Mermaiding and Sweet Lolita Fashion!
I recently got some nail pens and have been going to town with them! Giving them a bit of a rest now as I hate chipped nails and as soon as a single chip appears, I rip the rest of it off, looking to get a peel-base here soon in order to be kinder to my nails.
I really enjoy doing my nails myself as I do martial arts and am a fairly athletic person, long nails just aren’t practical, b it having my nails done always just makes me feel 100% more productive.
I’ve been working out more and have two yoga mats, one of them I lost the strap for and found a cute way of upcycling a scrap of lace I had.
Here’s the strap I sort of copied to make mine
I wrapped the elastic around the yoga mat to get the elastic length, then I laid my lace against the hanging part of the strap to get that length.
I hand stitched the two loops here.
I used a blanket stitch to keep it from fraying.
I sewed a square of stitches to join the lace and elastic, on the side of the raw edge of the lace I used a blanket stitch, and I used a backstitch on the other sides of the square.
My new yoga mat strap!
Current Project I am working on
I am still working on the basic reconstruction of my Tardis skirt in January. In january I did complete the deconstruction and my first draft reconstruction. I hated it and took it apart again. I currently fixed the shirring panels and am currently working on adding a blanket stitch edge finishing to the raw edge that will be hidden in the top of the skirt so that if I choose to realter my skirt in the future the moss crepe will not unravel, as it had already started to fray after being deconstructed twice for this project. I also plain on replacing the bronze buttons with steam punk gears
Plans for this Month
Me getting through this pile has been an incredible slow process so I think I need to start prioritizing some faster fixes in order to make more space on my craft table. So I am making a list to hopefully get through this month while I work on that big time project
1.) Reattach the bow to my gold tea parties cause I keep thinking I lost them
2.) Repair the button on my wine colored blouse since Valentine’s day is coming up and the red blouse would be ideal for those coords
3.) Repair the lace on my strawberry skirt as it requires no alterations and is a simple repair.
4.) Fix my pokemon hairclips with hotglue
1.) Keep your needles and pins sharp
The little strawberry is for sharpening pins and needles!! I have been sewing for years but just recently learned this. It’s very simple to use you just stab the strawberry repeatedly until your needle or pin is to your desired sharpness. This helps with sewing thicker things like ruffles or multiple layers of fabric
2.) Finish Off Edges
I find you can create a finished raw edge by doing a blanket stitch to prevent fraying it has been a godsend when altering clothing by hand.
It works similarly to crochet to finish the edge.
3.) Skip Using Pins for more complicated projects
Well, you’ll still need to use pins at first but I hate accidentally stabbing myself or having slipping pins so one thing you can do especially if you know you’re sewing project will take some time is to set the pins and take the time to tack the fabric together with a different colored thread where the pins are, then remove the pins. Then sew as normal and remove the colored thread.
4.) Use a Kitchen Knife Honing Tool to Save Fabric Scissors
If you’re like me and use your fabric scissors for things better left for a box cutter your scissors might need some TLC but not all is lost. You can use a honing rod to bring your scissors back. This does require a lot of patience though. You will need to take the scissors apart and sharpen each blade individually.
Well this year my wishlist is to travel literally anywhere!! But here are some short term and long term places I want to go
1.) Japan, specifically Tokyo
I don’t know any Lolita who doesn’t want to visit harajuku at least once in their life but I also really like anime as well so I feel like I would be doubly excited. As I’m still getting my life set up right now this won’t happen this year but once my finances are settled I want to start planning this
2.) Montreal
I have been trying to go to Montreal since I got my enhanced license! Unfortunately whenever there’s been an opportunity I’ve been working, or a pandemic hit. I desperately want to go and have some hope that if this pandemic clears up I may be able to go this fall
3.) Paradiso
I have my ticket for it in June, I hope either it gets postponed again or the pandemic is gone by then. I am so excited and even bought a special dress for the occasion last year
4.) San Francisco
This is so I can go visit the two brand stores in the U.S. plus I’ve never been there!
5.) Disneyland
I really want to go to Disneyland Lolita Day one of these years! It looks amazing and fun!
I was browsing through the egl memories section when I saw someone talking about making a shrinky dink bangle to match an Angelic Pretty JSK and I decided to try my hand at making a necklace pendant to match my Bodyline Bunny Cinderella skirt
I spent a good 2 hours trying to replicate this bunny!
The original bunny herself! Upon closer inspection I was surprised her lineart is brown! It did make drawing the Shrinky Dink a lot easier
The result! I’m quite happy with how it turned out! I encourage you all to give it a try!
Silver is a very elegant accessory and if you like lolita fashion there is a high chance that you like other fine things that exist in life. I personally has received a lot of silver as gifts in my life long before I was a lolita. Looking back it’s not at all a surprise that I am doing my best to be a lifestyle lolita now. I’m currently updating my childhood room as I am stuck at my house instead of college due to current events and since I’ll be here for at least another six months before I move out. I’m working on lolifying my room. But first my room needs to be clean and organized. I took some time to polish 3 silver gifts I received in the past. Here’s the before photos of the gift box I received from my late Nana
So I used a recipe for diy silver polish from good housekeeping that’s 1/2 baking powder and 1/2 water to create a paste then I used a toothbrush I sacrificed to cleaning to take care of the silver. As a warning this takes a lot of patience if you don’t regularly polish your silver.
Here’s the finished result!
I’m really proud of my silver and it brightens my day when I see it!
Luna By The Lake With Cake 