by VioletLeBeaux | May 5, 2010 | Craft, Hair, Hair-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial
Cancan hats are another trend that seems to be everywhere right now so here’s a cancan hat tutorial ^_^
Of course they’ve been around for practically forever with various names… straw boater, basher, skimmer, katie, senni etc. Here in Aus they are actually part of a lot of private school uniforms. I’ve always loved them because the remind me of picnics in the park with a nice cup of tea!
Anyway whatever you call it what I’m talking about is this:
Image found via google, full credit to the owner. I make no claims of ownership and am happy to remove if asked.
Because they’re popular now they are quite expensive. So I decided to DIY my own ^_^
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What you need for this particular cancan hat tutorial:
- Round top straw sun hat
- Scissors
- Needle and thread
- Glue Gun
- Ribbon and lace for decoration if your hat isn’t decorated already.
You can easily pick up a big wide brim rounded straw sun hat for $2 from a thrift store and if you check out junk stores you can probably find one new for not much more than that! I happened to have one from back in my Country Lolita days that I had decorated with ribbon and lace but I’ve never actually worn it because the shape looked silly on me… time to make it all flat and pretty 😀
Ok let’s get started! |
At the top of the hat you will notice that the whole thing is made of a big spiral of straw which it stitches together. Carefully wedge your scissors into the top of the spiral and cut a few of the stitches.
Gently pull it apart, continue cutting stitches if you need to.
Start unraveling the spiral and cutting the stitches as you go ^_^
Keep going until you get to around this point:
When you get to here there are two options depending on the type of hat you started with. Some of these sun hats have very straight sides and some of them are basically a gigantic dome.
If you’re lucky enough to have one with straight sides then you can skip the next few steps.
If you have one with curved sides (like me) you will need to continue unraveling the hat until you to get to a point where the part that’s left is completely straight. This point might be different for you hat but mine was just above the ribbon band here:
Now you should get your needle ready and thread it.
Ok now it’s time to put it back together so the sides are straight and the top is flat!
Because the straw has been in a curved position for so long you will most likely need to bend it straight before you put it back together. Make sure to be gentle when you do this so you don’t damage it. I straightened it by putting it flat on the floor and gently bending it the other way.
Now you need to start winding the straw back into place. You can either do it the right way and stitch it in place or the quick way and hot glue it in place. Either way secure it as you go around.
You can see that the way I’ve put it back in place is much more vertical than the original pattern.
Keep going until you think your hat is tall enough and then do one more rotation around the top to make sure it is flat enough for the top of the hat not to be on an angle!
When you’re finished you should cut the excess straw off and secure the ends. I am going to cover the straw end with more decoration at the end so it doesn’t show.
Now let’s make the top! Get your left over straw and arrange it on a flat surface in a spiral.
You should measure the spiral to make sure it fits the top of your hat exactly and pin it in place.
Now stitch or glue your top in place.
Continue until it is the right shape and diameter. You should stitch the end of the straw around so it forms a circle like this:
Cut off the excess and this is what you get:
Do make sure that it fits the top of the hat before you cut the ends so you don’t have a gaping hole in your hat!
At this point I cut off the elastic string which holds the hat on your head because it was pointless and in the way.
Now on the inside of your hat, glue/stitch the top in place 😀
You should get something like this:
Hurray it has a flat top!!
Now we’ve made the top shorter and flatter the large brim looks a bit silly! So let’s make it shorter 😀
Find the edge and snip the stitches. It should come apart very easily.
I pulled out maybe 3 or 4 rows of it. Now secure the edge back in place.
And you get this…
Last step is decoration! I wanted a nice big rosette style thing on my hat so I cut off the long tulle tail…
And added another one of top. This also covers the join around the hat. Again hot glue or sewing is fine here.
TAADAA!
And there you have it, an adorable cancan hat that cost me nothing 😀 And I have another cute hat to add to my arsenal of bad-hair-day-hiding-tools 😉
What do you guys think? Are any of you going to give the cancan hat tutorial a try?
by VioletLeBeaux | May 3, 2010 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
Today’s yarn strawberry tutorial comes complete with a shout out to the super awesome Trashtastika at the Fashionate Traveller!
Recently she took a trip to Japan and I was incredibly jealous of the fabulous time she had ^_^
Lo and behold a package arrived on my door step…
How lovely was she to pick me up presents?! Everything else will be used in other posts but today I want to show you this:
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It is a bow pin that came off a mini top hat by Baby the Stars Shine Bright with little dangly crocheted strawberries. These strawberries are a reoccurring theme among several Lolita brands and you can easily make cherries with the same pattern.
I wanted to make my own crochet or knitted pattern to make lots of these because they are so cute! But here’s the thing… there are lots of you crafty people out there who can’t knit or crochet so I set about finding the easiest way in the universe to make them that didn’t involve anything fancy or complicated that even the most un-crafty person could do… let me know if I succeeded 😀
What you need:
- Green yarn
- Red yarn
- Needle and thread (in red for the strawberry and in white for the seeds)
- Scissors
Cut 6 long pieces of the red yarn, the length I used was as long as my arm span but I had lots left over so you could use less. Also I am using 8 ply yarn which is why I need 6 pieces, if you are using something thicker then you might only need 3.
Tie the pieces together at the end with a knot.
Now plait the yarn and when you get to the end tie it in another knot. If you don’t know how to plait check here. You get something like this:
Do the same this with the green yarn but this time use only 3 strands not 6.
I am going to use white thread in these next parts so you can see what I’m doing but you should use red so it matches the yarn. Also ignore all the paint on my hands, I took these photos while I was waiting for another tutorial project to dry, I can’t wait to show you which one!
So anyway thread your needle. Take one end of the red plait you made and curl it around on itself. hold it in place with a stitch like this:
This is the bottom of your strawberry! Now keep following the spiral you started and stitch in place.
Put it on the edge of your thumb to shape it more into a rounded bottom. Also you can cut the loose ends off around 1cm from the knot to make it easier to see.
This is it from the outside:
And this is it from the inside so you can see my stitching
Continue with the spiral pattern for several more rows, it should follow the rough shape of your thumb ^_^ In the photo below I’ve added white lines so show you where each row of the plait is.
See how it fits perfectly on my thumb? Maybe I’ll start a new trend… thumb warmers coming soon to a store near you!
When you think you’ve done enough rotations (I did 7) you should pull your thread tight like a drawstring so it closes the hole at the top slightly.
Cut the rest of the plait off leaving a tail of around 20cm or so.
Grab the end of the plait along with any left over scraps of yarn have.
Scrunch it into a ball.
And stuff that ball inside the strawberry, this is what’s going to act as the stuffing.
Now use your thread to pull the gap completely closed ^_^
Tie it off and you have a big fat strawberry ball!
Now let’s make a stalk!
Grab your green plait and tie it to the top of your strawberry.
Cut it off at however long you want the stalk to be and tie in a knot to stop it coming undone.
With the rest of the green plait sew it next to the first knot like this:
Make the plait form a loop and stitch the top in place… this will form a leaf 😀
Continue making leaves around the whole top of the strawberry and stitching them in place like this:
When you reach the beginning again, twist the plait once more around the stem to hide the knots and any loose ends. Stitch in place.
Cut off any extra plait and hide the end under one of the leaves. Stitch it securely so it doesn’t unravel.
Now add little white stitches all over the strawberry for seeds ^_^
And you’re finished! Yes it may have taken a little more effort than a seasoned knitter or crochet..er(?!) might have taken but you don’t have to learn a whole new skill just for one tiny accessory!
Add some ribbon and some lace and you’re well on the way to a cute accessory 😀
What do you guys think? Let me know if any of you make a yarn strawberry too!
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by VioletLeBeaux | May 2, 2010 | Beauty, Nails
Sneaker Sunday is really taking off huh? It’s been fantastic to see all of your posts and photos, keep them coming in ok 😀
If you still don’t know what all the fuss is about check the original post here!
So this week in honor of Sneaker Sunday Valerie and I wanted to talk about foot care. When you’re on your feet all day running around and being busy it’s easy to forget about the little things that are carrying you. We so readily will give ourselves cute manicures and nailart but pedicures are much more rare, so this week I present…
Violet’s Favorite Foot Care Routine With a Cute Summer Nail Art Idea… Which Is Awesome… Ok.
Longest title ever.
Step 1.
Get in your most comfortable pajamas and make sure your feet are clean.
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Step 2.
Remove any old and chipped toe nail polish.
Step 3.
Use some cuticle oil around your toe nails. Please don’t use the same one that you use on your finger nails, that’s unhygienic. I have a second one for my feet so they feel nice and soft!
Nail art time!
Gather together toe separators, pink, purple and clear polish and a white dotting tool. You will also need some Fimo fruit slices.
Step 4.
Paint your toe nails alternating in pink and purple.
You might need two coats.
Step 5.
Use the dotting tool to place small white polka dots all over the nails.
Fimo fruit slice time! The lovely Jin sent me these slices, how cute is the container?
Step 6.
Using the clear polish as glue, set 3 of your favorite fruit pieces in a u shape on your big toe. Once it’s dry give it a clear coat over the top too.
Step 7.
Once your polish is nice and dry use your favorite moisturizer and give yourself a foot rub!
Even better, find someone willing to do it for you 😀 Thanks James!
Step 8.
Put on your favorite pair of cotton socks and sleep in them. This will keep all the moisture in but still give your feet breathing room.
And there you have it, you’re on your way to feet that love you a little bit more 😀
If you’re hungry for more Sneaker Sunday action don’t forget to check out Valerie’s post on her own DIY foot spa because it’s totally awesome!
Have a great Sneaker Sunday everyone!
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