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 | Apr 29, 2010 | Clothing-Tutorials, Craft, Hime Gyaru, Outfit Of The Day, Tutorial
A few months ago a reader wrote in and asked me to write a t-shirt surgery tutorial.
If you haven’t head of t-shirt surgery it’s basically when you take a plain old t-shirt and you make it into something cooler and more fashionable. There is a community for it here where you can see some fantastic examples.
So anyway when I got the request I didn’t think it was something I would do because I don’t wear t-shirts often… but it stayed in my mind for ages and I kept thinking about it more and more until I had an idea 😀 When we were in Singapore for the Nuffnang Awards, Nuffnang Australia was lovely enough to give us all shirts. Mine had the slogan “I’m famous (in the blogosphere)” hahaha! I thought it was awesome but they only had large sizes so since then I’ve used it to sleep in… but no more!
Making this…
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From this….
Into this….
What you need for this particular t-shirt surgery tutorial:
- Large shirt (I’m using my Nuffnang one)
- Other shirt in a cute colour. I’m using an old pink Emily the Strange shirt
- Needle and thread
- Thin elastic
- Flowers or decoration
- Scissors
- Overlocker or sewing machine
- Shirt that actually fits you (for measuring)
Please note that I am hand stitching almost everything here because my sewing machine has been packed up for the move, if given the choice I would definitely use a machine for this project. I am going to redo the stitching when we get to the new house 😀
First turn your white shirt inside out. Lay your white tee on a flat surface and place the shirt that fits you over the top. Line up the shoulder seams to make sure it’s in the right place.
Cut the bottom off in line with your nice shirt.
Cut up the side seems around 1.5cm away from your nice shirt’s seam, this is to give it enough room for the new seam we’re going to sew. You will notice when you’re cutting that the seam is probably not a straight line but instead it curves slightly. This curve will give the waist some shape so if you want to adjust this now is the time!
Cut until you reach just below the sleeves.
Following the line of the sleeves cut around at an angle. Now it just looks like a longer sleeve ^_^
Fold the shirt in half and repeat on the other side.
So this is what you should end up with… it pretty much just looks like a smaller shirt now ^_^
Now let’s cut a new neckline! Turn it the right way out so you can see what you’re working on. I chose a square neckline so I could show up pretty necklaces. I started by cutting out the collar carefully and then kept cutting until I reached the neckline I wanted.
Now get your coloured shirt and lay it out…
Cut the back section from the shirt, you want to remove all of the seams. You will end up with something this shape.
Lay the pink version over the white shirt. You should cut the sides and the neckline to match the white shirt. The pink part should be on the same side as the writing/pattern you want on the front of the shirt. You’ll end up with this:
Now you should use your overlocker (or sewing machine) to stitch up the sides. Start from the bottom and sew towards the sleeves, continue until there’s no hole left ^_^
Now at the top where the straps of the pink part are, there should be a strip of interfacing on the white shirt. Sew the pink to the white. Most shirts have it but if yours doesn’t just sew it into whatever seam is there.
You end up with this (although mine is terribly hand stitched).
Now move over to the sleeves, cut around 4cm off the ends. Repeat on the other side.
Measure a piece of thin elastic around the top of your arm and cut in two.
Sew the elastic around 4cm from the edge of the sleeve. While you sew stretch it to the correct size so when it’s unstretched it will form a ruffle. Mine looks a bit dodgy because it’s hand stitched >_<
So how you have something like this 😀
Turn your shirt the right way out now and fold it in half down the middle with the pattern facing out. This next part is all about measuring. From the bottom of your pattern (my pattern is the slogan on the front) fold the shirt in 3 sections. Place a small marker at each fold.
Flatten the shirt out again but keep it folded in half. The pink strip below is marking how far in were going to cut, it should be as far in as the markers are apart. It’s a little hard to explain but it should kind of form a square.
Now do the actual cutting! DO NOT CUT THE PINK FABRIC! Only cut the white.
Repeat on the other side so you end up with this:
Now we’re going to make the sections into little bows 😀
Cut 3 strips of the hem of the pink shirt.
Fold them in half and use them to form the center of the bow. Sew it all in place like this:
On the bottom bow place a small holding stitch through the white and pink so the bottom bow will keep it’s shape.
Now let’s go back to the neckline! Cut the rest of the hem off the pink shirt and measure it out like this:
Sew along the seams that are already there. Do the sides first and continue around the back.
Add a final piece to the front and cover the edges ^_^
I decided to add some chiffon flowers to the neckline just to girly it up some more. I’m going to add more as soon as I can unpack my craft supplies and dig them out XD
And so there you have it! Finished and much more my taste than the original 😀
And of course it’s time to try it on!
Close up of the bows…
Mwahaha and no I’m not conceited enough to think I’m *actually* famous in the blogosphere, it’s just meant to be cute and funny 😛
Well there you go, my first attempt at t-shirt surgery and I’m pretty happy with the results! So much so that I’m going to wear it tomorrow to the going away party that Nuffnang is throwing James and I 😀 I even made a little matching surprise but you’ll have to wait for the event to see!
What do you all think? Should I made more of these? Would you ever actually try a t-shirt surgery tutorial like this? |
by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 27, 2010 | Craft, Hair, Hair-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial
This usamimi tutorial is a reader request post, see I’m slowly making my way through them all!
Lately everywhere I turn around someone is wearing one of these funny little pointy scarves…
Image found via Google, credit to the owner (who I couldn’t find). I make no claims to own this photo and would be happy to remove it should the owner have a problem with it’s use.
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Apparently the points are supposed to look kind of like bunny ears depending on how they’re worn. They seem to be really popular in Gal fashions at the moment! I don’t know how much these go for but if they’re anything like other imported accessories they can get pretty pricey! Anyway a couple of you have requested a tutorial on how to save some money and make one so here it is! ^_^
What you need for this particular usamimi tutorial:
- Fabric (for an alternative see below)
- Scissors
- Thin wire
- Needle and thread
I decided to go one step further on the saving money front and instead of using fabric I saved time and effort by using a pair of stockings that I bought but didn’t end up fitting 😀 They had a cute patten so I’ve been looking for another way to use them and this is perfect! |
So first step! If you’re using fabric, measure out how long you need the scarf to be (measure around your head and then add extra for the point little ears) and cut two long rectangles. Because I am using stockings I’ve skipped this step.
Now cut the ends into points. I folded mine in half to ensure that the ends were exactly the same shape.
If you are using normal fabric then sew down the straight sides to form a long tube (don’t sew the ends yet!). If you’re using stockings then you already have a long tube like below ^_^
Now get your thin wire ready! I am using 2 lengths of wire because the wire I had was too thin to shape the fabric properly. So cut a length of wire that is long enough to go all the way around the outside of your tube. Leave an extra few inches so there is room to tie the ends together.
Turn your tube inside out. Fold the wire in half.
Using your needle and thread, sew up the pointy end. Use a plain old running stitch, nothing fancy. I’m hand stitching because my sewing machines are all in storage but if you can use a machine or an over-locker I would definitely suggest it!
Now let’s start adding the wire, this is what will make the ear parts nice and stiff. Line the wire up with the point and starting from there use a blanket stitch to attach the wire to the edge of the fabric. When you stitch you should only pick up a few threads from the fabric, this will ensure that when you turn it inside out you can’t see gigantic stitches.
Keep going all the way down the side until you reach the other open edge. If you started out with fabric that you sewed together then you might just be able to weave the wire through the stitches you already made.
When you get to the other end use a running stitch to close up one side and then continue with the wire up the edge. You should have a little wire overlapping the edge which we will use to close it up later.
Now repeat along the other side but stop when you reach the opening.
Now using the hole, turn the whole thing inside out…
This is roughly what you should end up with…
And as you can see I have left over wire poking out from the top.
Cut the wire down so it’s only 1cm longer than the tip, then twist the two ends together and fold them down. And you end up with this:
Now hold it flat, fold the raw edges in and sew up the gap like in the picture below. Try to hide your stitches as much as possible by only poking through a tiny bit of the exposed fabric. Make sure to sew the points of the wire really well so it doesn’t pop through ^_^
You hopefully end up with something like this…
Which will hold it’s shape like this!
And when you put it on you will look something like this XD
So there you have it! They are really quick and easy to make and very popular right now ^_^ Let me know if you give the usamimi tutorial a go!
by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 16, 2010 | Craft, Storage/Utility-Tutorials, Tutorial
Blah storage problems, how to store hair accessories?
I get a whole lot of reader request for cute storage tips so today I’m going to share with you how I store my scarves and accessories. These are only going to be very rough tutorials because I made the items many many months ago ^_^
I have to apologize for the quality of these photos, James is wiping his computer today so I can’t use his fancy camera, these were all taken with my phone >_<
First question is about how to store scarves. I love scarves, they are completely awesome and super versatile. I always have one on my handbag for emergencies! But when you have this many it can be quite hard to store them. I previously had them in a drawer but it’s so hard to find the one you want without searching through all 7 million of them…
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So I decided to make something and this is what came out of it:
This is super easy to make with junk you have around the house. |
You need:
- Toilet rolls
- Old yarn/wool
- Bows/decoration
- Sticky tape
-First gather your materials!
-Cut the toilet rolls into sections that are around 5cm long. Cut as many sections as you have scarves (or maybe a few more so you can add to your collection later!)
-Sticky tape them together into a grid pattern.
-Get your yarn ready. I used some old scratchy pink and white acrylic yarn.
-Start wrapping around the rolls you stuck together. Keep wrapping until it’s all completely covered. Pay special attention to the places where the rolls join together so they are strong.
-After it’s completely covered add a strap out of plaited yarn to the top.
-And then hot glue/sew bows on if you want more decoration ^_^
Now you can add your scarves in. Loop the scarves through the holes so the ends stick out the back. Choose your favorite scarves for the bottom holes so their ends hang down. You can hang it in your bathroom or where ever you like!
Now on to the hair accessories ^_^
I have a lot of hair accessories. A lot. If they don’t have somewhere to live, they end up getting very messy and broken!
So I made myself a cute place to store them, I like it because it looks like a gigantic shopping bag 😀
So to make one you need the following:
- Fabric in whatever size you want
- Knitting needle or something to make the top rigid
- Plastic handle
- Lace
- Glue gun
- Needle and thread
- Bows/decoration
-Gather your materials
-Cut out the fabric to the size you want.
-Hem the two sides and the bottom either with hot glue or sew it. You can see in the above photo how uneven my hems are because the fabric is slightly see through XD
-Hem the top in the same way but put the knitting needle in the fold of the fabric. This is going to make it nice and strong and give it structure rather than just being a floppy piece of fabric.
-Sew or glue on lace to the bottom and top of the fabric.
-Sew the plastic handle to the top, you should stitch it so it’s actually attached to the knitting needle. This way it won’t put stress on the fabric.
-Glue some bows to cover the stitches.
-Add accessories and hang it up!
I like to put all my accessories that are on bobby pins along the sides and the ones with pins/brooch backs in the middle 😀
So there you have it, I hope that all makes sense! It’s harder to write tutorials without pictures so if you have any questions just let me know!
If I ever make more of these I’ll make sure to take photos along the way ^_^
*Edit* Shmuberry made her own version of the scarf holder in the shape of a heart!! Go have a look at her post here, it’s so cute!!*/Edit*
So how do you all store hair accessories?
by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 14, 2010 | Craft, Decoden, Hime Gyaru, Life
This story is a long Prada Wallet related saga.
It’s about a wallet that took over my life for two whole days. It’s a story about greed, a story about recycling, an epic drama about craft… and one Prada wallet.
This silly little thing was the cause of many many hours of my life being wasted:
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Jamesand I were at a thrift store one day looking for some bits and pieces. While we were waiting for the clerk to ring up our purchases it caught my eye from under the glass counter. It was barely noticeable… just a tiny corner of pink peaking out from under a mess of costume jewelery and decorative soaps.They lady brought it up for me to take a look at and I saw the price tag… as well as the gigantic Prada stamp on the front. I did need a new wallet, my previous Hello Kitty one was fairly thread bare… for only AU$5 even a fake was good value. But thinking of our budget I put it back.
Overnight, stories of friends finding pristine authentic Louis Vitton, Chanel and other high end brands among the thrift store junk floated through my brain. What if it was real, what if I had just missed out on the find of a lifetime? It was certainly decent quality leather whether it was a fake or not… it was just a bit beaten and up and dirty. |
So I decided to venture back… and if it was still unsold I would take that as a sign from fate that it was meant to be.
And it was. And I bought it.
And thus started an obsession that lasted several hours.
I used Twitter to find out more about Prada and how to discern a fake. In the process I had a hilarious conversation with Cheesie and Audand was given lots of advice from others!
I googled and googled, finding number after number of “Signs to tell it’s real” websites. I’m sure an aficionado of high end brands would have spotted in a moment what I was searching for but as someone who has never handled anything of a high end brand it was an adventure for me. Had I stumbled onto the holy grail of thrift store finds?
- Quality of the stitching…Check.
- Quality of the lining…Check.
- Leather stamp inside and out…Check
- Correct establishment date… Check
- Correct curve of the “R”… Check
- Prada branded zip and closure… FAIL.
Ok so it failed the final test… I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. The day dreams of selling it to pay for a trip to Japan or a puppy suddenly plummeted just like the bank balance of someone who had just bought a real Prada wallet.
But then I thought for a little while… even if it wasn’t going to be buying me a pony it was still quite a nice wallet. I liked the leather even it was a bit dirty, I liked the colour, I liked the size and I liked the idea of having a new cute wallet.
So out came the leather cleaner, glue gun, ribbon and lace… and my new wallet was born!
I scrubbed the leather clean with a combination of leather cleaner and a moisture sealant to make it nice and tough again.
I hot glued lace all around the edges on both inside and out to strengthen and disguise the cracked edges.
I found some matching pink polka dot ribbon in my stash and added accents to cover damage and add strength. I think it accents the card holder spots beautifully.
And finished off with a bow.
Even though it turned out to be a fake this pre-loved $5 wallet was worth every penny. It entertained me for two days, it gave me great conversations with my friends online and offline, it brought out my creativity and thriftiness, it sharpened my google-fu skills and it’s now holding all of my money, cards and old receipts. 1 month on, it’s in better condition than when I found it. Now it is the ultimate hime style wallet!
Very pleased!
And my idea is catching on, when I was in Melbourne, Super Kawaii Mamathought the idea was so cool, she re-vamped her old wallet too!
The verdict= $5 for several days of entertainment and a fantastic wallet is a great deal ^_^
Real Prada wallet or not, I can’t say I really care!
