Tutorial Time: Thick Waistband Loli-able Skirt

I will hereby call my Sewing posts as Instinctive Sewing because I have near-zero sewing background. I pretty much sew and draft patterns by instinct! Except for the patterns they taught in 5th grade TLE–basic shirt, skirt and shorts, all of which we never sewed anyway…just patternmaking, really boring tbh–I have no real formal lessons with sewing. It’s always been a long, hit-and-miss thing with me. I have been trying to sew since circa 2009. I’ve only recently gotten the hang of it. Almost five long years!

Anyway today I thought I’d share with you all how to make my recent loli-able skirt. It was a skirt I sewed mid-late-2013 and I’ve recently decided to ‘redux’ it. I haven’t taken enough proper photos as this wasn’t intended to be a how-to when I was  taking photos, just a chronicling, but I did try my best to illustrate the pattern and describe it all with my best! Read more for rough pattern and directions. ^^;;

Quick and Easy: Fabric Painting with Stencils

Quick and Easy (and cheap too xD) time this week! Today we deal with something every costumer or cosplayer had probably thought of–fabric painting. Sometimes characters wear clothes with specific patterns that can’t be readily found in fabric stores. I’m going to run everyone very quickly to a technique I use–making and using stencils for fabric painting. ^^

Yuffie was my first ever cosplay way back 2010. So very sorry for the blurry photos, our cameras were a no-go back then. xD She has very specific floral patterns on her shirt that I did using this technique.

You’ll need some paper, cutters, a pen, a brush, and your acrylic or fabric paint. That and your reference photo. And that’s really all you need. ^^

Dessert Time at The Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

Time for the off-topic non-craft cute stuff! ❤ Today I’m sharing photos from The Vanilla Cupcake Bakery. Joey and I went to have desserts there after his first meet-up sale for his up-and-coming shop called “The Friendly Panda”. It’ll specialize on chibi magnets and other cute little items. I treated him to some cupcakes to celebrate the start of this new business! We passed by The Vanilla Cupcake Bakery and it looked too cute to resist!

Short Post: My Personal Space

A few months back–probably around January–I started putting photos on the “wall” (really the backs of some cabinets) right beside my work table so I could look up to something for inspiration while working. I wanted to remember good times, and recall the reasons why I work so hard.

Around January, with the work not even half-done.

I think looking up to something, having a pretty space with things that inspire you–is a key to being more productive. I like to remember why I work, why I dabble in the crafts, and look at things that make me happy. An organized space with reminders of things and people you love, and goals you’re working for, really helps.

I started working on the “wall” collage after these Choo Choo Cat postcards I ordered finally came in the mail. I love these kitty-can characters and I think looking at something cute really helps lift your mood up!

Quick and Simple: How to Make a Polymer Clay Cookie

This is Quick and Simple week, and today I’m going to show everyone how to make a chocolate-chip cookie out of Polymer Clay. You can use this cookie for your Sweet Lolita / Decora / Sweets deco projects and get-ups.

Wig Review: Alpaca

Sooo last May I joined another Taobao batch on Dolly House and got myself an Alpaca wig, for my C.C. cosplan. I’ve browsed through other stores first, but found that they are either out of stock (Grand Young, Fantasy Sheep) or (2) lean towards a neon-green hue, which is never flattering on anyone. In my quest I narrowed down my choices to Alpaca… or CC Kids, since I’ve seen a C.C. cosplayer use that wig brand and it looked pretty nice color-wise, albeit looking a bit thin (but hey, it was way cheaper).

I went for Alpaca instead since I’ve been crushing on the brand ever since I saw it, and I’ve heard good things about them. I placed my order for this wig:

Tutorial: Antlers made with Clay

Hey everyone! Here on my next tutorial, I’m gonna share how I made the last antlers commissioned from my shop, Three Smitten Kittens. Antlers are perfect for certain characters, for Halloween, or if you wanna dress up in Mori forest-girl fashion. Pair it up with a floral crown and it’s peeerrrfect.

 

The finished product as worn by my client, Ms. Ady. Credits to the photograper.

Quick and Simple: Fabric Hair Candies

In today’s quick and easy blog post, I’m here to quickly run everyone down making fabric hair candies! They’re perfect for Sweet lolita, and make a unique hair accessory too outside of Lolita. The best part is they’re fairly easy to make!

Quick and Simple: Lolita Bow Tutorial

It’s been a while since I posted! Thanks to everyone, the shop, Three Smitten Kittens, is as busy as a bee. We’ve also opened our Etsy store and the sales are doing nice so far, so all my thanks to everyone! But now I’ve decided to take a short break for crafting to share this absolutely quick, absolutely simple tutorial for Lolita bows.

Taobao Tuesday: Cute Fabrics through DHS Taobao Service

FOR ALL COSPLAYERS and Japanese fashion enthusiasts, we all know of Taobao, the Chinese marketplace that seems to have everything we want for sale. Cosplay wigs, otaku items, Lolita dresses–all dirt cheap. It can be a challenge to purchase from Taobao though, as you would need a Chinese Bank Account and even then, shipping costs can be frightening. And still, even then, there are Customs taxes to deal with. Enough to discourage me from wanting to try out purchasing!

But then one of my trusted shops, Dolly House Shoppe (DHS), opened a Taobao Shopping Service group. Hallelujah! A chance to try out Taobao Shopping. In this blog post I’m going to rate my experience with the DHS Taobao Service. And then of course rate the fabrics that I purchased from a certain Taobao shop. (Click here to see the shop!)

 

Fabrics I bought through the DHS Taobao Service