Handmade hair things

This week I managed to do some crafting and made two different two-way clips! I'm quite happy with how they both turned out ^__^

On Wednesday I had quite a nasty fever, so I stayed home from work. Mostly I played computer games and read, but I was feeling a bit better in the evening so I decided to experiment with making a new style of hair accessory, inspired by some Innocent World ones I've seen with a spray of lace under a bow or flowers. I wanted to do both a both and flowers over the lace, but didn't have any appropriate ribbon so it ended up quite simple with just flowers and lace. I made it in ivory to further plug that accessory lack I noticed.

Then today I decided to try yet another new thing - attaching flowers and things to a felt base which is in turn attached to the two-way clip base. And it turned out wonderfully! It's a bit more OTT than I intended, but given that I just kind of made it rather than going in with a plan I love it. And besides, every girl needs something a bit dramatic for special occasions, right?

I had so much fun making these that I'm definitely going to make more in the future! Possibly the very, very near future...

Lolita Sewing: Green floral skirt and headbow

Over the past two weekends I made myself a new lolita skirt and headbow - the first headbow I've actually ever made! If you think the fabric I used look familiar you'd be right... I took apart the dress I showed here to make this. Why? Because I made that dress a year ago and not only have I never worn it, I've never even wanted to wear it. But I like the green floral fabric so I decided to scrap the JSK and make a skirt I'm actually more likely to wear. And then I had enough fabric left over that I thought I'd try my hand at a matching accessory.

My photos didn't show the colours too well, so I did a lot of fiddling in photoshop to get the colours in the picture above pretty close to real life. I didn't bother so much with the other shots though but it's a really rich hunter green with little brown flowers and light green not-quite flowers.

I based it, design-wise, off my Flower Bottle skirt. I wasn't sure whether I wanted lace at the hem, trim over the ruffle joint, or both, But when I went to Spotlight to buy trim my choice was petty much made for me because this brown gimp braid was the only thing I liked. And I love it! I think both the style of the skirt and the fabric and the trim combine to give it a very mid-to-late 00's lolita vibe, which I rather like.

I'm actually really pleased with the headbow I made. My hand stitching is quite messy on it, but hat's not visible when worn and when worn this is pretty adorable. It's big enough to be noticeable, yet not so big that I feel uncomfortable wearing it. I covered the headband itself with more of the braid, and the bow itself can move along the headband. I may end up making a pair of little hair clips as well because I still have fabric left and there's no reason why I shouldn't.

So there we have it, my most recent lolita sewing adventure. I'm quite happy with how it all turned out, and it's definitely something I can see myself wearing. Have you made anything for your lolita wardrobe recently?

Lolita 52: Plan for a trip! A week's worth of lolita outfits I can fit in a small suitcase

I had so much fun with this! If you've followed my blog for a while you'll have seen some of my "500 dollar wardrobes" where I've developed a formula of clothing items designed with being able to make at least seven outfits. So I followed that formula for this post and it was really successful! Though I did realise afterwards that if I was travelling I'd need to take a bag, but there's still be room in a small suitcase for both a cute handbag and a larger, more practical tote bag.

This is my suitcases's worth of clothing in the end. I didn't picture the second of my pair of boots and as I said, I forgot bags, but this would definitely fit into a small suitcase! I also just realised you'd need to pack at least two pairs of bloomers as well as at least one petticoat, but they'd fit too! In real life, you'd probably have to do a little laundry to keep things fresh, but at the same time you have enough versatile items here that you wouldn't have to be frantically washing things at night just so you have something to wear in the morning.

I decided to make the imaginary trip I travelling for a Spring journey so I could layer but not have to be depending on coats and other warm things, as well as to avoid making a blog post filled with brown, brown and more brown ^__^

To that end, I chose three light coloured main pieces to start with. I followed the rule of my formula and had one jumperskirt, skirt and onepiece with two being patterned and one being a solid colour.

For tops again I followed the formula I'd already devised of two blouses and two outerwear, though I didn't follow the other suggestions I normally make, such as having a neutral blouse with detachable sleeves. However, I think I've covered all my bases with these tops; casual and smart, warmer and cooler.

I also followed my formula for accessories, only modifying it by adding some additional hair accessories in the form of the flowers and having two patterned OTKS rather than one patterned and one plain.

Now that I've shown you what I'm "packing for my trip", let me show you some of the outfits I could wear while travelling. I haven't come up with specific scenarios in which I'd wear each outfit but as you can see I think there's an outfit there for pretty much any location or activity you'd wear lolita to.

Casual and summery, perfect for a hotter day or outdoor activities.

Another more casual outfit, this one good for slightly chillier weather.

This one is probably my favourite outfit and one I would totally wear, it's just so cute with the cream and the pink. Once again it's quite casual but somehow I feel like it's actually quite elegant as well.

Now we're getting into less casual territory, as this outfit incorporates more traditionally lolita aspects with the OTKS and the bolero. Note another good aspect of this bolero - the fancy lace collar can be removed, leaving you with a simple brown bolero.

Then we have the casual-est outfit of all! I really like it though.

Then we spring back from casual to a fancier outfit with lots of textual details which makes it a very eye-catching outfit despite only featuring two colours.

 Lastly, a very straightforward and typically lolita look to round out the week's worth of outfits.

As I was putting together the outfits for this post, I really could have made so many more. I'm not sure if I could have strung it out to two weeks worth without getting repetitive, but I definitely could have put together ten outfits! Which made me really happy, because it means the formula I came up with for building a compact yet versatile lolita wardrobe really can work.

eBay Accessories Haul

This isn't something I'd normally share, but since I posted my wardrobe goals for this year I also want to share whenever I achieve any of them. And I recently got some ivory and blue accessories off eBay, amongst other things.

As you can see, I got lots of cute things! The cherry clips were cheap and adorable, and given that I wear lace topped ankle socks to work all the time it was high time to get some more... I did also get pink and black ones but I've already worn them and they're in the wash so they aren't pictured. The brown lace topped OTKS were a bit of a gamble but they seem really nice. I will be tea dying the lace so it's ivory rather than white because I won't wear them with the current colour contrast, but I knew that when I bought them.

I really love eBay for cheap, easy-to-buy accessories. Like any online vendor you do take a risk but I don't think I've ever been disappointed by an accessory item I've bought off eBay.

And yes. I do know that blue and ivory hair accessories were on the "not really important" section of my wardrobe goals for this year, but for only a few dollars per item I figured I wasn't doing anything bad by knocking them off my list first!

Flower Bottle outfits

I really truly have grown to love my little pink Metamorphose Flower Bottle lucky pack skirt. It's cute and casual and surprisingly versatile.

I would like to apologise for the photo quality - I drew back my curtains in a different way to light these than I usually do and didn't realise how blown out they were till I was done. I thought it was a nice artsy bit of lighting, and I do still kind of like it, but I know it knocks about the clarity so yeah. Anyhoo, onto the actual outfits!

Firstly I did something straightforward but a bit quirky, working in my Axes Femme fawn fur vest. I'd wear this in a heartbeat, it's just the right level of casual for me.

Next I tried something dramatically different - navy! I recently salvaged this blouse from some bags of clothes to be donated and after removing the shoulder pads really like it. The print of this skirt has some dark blue in it, so it's not a complete stretch. I actually really like how this works, though it is a bit too contrast heavy for my tastes.

Then I came up with my favourite look of the lot, a very classic take on the fairly sweet skirt. Not much to say about this one except, like the first outfit in this post, I would so totally wear it! It's even a bit more dressy than I usually go, which I think is an impressive thing to do with a cute little lucky pack skirt.

Wardrobe Goals for 2016

After completing my wardrobe post, I’ve identified a few gaps in my lolita wardrobe that I want to fill. As I also want to try to spend less on lolita this year, I figure that getting a proper list of priorities together (and sharing it publicly!) will help. I'm gonna try to stick only to buying things from this list!

Priority 1 – I really need these

A white short sleeved blouse
An ivory short sleeved blouse
An a-line pettiocat

Priority 2 – I need these, but less urgently

Replace ivory suede heels
Replace bordeaux suede heels
Replace peach suede heels
A black long sleeved bolero
A black short sleeved bolero
A brown short sleeved blouse or cutsew

Priority 3 – These would be nice, but not completely necessary

Blue headwear (beret, flowers, or headbow)
Ivory headwear (beret, flowers, or headbow)
Brand lace-topped OTKS in white, ivory and black
OTKS to match Jurassic Party (lavender or purple with white)
Lavender or purple headbow to match Jurassic Party
OTKS in black with white/grey/silver pattern
OTKS in blue/ivory

As you can see, nothing on this list is main pieces because I don't really have a distinct wishlist. There are lots of things I like, but I'm not willing to pay too much so I don't see the point of saying "I want Sweetie Violet in lavender!" because whenever it does pop up, I'm not willing to pay the asking price so really, what's the point? However, I do have a few "types" of things I want. so I guess I'll put down a "wishlist" of sorts, which isn't just limited to main pieces but also those things that would be great to have but really aren't necessary at all.

Wishlist – I’ll buy these things if they show up at a good price, or maybe make them

An OTT classic OP or JSK
A gobelin coat
A fur, or fur trimmed, capelet
Simpler JSKs appropriate for work
Casual cutsews in red, pink and black-and-white (and maybe even more colours)
Fawn fur items (coat, capelet and shoe toppers primarily)
More patterned/printed blouses

So those are my goals for this year! I'll be really happy if I can get everything in my Priority 1 and Priority 2 list done, and overall it was really good to put down a concrete list of goals and items I want to obtain over the coming year.

Have you made goals for your lolita collection?