it... Yes, that is right everyone, I burned the front of my tie.  But, I decided to save my tie and add this flower on the front.  I might add some more, like two more smaller ones going down.

Anyway, normally I would cover the checklist of what is needed for this project, but I think Threadbangers did an awesome job, so I am just going to leave you the link so that you can have the same great experience that I myself had!  Feel free to leave pictures of your own tie or hat creations, or if you have your own craft project you want to share.

-Lolita Doll 11
Threadbanger- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jHZo_UK2bs

Annnnd its time to get started!

Happy New Year everyone!  And so starts my year of crafting!  I thought that this year, the best start would be with my very first Lolita craft that I have ever done, which was making hats.  Now this will not be a daily thing.  Each Craft I will try to give myself a deadline of a week or two but some crafts might just end up taking longer because... well I work and people like to do this weird thing with me, "hanging out" or something...  Which is weird because there is no hanging involved! :P

So, I will start with giving the list of what is needed when making your own Lolita Hat.  Now I started out by just taking a black felt hat, and spray painting it gold and then decorating it, or just leaving it black.  Now I put fabric on my hats (most of the time, sometimes I don't).  So you can do whatever you feel comfortable with.  You can either join me in customizing your hat by putting your choice of fabric on it, or you can skip that and simply add whatever trimmings you have acquired in your craft box.  I like to reuse items, for example if I have a pretty necklace that I loved and it broke to the point that there was no fixing it, I may include it to one of my hat projects.  You can use a really cool button, or pin that you found.  Whatever you find, if you like it and you think it should go on your hat, then do it!

So lets get started on making your own hat, shall we?  (But Lolita Doll 11, doesn't that defeat the purpose of you even selling hats on Etsy if you're just going to tell us how?) Hush you!  You're ruining it for everyone!
Ok, now that the silly stuff is out of the way, lets go over our supply list.

You will need:

2 Mini felt doll hats, can be purchased at most craft stores.  If you're looking for something a little bigger or you simply cannot find any, I would suggest ordering online from http://www.sunshinecrafts.com/  Their prices are pretty good and when I order from them it usually gets to me pretty fast.  Note: if you are skipping adding fabric, then you only need 1 hat.

OK to Wash-It fabric glue by Aleene's.  Again, if you're not using fabric, do not worry about getting this.

Scissors.  Fiskars are the best.  End of story.

Hot Glue Gun, with glue sticks! (which reminds me, I need a new one, mine is kind of leaking in places it shouldn't leak.)

Hair clip, hair comb, or ribbon that will be used to fasten the hat to you're head.  I find that with the larger hats, I need to use ribbon or some kind of tie, and I like how it looks and it makes me feel like I am back in the Victorian era, wearing a bonnet/riding hat or something :)

Trim!  Ribbons, flowers, gems, pins, feathers, just about anything.  I plan on taking a little fake bird from Joanns and putting it on my hat some day, maybe on this hat!

Now, I do not have any pictures ready just yet, so tomorrow after work I will come home and get started on my hat and take pictures so everyone can get a good idea of what I am doing and how you're project is supposed to be going.  Until then, hopefully my directions will be clear enough :)

Step one.
Take one of your felt hats and scissor.  Start off by cutting the brim of your hat.  Yes, your going to cut your hat into pieces.  After you cut the brim off, make a slit up the side, to the top of the hat.  Good, now cut the rest of the body of the hat off from the very top of the hat, keeping the top of the hat's circular/oval shape.  So now you have a bunch of hat pieces, right?  This is going to be the outline for the fabric you will cut for your hat.  The best part about this is that after you have cut this one hat up, you don't have to cut another one up, just keep the pieces and you can make more in the future!

Step two.
After you have chosen your fabric, take the pieces of your cut up hat and proceed to cut your fabric.  Now, depending on your fabric choice you might have to tweak how your cutting.    With the middle, or body of the hat, I give it some extra because we will be folding over the top and bottom of this piece of fabric (that goes for all kinds of fabric, not just stretchy).  Now for the brim, I cut two pieces.  One for the top and one for the bottom.  You don't have to do both, its just what I like to do.With fabrics that have more give then others I make the hole on the inside of the top brim smaller, where the bottom piece the opening will be normal size.  The brim on the bottom will be wider than the top piece.  (Hopefully I haven't lost you yet!)

Step three.
Its now time to bring out your fabric glue.  I start with the brim first.  You don't have to, but I think it looks better this way for me.  Take your uncut hat and smear the fabric glue around on the brim.  I also like to let the glue sit on the hat so that it can get nice and tacky for when I put the fabric on.  Slip the top cover of the brim over the hat and smooth it over the brim, and fold over the extra piece of fabric to the other side of the brim and glue it down.  Some of the glue might seep through the fabric, don't worry because the glue dries clear.  After you have secured your fabric over the brim, again let the hat sit for a while.  This process can be a bit long and tedious, but it is well worth the wait and effort.  After your feel that the glue has dried enough I like to then put the very top piece onto the hat, again smearing the glue on top and them smooth over the fabric.  The middle, or body of the hat should be the only thing left to be covered (except for the bottom of the brim of course).  Take your fabric and glue and put glue on the top and bottom edge of the fabric.  Now fold it over so that it looks like you have a clean hem.  After the glue has dried enough on the fabric it is time to go ahead and glue on the middle of the hat.  Your going to wrap the fabric around the hat, making sure that the folded sides are facing into the hat.  One side will over lap the other, this is normal.  This is where I like to do another fold and glue it down, making it appear that there is a seam going up the side of the hat.  Now, if you want to, you can take the bottom brim fabric and just like we did with the edges of the middle piece, we will do the same to the bottom of the brim piece (I have a feeling pictures are going to make this much easier to understand, and a video which I will try to do soon).  Again, this gives the hat a clean look once you glue the bottom piece.  You now have a fully fabric covered hat!

Step four.
This is where it gets easier, or at least it should be easier.  Before you plug in your glue gun, play around with your trim a bit, find what looks better with what.  After you have an idea of what you want your hat to look like your ready to start gluing!  Before anything, I like to glue down my ribbon/band around my hat.  After that I will add a bow, flowers, or a pendent to go on the front of my hat.  After I have finished with my gluing, sometimes I will add a string of beading onto the hat if I feel that it needs it.

Step five.
I always add my hair clip or ribbon at the end, again you don't have to go by this example completely, its just how I like to do it.  If you're using a hair clip, I like to make sure that the clip is about the same width as the hat because the hat will have better supported on your head.  I place the clip right in the middle and use the hot glue gun to glue each end of the clip to my hat.  With ribbons you can either sew them in, or glue them.  Its going to be faster and easier to glue, but with sewing you might feel more at ease about how tight you tie your hat on to your head.

And now you have your very own Lolita hat!  I hope that this was informative and helpful.  I'll be adding the photos tomorrow (still today, just tomorrow for me since I have not slept yet) since that is when I will be working on my hat!  Goodnight everyone and have a wonderful New Year!

-Lolita Doll 11