How to Make a Uchiwa fan

 Hey everyone! Today I'll be showing you how to make a cute uchiwa fan. You may remember seeing one in a past tutorial I did and my promise to make a tutorial. Took a lot longer than expected due to sorting and editing the pictures I took after the fact. Here's a picture of my first fan:

Materials:

• Cardboard box (a cereal box or pancake mix box will work)
• Attached chopsticks (the ones that are separated won't work)
• Glue (One that dries clear to avoid mistakes showing)
• Scissors (regular ones and fabric scissors depending on your covering material)
• Clips (either binder or clothes ones can work. Wood ones can stick to glue though)
• Compass (the ones for drawing circles)
• Ruler
• Paint, nail polish, or whatever you wish to paint the handle with
• Cloth, paper, a plastic bag, or whatever you wish to have for the cover of your fan
• Ribbon or bias tape to cover the edge
• Decorations (lace, ribbon, rhinestones, charms, etc.)

Let's start off by painting the handle so it has time to dry before we need it. Using paint or a nail polish that goes along with the cover for the fan you're using, paint the chopsticks leaving a bit unpainted at the top so you can hold it while painting (see image below). Let this dry. If you used a matte paint and want the handle to be glossy (recommended to avoid splinters) go over the handle with a clear nail polish after the original paint has dried. Let this dry completely.

Leave room so you don't get paint on yourself!

Yay for creative drying racks!

While the handle is drying, cut along the seam of the cardboard box you're using and open it up (see image below). Determine the size of the box along the shortest part of the front or back of the box. Set your compass to half this measurement and make the largest circle you can.

Now, turn your circle into an oval by shifting the compass over a bit and drawing another curve outside the circle. I recommend using a ruler to make sure the sides are even (see image below).

Cut this out, then place it on the other side of the box. Trace a rough outline using the first oval as a template. cut this rough oval out, then line the other one up with it and cut to match. Once you have the ovals cut out, it's time to start assembling the fan. Start by figuring out how much handle you want showing. I held the handle about where I wanted to hold it when it was done and positioned the cardboard accordingly (see image below). Mark the cardboard at the sides and the top of the handle so you can place it properly later.

Leave a little extra room above  your hand.

Working quickly, spread a thin layer of glue over both cardboard ovals. I used a brush for more even spreading. Place the handle in the outline you marked an spread glue on its other sides. Sandwich the handle between the two cardboard ovals. Place clips on both sides of the handle, on both ends of the oval, and across from the handle to keep everything together. Place clips around the rest of the fan's edge while the glue dries (see image below).

After the glue has dried, remove the clips and do any touch up gluing necessary. Time to cover up the cardboard! Place your fan on top of the material you'll be covering it with and mark an outline slightly bigger than the size of the fan. Cut two of these out and proceed to glue the first side on. Glue it on in sections instead of all at once to make it easier to smooth out the material as you work. Since I used fabric for this fan, I folded over the excess fabric round the edge of the fan. You can skip this step and just trim off the excess if you use an opaque ribbon or trim for the edge of the fan. While waiting for the edge to finish drying, I started playing around with my decorations to determine how I wanted to arrange them (see image below).

Once you decide on the decorations, start gluing them on. If you have multiple layers in one place, glue each layer separately to keep it from getting messed up. Also, be careful when gluing lace and other such fabrics to not let it dry too long or the clip could get glued on too and damage the material when you take it off. Now you're finished!

The finished fan.

You can make all sorts of different sized fans by using larger or smaller boxes. For small fans, use a popsicle stick instead of the chopsticks and cut or break off any excess. Have fun!

My fans thus far.

All pictures were  taken by me unless otherwise noted. Please ask permission if you wish to use them. I'm on Twitter now! @animlolicouture

Decorate a Mini Notebook (Or Any Notebook)

 Please be warned: this article has multiple images and may take a while to load fully for slower connections. I recommend stopping the page from loading once the text is visible and then individually loading the images as you get to them.

A little while back, my mom found some nice little notebooks at a crafts store and offered me one. When I first got it, I saw that it was a very plain little notebook, obviously intended to be decorated. Here's a tutorial on how I decorated my notebook. This can also be done with a full sized notebook as well if you want.

Materials:

• Notebook to decorate
• Colorful/patterned paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Decorations such as metallic tape or rhinestones

Start by cutting out pieces from the paper that are large enough to cover the notebook covers with a bit of excess on each edge (see image below).

After cutting out the paper, glue it to the covers and trim off the excess. If your notebook is spiral bound like mine, trim the paper as close to the binding as possible, or place the paper close to the binding while gluing it on. Make sure the glue is spread evenly over the notebook surface so you don't have any bumps. I use either the tip of the glue bottle or a cheap plastic paintbrush to spread the glue around. Make sure to wipe off any excess glue before it dries.

This next step is optional for if you use a notebook with a spiral binding. Cut a rectangle of paper big enough to cover the spiral binding and overlap slightly over the paper with the part of the cover with paper on it (see image below).

Glue this in place at the edges where it overlaps. Don't glue too close to the binding since you still want to be able to open the notebook fully and flip the cover under if needed. To cover the seam between the two pieces of paper, I used a strip of metallic tape (see image below right). Make sure to measure out how much tape you'll need before cutting it and add a bit of extra tape to make sure it's not too short. You can always trim off excess tape.

Tape in place.

Measuring out the metallic tape.

 





























































Now you can decorate your notebook however you want! I used some glitter to make a little heart on the front as well as a few rhinestones, but you can do whatever you want. You can also do things like overlapping pieces of paper or even fabric if you have a larger notebook. I would have with mine, but it's so small! I still like how it turned out though. ♥


All pictures were taken by me unless otherwise noted. Please ask me for permission if you wish to use any of them. I'm on Twitter now! @animlolicouture

Home Made Hello Kitty Skirt

A while back I made a cute pair of Hello Kitty Pajama Pants out of some left over Hello Kitty fabric I had. I still had a good amount left, so I originally planning on making a matching pajama shirt, but I decided I'd rather have something I could wear outside. So I made a cute ruffled skirt for myself using the leftover fabric and an old elastic waistband I'd saved off of another skirt. Like with my ruffled petticoat, I used a pattern plan instead of a paper pattern. I made this skirt similarly, but with only two layers and different width sections. The fabric was about 45 inches wide, so I cut three sections 6.5 inches long at the full width of the fabric for the lower portion. The top section was made out of three sections about 20 or so inches wide as I was running out of fabric. I assembled the sections in the same way as I did on the petticoat, but attaching the elastic waistband was rather difficult and different. I started by stretching out the waistband so that it matched up with the top edge of the skirt. I then pinned the skirt to the waistband every couple of inches with the help of a friend. while sewing the waistband on, I started at one of the pins, then stretched out the waistband between that one and the next pin so that the fabric wasn't gathered at all. I discovered that the elastic was strong enough to pull the fabric the wrong way through the machine if I didn't pull it through as I went. Here's how the finished skirt looks:

It ended up a little shorter than I would have liked, but I can easily wear a pair of leggings underneath to prevent any problems.

All pictures were taken by me unless otherwise noted. I'm on Twitter now: @animlolicouture

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.

Metallic Nail Art Tutorial

Please be warned that this post has quite a few images in it. If you have a slow internet connection I suggest you stop the page loading once you can see the text, then load the pictures individually as you come to them.

Time for another  tutorial, this time for nails. This look was inspired by Michelle Phan's Metallic Knight makeup tutorial. Let's get started!

What you'll need:
A sparkly nail polish as well as a base and top coat
Metallic tape in silver or a silver metallic pen (You can find the metallic tape at a crafts store and the pen at an office supply store)
Rhinestones (Tiny ones work best)

First off, you'll want to start with clean nails without any rough edges. I filed my nails so that they're rounded, but you can also do this with squared off nails. You can also use fake nails as this would make application of the decorations a bit easier. Start by applying a base coat on your nails. This helps the polish last longer.

Now apply a sparkly colored nail polish, one coat if it's more opaque or two to three if it's a more translucent polish like mine. I used a jade colored polish here, but you could also use any other jewel tone. I recommend against using a gold or silver polish as this will make the stripes we will be putting on next not show up as well.

Now start cutting off pieces of the metallic tape that are a bit longer than your nail at the angle you wish to place the stripes at. Cut these pieces into thin strips (see image below) and then cut them to fit comfortably on your nail. I found that cutting the ends at angles made the strips fit better on my nails. Be careful while you cut out the strips. The tape had a tendency to slip off of its backing on one side of the scissors while I was cutting mine.

 Arrange the strips of metallic tape and rhinestones on your nails in a striped pattern. Make sure to leave the backings on the tape until you know how you want them to look (see top image below). To attach the metallic tape, just remove the backing and press onto the nails. It helps if you have a layer of polish on that's not quite dry yet so the tape will stick a bit better. Put a dot of polish anywhere you want to put a rhinestone and apply them with a pair of tweezers or with your fingers if you want (see bottom image below). Push the rhinestones into the positions you want them in if you haven't placed them quite right.

Arranging the metallic strips

Adding rhinestones

 Keep repeating this pattern for all of your nails. I decided to only do every other nail with the tape on it and I only did rhinestones on two nails per hand. Mix things up and do a different arrangement on each nail, but it looks best if you keep the metallic tape strips in the same general pattern with the stripes running in the same direction (see image below).

All the stripes run in the same direction.

Make sure to cover everything with a clear topcoat to help it stay on better once you're done. Here's the finished result!

I mentioned above that you can also use a metallic pen in place of the tape, so here's an image with the finished nails using a metallic pen. The metallic pen isn't quite the same effect as the metallic tape, but it still looks nice. If you have a nail art brush you could also use a silver nail polish to paint on the stripes.

I hope you enjoy trying out this tutorial! Michelle Phan's tutorials can be found on YouTube. 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.

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!

Loliable Hairstyles: No Bangs

 Please be warned that this post has quite a few images in it. If you have a slow internet connection I suggest you stop the page loading once you can see the text, then loading the pictures individually as you come to them.

 Recently I decided to cut my hair so that I have long bangs that frame my face, but before I did this I was still able to do cute loliable hairstyles with my long hair. Most of the time I'd wear my hair loose, but I came up with a few pretty and creative hairstyles that are easy to do. I've decided to post tutorials of a few of these for those with long, bang-less hair to follow if they choose. My hair curls naturally when I let it air dry, so if your hair doesn't then you might want to curl your hair before styling it or once you finish the look. Even if your hair does curl naturally you can always give your curls a little boost! On to the tutorials!

Simple Clipped

This first style is by far the simplest. Begin by sectioning off a small piece of hair from in front of both of your ears (See image below). 

 

Take both of these strands and pull them around to the back of your head and clip them into place (See image below). Alternatively, you can braid the two sections together and fasten them with a hair elastic.

 Liz Thompson Hairstyle

This hairstyle is based off of that  Liz Thompson's from Soul Eater. I like this style because it gives you the same look as loose hair, but it keeps it out of your face. If you are wearing this style for a Lolita look, you can curl it and add hair accessories. If you are cosplaying Liz Thompson, straighten your hair either with a straight iron or by another method then put your hat on after you finish the style. Start by sectioning off two sections at the front of your hair like in the Simple Clipped style. From here, take each section and tuck it behind your ear (see image below). To make sure it stays in place, you can also criss-cross a couple bobby pins over the strand behind the ear.

Pull the remainder of your hair forward to cover your ears (see image below).

Mini Twist
 I got this idea from one of my friends who showed it to me when I bought a pretty flower clip from her. Start by parting your hair on the side. I chose to do a part on the right side of my head (see image below).

Now, section off a small piece of hair from the side of your part with more hair on it (this would be the left side for me)(see image below).

Next, take this piece of hair and make a small loop in it that rests just above your temple (see image below).

Finally, clip or pin it in place with a decorative pin on hair clip (see image below). It can be a little difficult getting the loop to stay, but you can always criss-cross a few bobby pins over the top and base of the loop before adding your hair clip.

 Faked Bangs Ponytail
 For this hairstyle we will be using sections of our hair to imitate long parted bangs. Begin by coming a section of your hair forward, like you would if you were cutting your own bangs. I already have bangs, so I pulled more of my hair forward than someone without bangs would need to. Take the rest of your hair and pull it back into a low ponytail, but don't put a hair tie on. (See image below.)

For the next step, twist the ponytail and flip it over your head. Clip it in place. I find it works best to clip it at the point where you would position a high ponytail (see image below). I used two smaller clips for this tutorial, but you can also do this with a larger clip. Flatter clips work better than rounder ones. For more stability, you can instead use criss-crossed bobby pins (pin smaller sections of hair instead of trying to pin it all at once). I find this to be more comfortable and longer lasting than using a clip if I'm going to be wearing this hairstyle all day.

Flip the ponytail to the back of your head and position the hair so that the clips or pins are covered (see image below). Your hair will be shorter than usual pulled up this way, so you may want to adjust it slightly. If you want your hair to be longer, take out the clips and then adjust the height of the ponytail. Don't pull it up as high as a high ponytail would go though as this is where you will be clipping the hair. Instead, position the ponytail at least two finger's width (or the width of your clip) down from where you will be clipping or pinning the hair up. I recommend clipping the hair in place instead of pinning it the first time you do this style so you can make adjustments more easily. This way you won't have to take out and put in a ton of bobby pins three or four times before you are satisfied with the length of the ponytail.

For the next step, we will be teasing the undersides of your "bangs" to make them stand up a bit. Alternatively you can use a curling iron or heated curlers to give your "bangs" more volume. Pull the "bangs" up individually and gently tease the bottom four or so inches nearest to your hairline. Fix with hairspray. The finished style should look similar to the image below. If any of the steps are confusing, please leave me a comment below and I will try to clear it up.

If you have any questions or comments about the tutorials, please comment below. I will only be able to do hair tutorials for girls with long hair, but there are many very nice tutorials available on YouTube. Some of my favorites are some of Venus Angelic's more recent ones after she cut her hair. All images are taken by me and are of me. If you wish to use any of my images please receive permission from me first and do not alter them in any way. The fan in the images is one I made myself. Tutorial for it will be coming later on.