Ages ago someone requested a pin cushion tutorial so this idea has been bouncing around my head for a few months but I didn’t have the materials until now.
You need:
Felt
Stuffing/fabric scraps
Needle/thread
Lace
Rose ribbon
First you will need to decide how big you want your heart to be, I was using scrap lace so I had to measure how much I actually had to go around the heart!
So cut two hearts…
…and one long rectangle which is long enough to go around the outside of the heart. You will also need 2 pieces of lace as long as the rectangle and two pieces of the rose ribbon to cross over the top.
Sandwich the lace between the rectangle and one of the hearts like this:
Carefully stitch all around the outside, wrapping the rectangle all the way around the heart. I’m using white thread so you can see what I’m doing:
Make sure that you pleat the lace as you sew so it goes around the curves of the heart. Trim the excess of the sides and stitch it shut. From the top it should look like this:
Now put the rose ribbon across the top in an “X” shape. In the photo below I accidentally put the top heart felt on first but it needs to go ribbon then felt on the very top otherwise it will be on the inside!
So stitch around the top heart leaving a couple of centimeters gap on one side.
Turn it inside out through the hole and it should puff up with the lace sticking up nicely. Fill it with stuffing!
Then you just need to stitch the hole closed and you’re all finished.
Done! Pretty cute.
You can use it as a regular pin cushion or to hold larger things you’re using like small scissors under the rose ribbon.
Took around 20 minutes to make and I’m sure if you did a better job than I did it would make a lovely present! ^_^
Yet another bow tutorial, are you sick of these yet? I think I’m getting sick of making them but I’ve got one more after this that I promised before I’ve crossed them all off my list 😀
Today I’m making an rosette ribbon bow. That’s a mouthful!
Below you can see the results, mine is on the left and the one that inspired it is on the right, it’s an AP one. I don’t generally condone replicas etc but this bow is maybe 6 years old and I don’t think they’ve made any similar for quite a while. I don’t wear black as much as I used to so I wanted a similar design in several other colours.Funnily enough this bow was the first piece of brand that I ever got, it was a gift from my friend Sandy many years ago and though we’ve lost touch I still think of her when I wear it. She was my Lolita big sister back when I wore it and I really wouldn’t be where I am today (personally, professionally or style wise) without the example she set for me.
I love this style as it can be worn in so many ways!
You need:
Thick ribbon
Medium ribbon
Thin ribbon
Felt
Bobby pin
Tulle
Needle, thread, scissors etc
The three ribbons I’m using:
First cut 2 lengths of the thick ribbon, these need to be around twice as wide as you want the finished bow to be.
Fold the ends into the middle and stitch up both of them. Pull the stitches tights so it ruffles them into a bow.
Lay them crossed in the middle to form an “X” and stitch in place like this:
Now make another bow out of the middle ribbon in the same way:
And stitch it on top…
At this point you really should wrap a piece of the small ribbon around the middle to hide all of the stitches but I forgot so I had to do it later. Clearly my brain was too distracted by the chocolate I was eating at the time, don’t eat and craft it’s serious business.
So pretending you did that, make an upside down V shape with a long piece of large ribbon.
Put a V of the middle ribbon on top of it.
And then a V of the small ribbon on top of that.
Stitch them all together at the top.
Then stitch your bow section of top of that!
The back doesn’t need to be neat because it will all be covered.
Now we need the tulle puff which pokes out the back. Cut a long thin piece of the tulle.
And do a running stitch down one of the long sides. Pull the thread taught so it forms a big ruffle, if you tie the thread to where you began it should curl around into a rosette.
Something like this:
Mine was way too big so I grabbed the non-stitched end and trimmed it.
Stitch or glue the tulle on the back of the bow and then add a circle of felt over the top to make it much neater and finished. No one is ever going to see the back of mine so I just tacked it on. I also cut two slits into the felt to slip a bobby pin through. I usually wear this in my hair but the original was a brooch back so it could be worn anywhere. Completely up to you which you prefer, if I had more of the little metal brooch things I would have used that because then it’s so much more verstile.
Now seeing as I forgot to add the thin ribbon around the bow to hide the stitches before, I had to go back and do it now >_< Craft fail.
Last thing to do is cut all of the ribbon ends into little points
And that’s it! Obviously not as good as the original but still quite pretty and in colours I wear much more often. Now that you know the basic techniques you can make rpetty much any ribbon bow you could possible thing of.
Hope you enjoyed this and on the off chance that Sandy ever reads this: I miss taking photos at pretty buildings with you big sister!
Yet another “long time coming” post, I promise I’m trying to catch up!
Ombré, gradient, two tone, incredibly stupid looking, call it what you like, people have been asking about my hair ever since I did it. I’ve always been really hesitant in providing instructions etc because I’m not a hair dresser, I’m not a colour expert and I also don’t want to be responsible for people giving it a try and not being happy with the results *_*
So rather than an actual tutorial this is more of a post that I can direct people to if they are really interested in how I do it. I’m not suggesting that people try this at all because it depends on the type of dye you use, your hair type and a lot of other factors so please talk to a hair dresser before you do anything!
My hair is made up of 3 colours: blonde, pink and copper. This is my routine:
I bleach my roots maybe once a month (or leave it longer if I’m lazy/feel like wearing a lot of hats). I use a pre-colour stripper and do not use toner so it retains that orange tone which blends well with the other two colours. They’ve just discontinued the bleach that I use so not sure which brand I will be changing to at the moment >_<
The copper tips were originally achieved through a Schwarzcopf 8 wash colour (Aztec Copper) which never… washed out. I had planned on touching this up once a month too but it’s been a very long time and it’s still in there so I’ll probably only touch up when it needs it. The pink only tints the copper area slightly so it provides a nice backdrop and a nice variation in the colour.
The pink is done once a week, or if I’m feeling lazy once every few weeks. At the beginning I did it every 4 days but that was too much effort/expensive so I have since scaled back. The dye I use is called Wakk Stain but it’s not something I would recommend. For a few months I thought it was drying out my hair like crazy but the cause ended up being a hair treatment that wasn’t suited to my hair type, even still I probably wouldn’t recommend this dye because it washes out so quickly. The fact that it does wash out so quickly and doesn’t stain skin is perfect for my needs at the moment though because it makes it easier to move around into the correct place, goes on quickly and can be removed if you make a mistake. I think Priceline has stopped selling this now too anyway (or at least the ones near me have) so I will be experimenting with other dyes in the next few months.
So with all of that out of the way, this is how I do the pink parts! Again if you intend to try this please go to a hair dresser!!
So hopefully that answers any questions and fingers crossed you enjoyed!
This is a video on how I create the fade effect in my hair. It was created for a post on my blog. This is not intended to be a tutorial but instead to answer questions I get on a daily basis. I DO NOT suggest you try this without consulting a hair professional first.
Read the related blog post over here for more information: http://bit.ly/poZ334
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Music used is a loop from Garageband which is licensed for commercial use. .
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A blog and Youtube channel about a girl and her quest to make everything sparkle. New craft, hair and beauty tutorials every week!
Violet LeBeaux spends most of her time trying to think of ways to make life prettier, posting said ways on her blog and drinking very strong tea. She writes about big hair cute things, girly fashion, beauty finds, sometimes Hime Gyaru fashion (姫ギャル) and crafty tutorials.
She lives with her adorable boyfriend Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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Music: Garageband unless otherwise credited
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I get quite a few questions about my hair and how I achieve the fade from blonde to pink to copper at the tips.
I’m not an expert but this is the routine I use.
I would always suggest going to a hairdresser just in case.
You can see in the photos the top picture if after the pink has faded out and the bottom is freshly dyed.
This is the end result.
I generally bleach my roots before the beginning.
The pink I use is not permanent but the copper at the tops is so it doesn’t require touch ups.
Normally I do this all while showering to save time.
Start by shampoo-ing your hair.
Squeeze out most of the extra moisture but keep it fairly wet.
This whole process is really best done in the shower so you don’t get dye and water everywhere!
Divide into two sections and pin your fringe out of the way.
Give it a good brush through.
This whole process will depend on the dye you’re using.
Please read and follow the individual instructions there.
Twist each section inwards towards your face.
Again this technique is just what works for my dye and my hair type, it may not work for yours.
The dye I’m using here is called “Wakk Stain” in pink.
Squeeze a good amount on to the palm of your hand.
Depending on the type of dye you may need to wear gloves.
Put a little dye on the tips of your fingers and rub it on where you want the bottom of the gradient to start.
Rub in by twisting the section of hair around your fingers.
Continue adding colour little by little by twisting arund your fingers.
Add more towards the bottom to make the colour brighter.
To make a nice fade up the top just use your fingers to move small amounts of the dye which is already on your hair upwards.
Because the hair is wet you should be able to move the dye fairly easily.
Keep twisting and adding dye.
The twisting prevents the dye from covering every single strand of hair so when it’s untwisted and dry, the fade is more gradual.
Every now and then you can untwist the hair and comb through with your fingers.
This will let you see how the colour is progressing and where you need to add more.
After a while you can start to see the fade forming.
Once you have the top fade in the way you want it just add a bunch more dye to the bottom section so it’s nice and bright.
The time to head to the shower and wash it all out!
The dye I use doesn’t need to be left in long so I generally just wash out and then add condition as soon as I’m done.
It doesn’t stain so you can see it’s come straight off my hands.
Hah! I even managed to keep all my make up on when washing it out. That’s an achievement!
Blow dry it out and you’re all finished.
You might want to take this time to have your own slow motion hair commercial moment… or not.
Finished! It’s much brighter and the fade is very gradual.
As I mentioned this is just the technique that works for me it may not work for you depending on hair type or the dye you’re using.
Pretty pink hair again and the fade is pretty good, yay!
This dye fades very quickly so I usually do this once a week or if I’m lazy just when I have a special event.
I hope this was a useful video, please check out the blog post linked in the description for more information and tutorials.
Thanks so much for watching.
Bye!
There have been quite a few requests for hair tutorials lately so I thought I would give doing a video one by myself a try 😀
Recently I’ve been really missing my short hair, I’ve had it long for a few years now and I usually get to a point that I’m so sick of it I chop it all short again. This time I don’t want to get rid of it because I love the length and the pink parts so I’m experimenting with various ways to fake it.
This style is good for Summer because it keeps hair away from your neck and shoulders. Or you know, just good for people like me who get bored with their hair easily!
Do take a look because it’s got the new theme song (and girl with the lashes at the end!) and it’s a completely new editing style for me. I’m still improving in making videos (especially my lighting set up, James worked out how to make it so much better since I recorded this one) so any suggestions are appreciated! Also do let me know if you prefer to have tutorials like this in photo or video form. Ideally I would like to do both photo and video version fo everything but it can be quite time consuming so I might just do one at a time for now and redo them in the other form later. I made Youtube partner last week and now I’m getting the hang of doing more editing etc so I’m all excited about doing videos hahaha!
A blog and Youtube channel about a girl and her quest to make everything sparkle. New craft, hair and beauty tutorials every week!
Violet LeBeaux spends most of her time trying to think of ways to make life prettier, posting said ways on her blog and drinking very strong tea. She writes about big hair cute things, girly fashion, beauty finds, sometimes Hime Gyaru fashion (姫ギャル) and crafty tutorials.
She lives with her adorable boyfriend Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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Music: Garageband unless otherwise credited
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Sometimes you want to enjoy the fun of having short hair but without committing to a cut.
What to do? Faux bob style.
You need a brush, pins and hairspray.
Start with clean hair and give it a good brush through.
Section it evenly into two parts.
If you need to, pin your fringe out of the way.
There are several ways to create this style, I will show you two of them.
First the plaited version.
Take one section and start around half way down. Plait loosely until you reach the end.
Tie off.
Repeat the other one and then realise you forgot to get a second hair tie.
Look around frantically then give up and go to the bathroom to find one.
Take 2.
Plait the other side loosely from about half way down to the bottom.
You should have something along these lines.
Now, take one of the plaits and curl it underneath and into a loop.
Roll the loop up towards your head.
Once happy with the shape, pin it in place.
This may take a lot of pins depending on how heavy your hair is.
The plaited version of this style gives a more natural bottom to the bob because of the divided sections.
Repeat on the other side.
Curl it under and up to form a loop then keep rolling up.
Pin it securely in place.
Almost done.
Here’s a side view.
Curl the plait up and pin in place.
Ok now the other technique to get to this point uses ponytails.
Section the hair and tie half away with hair bands.
To create more volume at the front you can pull the ponytails backwards so the hair shifts through the band.
When the ponytails are in front of the area near your chin bubbles.
Now it’s just a matter of using the same technique again.
Curl the bottom of the pony tail upward to form a loop.
Keep going until the band is hidden and pin in place.
Using ponytails rather than plaits give the final lok a very even perfect finish around the bottom.
You can see the coil of hair when it’s pulled back.
One side done.
Now just repeat on the other side.
Curl it under until the band is hidden and pin in place.
Sometimes it can be hard for the pins to grip in your hair.
You might find it easiest to push the pins through the actual band to hold them there.
Regardless of which method used to pin up the hair you should now lightly brush back to make sure there is no join between the bunches.
A little hairspray all over will secure everything in place.
Depending on how you curl it, you can change the angle of the bob.
Lastly you just need to straighten your fringe out and make sure it follows the lines of the bob.
This style works best if you have layers around your face which are around the same length as the bob.
Add a bow if you like and you’re all finished!
For extra bonus points I decided to curl my fringe under and curl the side bits too.
It took a little while to get working as I have had a side swept fringe for a long time.
Worth the extra time though, I love curls.
All finished!
I think this is a really fun way to experiment with shorter hair without having to actually chop it off.
Now all you need is some place nice to wear it and some pretty sparkles to match.
I hope this was a useful video, please check out the blog post linked in the description for more information and tutorials.
Thanks so much for watching.
Bye!
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
