Merry Christmas! Taipei Christmas Snaps!

Merry Christmas to all my lovely followers! My family actually doesn't celebrate Christmas here, and it's not actually a big deal (I had a final exam on Christmas Eve....) but some places do still do decorations and big companies do holiday sales~
My mom and I only celebrated winter solstice ;)

I would like to share some Christmas-themed snaps and a wedding proposal my cousins and I stumbled upon. I hope this is a cheerful time for you, Christmas or not, and thank you all for following my blog! If you'd like to share photos of the holiday season in your country, I would really love to see those, too!

First is me and by teddy bear at SOGO, a big department store. The yellow duck is still hugely popular!


Then my cousins and I went to Taipei 101, where different brands had put up trees:



And there were two costumed bears you could take photos with:


A recently renovated place nearby called ATT was also all decorated. I had yet to go to ATT, so we walked around and snapped photos of all the business-funded Christmas decor!




Shoutout to Australia!



There were also some foreigners who I think were performers:


Even Pringles got in on this:


Now, for the lovely marriage proposal we happened across! The hopeful groom-to-be dressed up as Brown, the Line bear sticker:



It was ADORABLE!
So many onlookers! The girl cried and accepted~


Some more random snaps:


Yes, even alcohol companies

I had no idea Disney was doing another movie :o

And on Christmas Eve, we got these at work:


I find this hilariously ironic.

Unfortunately, on Christmas Day, I just went to work, went to class, and actually out of class an hour late!! It's not even Christmas here in Taiwan any more, but I hope the rest of you enjoy it!

Does your country or your family celebrate Christmas or any other winter holidays?

Bunny Cell Phone Pouch

Hooray for the second installment in the English Gothic and Lolita Bible sewing tutorials! I chose an easier-looking project, the cell phone case from the final volume, and am happy to report that it is fairly easy to make and customize.

Materials:
*20cm faux fur fabric
*15cm fusible interfacing (I did not use it)
*35cm of 24mm-wide ribbon (optional)
*2 eyes
*stuffing
*black embroidery floss
*decorations

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 90 minutes


Directions:
1) Cut out all your pieces. Keep in mind the direction of the fur! I like to trace all the pieces on the back of the fabric before cutting so I can double-check to make sure the fur is going the way I want. I suggest using a box-cutter or other type of small blade to cut the fur fabric from the BACK to avoid having bits of faux fur flying around as you would have if cutting with scissers. Cut through the woven back layer, leaving the fur as uncut as possible.
Note: keep your ears and arms separate! They look similar and it is easy to confuse them. (The rabbit ears and arms, not yours!)

2) Stitch the head pieces together. Stitch the two halves of the face (front) down the center, and then the two halves of the back down the center. This will give you two circular pieces. Also stitch your arm and ear pieces together so you end up with two arms and two ears.

3) Pin the ears to the face (front) right-sides together with the ears pointing DOWN so the seam allowances line up with the face piece seam allowance like so:

This ensures that when you stitch and turn the head, the ears will stand UP.

4) Stitch the face and back of the head together, leaving the neck open for stuffing later. Turn the head right side out and it should look like this:


5) Stitch the body pieces together. It took a bit of careful eye-straining to figure out how the body was supposed to look based on the photo in the mook (white on white really doesn't show up well!) and messed up at first. The seam should be running down the center front and center back. It is clearer just to show the picture:

Then roll down the top and stitch it down so the top edge is finished.

6) Stuff the bunny head and embroider a face and eyes (or use buttons.) Stitch the neck closed.

7) Stitch the arms and head onto the front of the body by hand. I think the arms would look nicer if they were stuffed too, so you could try it! I found that the placement of the head should not be right at the top edge, but rather flat against the front in order to keep the bunny from having a strangely long neck:


In the profile picture you can see how the head is lower down on the front of the body.

Optional:
Decorate with ribbons, crystals, embroidery, etc.
Add a ribbon handle to help keep the cell phone pouch closed, as the head weighs it down unevenly
Add a button and elastic closure to keep it closed
Make a little bunny tail to stitch onto the back
Add wire armature inside the arms so you can pose them
Use microfiber cloth to make a lining so your phone screen gets cleaned while it is in the bunny pouch

As always, thanks for following and be sure to leave any comments or questions below! Thank you!