Wood Shop Jewelry Box

Back in high school I had the opportunity to take a wood shop class where I learned how to make objects out of wood. I had several projects including a birdhouse and a cutting board, both of which I gave to relatives, as well as a jewelry box. The Woods I chose to use are cherry wood and walnut, both of which are my favorite dark colored woods. The other kids in my class used a small dowel for a hinge on their boxes, but my lid was cut too thin, so I salvaged some hinges off of another jewelry box I had that I didn't care for. I found out that brass screws are very soft and so they are hard to get into a hard wood without damaging. Fortunately, I positioned the hinges on the inside of the box, so you can't see that the heads of the screws are a little messy looking from the outside of the box.

All pictures are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

DIY Clay Decodens

Recently I've been getting interested in Decoden, cute little items such as kitty faces and cupcakes or other food or kawaii related items. Since these items tend to be rather expensive and a little difficult to find, I decided to try making my own with some colored clay I had. I started by making cherries, then moved on to cookies and macaroons as well as frosting and whipped cream. The cherries turned out alright, but my favorite items are the frosted star cookie I made and the macaroons. For all of the cookies I mixed some pale yellow clay with a bit of brown clay to get a color similar to other decoden cookies I've seen. For the frosting I mixed small pieces of colored clay and some white liquid clay together until the solid clay was mostly broken up, then drizzled it on the cookie. I attempted the same thing to make frosting, just adding more solid clay, but it didn't turn out especially well. This could be because I was using a oven bake clay instead of a self hardening clay like most home made decoden are made out of. It's also possible I didn't add enough solid clay to make a good mixture since I was getting rather tired of breaking up and mixing the clay. Anyways, here's a picture of the decoden I made minus the whipped cream which was added afterwords.

The larger macaroon is in half still because I put whipped cream in the middle after the initial baking. Sorry for the low image quality; I'll try to get better pictures of the items up later. All images were taken by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Gothic & Lolita Kodona Blouse

A while back I got a blouse pattern from Miss Carlyfornia out of a Gothic & Lolita Bible she owns. The blouse was part of a Kodona Lolita (Boy style) ensemble that included a frill, ribbon, and belts for the sleeves of the blouse as well as a pair of shorts. Seeing as how I barely fit extra large Japanese size blouses, I doubted I'd fit the shorts pattern so I only copied the blouse pattern. A little while back I took the time to actually make the blouse that was in the instructions since I'd only used the bodice of the blouse to make a puff sleeved sailor collar blouse. This time I altered the pattern to make it slightly longer as well as making the modifications called for in the pattern to give the blouse tails and enough space in the front to make it a button up blouse. Fortunately the alterations all turned out well and I was able to assemble the pattern fairly easily. My main struggles were with the sleeves, as they were in three different sections and I'd sized the middle section a little off, and the collar, which was a style I'd never done before. The buttons were also a little difficult making sure that they were positioned properly, but the part that brought me the most grief was the button holes. This is mainly because I'd never done button holes on a sewing machine before, but also due to the fact that the pieces for button holes decided to stop working for no evident reason partway through several of the button holes. Overall, the blouse turned out really nicely and it fits very well.

I'm wearing my new blouse with a ribbon at the collar and my loliable skirt in the image above. The blouse also works really nicely with my Gothic Lolita Pinafore by Miss Carlyfornia.

All images are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

How to Make a Petticoat: Simple Ruffles

Hey everyone! Today I'm going to be showing you how to make a simple ruffled petticoat with some regular fabric. This petticoat is fluffy enough to give your skirt some puff without being overly warm during spring. Let's get started!

This tutorial contains a lot of pictures, so if you have a slow connection you might want to stop the page from loading completely and load the pictures separately as you get to them.

Here's what you'll need:

• Fabric - Amount will vary depending on measurements; White is best for color
• Waistband elastic - Length will vary depending on your waist size
• Thread to match your fabric color
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Cutting board
• Pins - A pincushion will make them easier to use
• Sewing machine or needle and thread if you're going to hand sew it
• Iron and ironing board for pressing seams
• (optional) T-square or other long straight edge for drawing straight lines 

To star with, here's the basic concept I used for designing the pattern I used.

Since my original petticoat using this fabric had turned out rather bulky around the waist, so I wanted to try making a petticoat with a non-floofy waist to try to prevent this. Since my skirts mostly end about knee length, I wanted my petticoat to be about the same length.

Let's start measuring! To start with, you'll want to decide where you want the floof to start (such technical terminology, I know). Measure from there to where you want the petticoat to end (see illustration below). It helps if you have a friend for this, but you can just have the end of the tape measure hanging down about where you want the end of the skirt and read it from the top.

Write this measurement down. Now for a little calculation (not much! I promise). Divide your measurement by how many layers you want. More layers means more floof, but I wouldn't make them too narrow or they'll be hard to gather and sew together. I'll be presuming you're doing three layers in this tutorial. I made my petticoat 3 sections at 6.5 inches tall each, but you can make them a bit shorter or longer depending on the length you want your petticoat. Make sure to add a little extra length for seam allowances and due to the floof causing slight loss of length. Mine ended up around 4 inches shorter than my measurements.

Now let's measure the waistband length. Measure from where you want the waistband to start, usually the waist, to slightly past where you want the floof to start (see image below). Add an inch to an inch and a half to this measurement and then double it. Write this measurement down.

 

Now that you've determined the length of the sections and the waistband, we'll need to do a few calculations to determine how much fabric you'll need. The sections for the floofy part should be 25-30 inches long, so a 60 inch wide piece of fabric would be better than a 45 inch wide piece. I used the remaining half of a sheet I'd used for my first petticoat which measured about 50 inches wide. You'll need 12 rectangles worth of fabric plus enough for your waistband. Since the fabric will be doubled over, you only need 6 sections worth of fabric lengthwise. Add this measurement to your waistband length measurement to determine how much fabric you'll need (example below).

Actual results will vary (1.5 yd, not 15yd)

Once you have your fabric, make sure to wash it first on the same settings you'll use once you finish the petticoat. This preshrinks the fabric so you don't have to worry about it shrinking on you after it's done. Iron it all out then lay it out on a cutting board folded in half widthwise (selvages together). Using your tape measure, mark every six and a half inches, or however long you want your sections to be. Make the marks little arrows pointing at the measurement on the tape. (Ex: v) Mark out six sections like this, then use a T-square or long flat edge to mark out straight lines at these points (see image below). Cut them all out on the lines you made, then cut each of the sections in half. (Leave the fabric folded in hal after cutting the sections to make this a little easier.) You should now have twelve sections that are the height you wanted and about 25-30 inches long.

Time to pull out your pincusion! Pin the short edges of three of the sections together making a circle. Repeat with four sections, and then the remaining five. Make sure that the right sides of the fabric (side with printing on it if you have a print) are all facing inwards (see image below). These are going to be the layers of your petticoat. Press the seams open before moving on to the next step.

Sew the edges that you pinned together. Make a small hem on the layer with 5 sections. This will be the bottom of your petticoat. Sew gathering stitches on the top of all of the layers. Gather the bottom layer to fit to the base of the layer with 4 sections. Sew them together, then repeat to attach the middle to the top layer (See image below). Make sure the right sides of the fabric go together and not the wrong sides.

Now for the waistband. Take your measurement from before for the length of your waistband, measure it out on your fabric, draw a straight line, then cut it. Measure around the fullest part of your hips and add two and a half inches to that. This will be the width for your waistband. Err on the side of caution and cut the waistband down to a bit bigger than this measurement. Pin it where you'd put the seam, then check to make sure it will fit over your hips. Once you've confirmed that it does, you can cut off any excess fabric from the width, leaving enough for the seam. Fold the waistband in half lengthwise and sew a tube at the top wide enough for your elastic to easily fit in. Leave a little wiggle room in the tube to make sure the elastic won't be getting folded down. Sew the ends together, making sure to leave the ends of the tube on top open so you can put the elastic in later. Gather the top edge of the skirt to match the waistband then sew them together. Again, be sure to put the right sides together. I messed up here and had to take the seam out and do it over again.

Now for the last step: putting in the elastic waistband. Measure your waist to get an idea of how much elastic you'll need. Depending on the stretch of the elastic you buy and how tight you want it to be, the amount of elastic needed will vary. I recommend slightly stretching the elastic around your waist to the point where it is a little tight, but not so tight it'll leave a mark once you take the petticoat off. Be careful not to use too much elastic as it will pretty much be useless if you do. Attach a large safety pin to one end of the elastic, then insert it into the tube, pulling it along to the other end of the tube. Pin the loose end of the elastic to the edge of the tube to make sure you don't have it go inside. Once you've fed the elastic through, pin the sides of the tube together with the elastic sandwiched between and sew through all of the layers. I recommend hand sewing on this part as elastic can be a little difficult to sew on a machine.

Now your petticoat is done! Here's some pictures of how mine turned out:

Without Petticoat

With Petticoat

Let me know if you have any questions about this tutorial and also how it turned out for you. All pictures taken by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Thrift Store Find: Sweet Lolita Skirt

Whenever I visit a thrift store, I like looking through the linnens section to see if there's anything that would look cute as a dress or a skirt. A while ago I found some curtains with a very cute print and ruffles along the edges, so I bought them and made one of them into a skirt. The skirt turned out a bit longer than the ones on my other Lolita dresses, but it's a very nice skirt. I don't wear it very often mainly due to the fact that I don't have a blouse that works well with it. I found one that works alright as long as I pull the skirt waistband down around my hips though. I plan on turning the second curtain into a blouse once I find a pattern that I like.
 I'd run out of waistband elastic at the time I made the skirt, so I instead used a ribbon I had lying around. It turned out very nicely.

All images were taken by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Poll for Blog Content

Hello everyone!
 I've decided to do a little poll to try to find out what my current readers and any potential readers would like to see more of. To vote, simply leave a comment below. This specific poll will close in two weeks time, April 24th 2013, so I would appreciate it if readers would avoid posting comments after that date. Without further ado, here's the poll!

What would you like to see more of on Anime & Lolita Couture?

• Cosplay tips.
• Lolita looks on a budget.
•  Recipes for cakes and other sweets.
• Tutorials such as for hair and crafts.
• My home made clothing.
• Reviews of clothing and items I have.
• My various cosplays. (I don't have many cosplays to my name as of now.)
• Other stuff. (List your ideas in your comment please!)

 Make sure to leave a comment below telling me what you'd like to see more of. Thanks for your feedback!

Thrift Store Haul: Sewing Project Supplies

Recently I went thrift store shopping at some local stores. Turns out I was pretty lucky! This post is about the supplies I got for making more Lolita clothing for myself. It's always fun looking through thrift stores. You never know what you can find! This is just a little bit of the things I've gotten from thrift stores in the past. Here's what I got (minus one item since I neglected to take pictures before I started sewing):

In all I got several yards of eyelet lace and a white Eyelet fabric, a bit over a yard of lace elastic, and a new zipper to replace one in a cute skirt I got a few years ago. It was all very inexpensive, especially the eyelet lace which is usually very expensive at craft and fabric stores. Here's some closer pictures:

I'm planning on using both the lace and fabric on a new dress. Now I just need to find a pretty light blue fabric, decide on the design, and get some patterns to make it!

The lace elastic is very pretty. It's a bit too thin for using in skirts or fabric petticoats, but it's nice for sleeves and light weight petticoats.

I intentionally got a zipper that was a bit longer than I needed, so I just cut off the extra before sewing it in. Unfortunately I cut off a bit too much so now I need to put a hook and loop at the top of the zipper.

I'll make sure to do an entry once I make the dress I'm planning on with the lace and fabric. All pictures were taken by me and that's me wearing my skirt. Creative cell phone camera mounts and timers FTW! If you wish to use any of my pictures, please receive permission from me first. Check me out on Twitter.

Home Made Pajama Pants

A while back I decided to make myself some pajama pants using some Hello Kitty fabric  I had left over from my Hello Kitty lawn chair that my parents made for me years ago. I used the bloomer pattern I had gotten from Miss Carlyfornia that I've used several times in past projects. I'd run out of waistband elastic, so I used some pretty white ribbon I had laying around instead. I plan on making a button hole modification on them later so that the ribbon can come out of the front instead of flipping the bow over the top of the pants like I currently do. Here's some pictures of them!

Computer Generated Videos

This is slightly off from my main interests, but recently I've picked up an interest in computer animation. I've started using Blender to sculpt characters and put bones, or armatures, into those characters. I haven't started animating these characters yet, but you can view some animations that one of my friends has made using Blender here:
http://www.youtube.com/ninjaobsessed

I have also been using a program called Miku Miku Dance, or MMD for short. It is a free promotional program to try to get more people interested in buying the Vocaloid software, which uses computer generated voices to sing to your own music. Unfortunately, the only computer I have that MMD works on runs really slowly when I'm trying to use MMD. Currently I am trying to figure out how to import the character files from MMD, pmd files, into a format that is usable in Blender so I can more easily animate the Vocaloid characters.

If you are interested in using either Blender or Miku Miku Dance, here are the download links. Both programs are free to download and use and many resources can be found for them on the web.

Blender:
http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/

Miku Miku Dance:
http://www.geocities.jp/higuchuu4/index_e.htm

Enjoy!

My new Cloud Cosplay

For those of you who are Final Fantasy VII fans, you will most likely recognize Cloud as the main character in the series. For those of you who aren't Final Fantasy VII fans here is a description of the character:
 Cloud is the main character in the Final Fantasy VII series. He is a former member of SOLDIER, the army in the game, and now works as a mercenary who works about any job. At the beginning of the game Cloud is hired by a rebel group called AVALANCHE that works to undermine a large corporation called Shinra Inc. that is monopolizing all of the power in the world. As the game progresses, Cloud is caught up in a struggle to prevent all of the energy being sucked out of their planet. Cloud's weapon, usually called a buster sword, is a giant sword taller than he is, and he must use it to battle many enemies during his adventure.


For those of you familiar with the series and those of you who have looked up pictures, you are probably expecting an epic soldier-like cosplay. I will admit, it is pretty good, but it's not Cloud's usual outfit. For my Cloud cosplay I chose to do his outfit from Wall Market when he was infiltrating Don Corneo's mansion. For those unfamiliar with the game, at one point fairly early in the game Cloud has to dress up like a girl to get into the mansion of Don Corneo's, the mayor or equivalent in that area, to rescue his childhood friend Tifa and gain information that is crucial to Cloud's quest. Cloud was all for just breaking in, but Aeris, a flower girl he met earlier in the game, suggested that Cloud dress up as a girl so that the two of them could get in and rescue Tifa. Before they could do this though, Cloud has to talk to multiple characters to obtain items such as a dress and a wig to be able to dress up as a convincing girl.


So I've posted some pictures of my outfit at the end of the post so you can see how it turned out. I made all of the outfit except for the boots and that is my real hair, not  a wig. The Cloud face isn't my real face. Finding references for this outfit was a little difficult since the graphics in the game are not the greatest, but I was able to modify and combine patterns that I have to make the dress look the way I wanted it to. I had to come up with a pattern for the sash and the flared part of the sleeves on this outfit and am very pleased with how they turned out. The puffed sleeves look adorable and the skirt turned out to be just the length I wanted it to be. The sword in the last picture was made by one of my friends out of cardboard and duct tape. Please tell me what you think of my new cosplay!

My New Bloomers

This past week I finally had the time to sew a new pair of bloomers. I used the same pattern as for the bloomers I made for my senior project, but I lengthened the legs a bit so that they come down a bit farther. I used the same lace and purple ribbon that I used for my other bloomers since I had some left over from my senior project. I had to take out several seams as I figured out how to make the longer legs properly, but it wasn't very hard for me to figure out how I should sew the legs properly. My bloomers turned out wonderfully! They come down to just above my knees and poof out nicely. Here is a picture:

My Very Own Lolita Outfit

For my senior project, I decided to make a Lolita dress. I'd been wanting a Lolita dress for some time and I was thinking of making one. However, I hadn't had the funds or the motivation to make one. So when the time came to choose my project, I immediately knew what I wanted to do. I originally was thinking of just making a dress, but I knew just a dress wouldn't be enough. So I decided to make a jumper dress, a blouse, a head bow, bloomers, and a petticoat. They all turned out very nicely, despite some difficulties I came across. My mentor, Miss Carlyfornia, helped instruct me in how to make it all. Here are a few pictures of the dress and bloomers.