Pose! Number 4!

Sorry for the long gap between #3 and #4! There are less popular poses using 4 fingers (unless you count a double victory sign, but I put that under #2!)


"Aye Aye!"


A casual salute is cute for Sailor Lolita, Pirate Lolita, and Military Lolita.


(Photos Googled)

"Angry Cat"
This one is really goofy and fun!

I like to include silly poses and facial expressions because hey, we don't have to take ourselves too seriously all the time!

Do you have any ideas for more poses? I'm all out of ideas for this one ;D Only 2, sorry!

Tiana's Kitchen~Perfect Parfait

Need a quick snack? Want an easy-yet-pretty dessert? Why not try making a parfait?


BABY Parfait Print!! Haha this photo is over a year old :o Anyway, moving on....

A versatile, adaptable dessert, parfaits work for just about any setting. They can be transportable in the right containers. They can be a simple combination of 2 flavors or a complex and elegant display of culinary art. Adjust according to your own tastes, event themes, and layering skill level!


Directions:

Start by putting your cookies in a plastic bag and smashing them:


You can combine 2 or more types of cookies to make unique flavors


*POINT* Try using granola, Oreos, corn flakes, Chex Mix, nuts, or anything else in small, crunchy sizes!

Next, whip up some whipped cream! Adding flavoring or sugar is optional



*POINT* If your cookie layer is quite sweet, don't make the whip layer too sweet or it will become overpowering!

*POINT* Try using yogurt instead! Yogurt is a bit sour and contrasts nicely with a sweet or lightly salty crunchy layer.

Now, for the fun part: layering!

Start with your container. I am using a take-along container that would be nice for a picnic meetup or potluck-style meetup where the parfait needs to travel. Plastic container is resistant to breaking and the lid helps keep everything neat!


Put a crunchy layer about 7mm-10mm thick on the bottom:


Add an equally thick layer of whip:


*POINT* Try not to touch the sides of the container with your spoon in order to keep it neat. Use a smaller spoon if you need to. Touching the sides of the container will leave white streaks that will be seen in the final product :o

Repeat your layers until you reach the top, finishing with the crumbly layer. Add garnishes such as fruit, cookies, chocolate, etc. if you wish. Then put in the refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours


And that's it! This "recipe" is simple enough for children to help out in the kitchen:


If you are having a meetup or party at your home or if you don't need to travel too much with the parfaits, try using wineglasses, shotglasses, crystal goblets, etc. for an extra touch of elegance. If your container is tall enough, you can do layers with three different ingredients such as a cookie-fruit-whip combo. Have fun!

Gothic and Lolita Bible Trend for Spring!

Spring is here! I downloaded the latest Gothic and Lolita Bible, and as I was flipping through the pages, the one thing that stood out to me most was: braids.

Half the models had a braided hairstyle! I love it! Braids keep your hair up without needing much product, heat stylers, or too many bobby pins (depending on the style). It doesn't damage your hair like teasing or heat curling/straightening, but has lots of visual interest. Braids can be fancy or casual, Classic, Sweet, or Gothic, and can work with many lengths and textures of hair.





Braided Pigtails
I like to wear braided pigtails because it is quick and simple. You can make "puffy" braids by pulling on the finished braid to make it looser and wider. I like to wear mini-bows on the ends of my braids in a coordinating color. Braided pigtails with all or some of your hair keeps it out of your face and looks very Country or Classic Lolita!
If your hair is shorter, you can try half-up pigtails by using only the hair from the top half of your hair. The braids will be thinner and longer than using all your hair


Looped Braids
From braided pigtails, you can make looped braids. Bring the ends of the braids up towards either the starting point of the braids, or to to top of your head and secure with a couple of bobby pins. Misako Aoki often wears her hair this way with a beret or a big headbow. It looks very cute and is fairly simple. Experiment with different loop sizes to see what looks best on you!


Braid Buns
Another way variation on the braided pigtails is to wrap them into little buns. This is super cute and would look lovely with Sweet or Classic Lolita


Crown Braid
This style is a little more difficult to do, but still pretty easy. Just braid one or more locks of hair from the base of your neck and wrap it over your head to the other side. Keep in place with a few bobby pins.
Another way to do a crown braid is to French or Dutch braid across your head from one ear to the other. This is a bit more difficult, but with some practice, you can do it!
Vary the thickness of the braid(s) to change up the look. Accessorize with roses, pins, clips, or bows. Or even make a "braid rose" for a unique look! Take a braid and roll it up on itself to create a layered spiral, which is your rose.
Here is a tutorial for making a Dutch braid type crown braid, and shows the braided hair corsage too!


Side Braid
A big side braid looks elegant and romantic. Make it neat or messy. Add some texture by braiding smaller braids into the large main braid, or combine it with a crown braid! This is also very quick to do (unless you are adding many many small braids, of course!)

That's it for the quick write-up on braid styles from the GLB39! Take some time to practice these styles at home :) To finish this off, have a cool hairstyle made of rope braids:

Pretty and PUNK!

Sparkle Stitches~Half-Elastic Waistband

One of my favorite types of waistband is the half-elastic waistband. It allows for some wearing ease and is also very convenient for when the skirt design doesn't allow for a zip opening, but a full-elastic waistband would be too bulky.

In this skirt, there are 2 side pockets so a zip option is out. The skirt has 3 layers of frills so a nice, flat waistband would look more flattering than a gathered one in my opinion.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial!

The hardest part of a half-elastic waistband is the math. You need the skirt to stretch MORE than your hip measure so you can get it on and off, but when relaxed is slightly smaller than your waist measure so it stays on.

I made this skirt a standard size M, so the finished waist will fit 28.5"
Ungathered, the skirt currently measures 70"

Half the finished waist is: 28.5"/2=14.25" Since it is elastic, I will make it a little shorter than that at about 12-13"
Cut the elastic to this length.

The portion of the skirt that will be elasticized is: 70"/2=35"

Make your elastic waistband however long it needs to be (mine is 35"). Iron the raw edges in:


Stitch to the back of your skirt:


Fold over, topstitch, and begin to thread your elastic through. Remember, using a safety pin at the beginning of your elastic makes it much easier! When the end of your elastic is flush with the first end of your waistband, stitch it down to keep it in place:


Thread the elastic all the way through and stitch down the other end:


Now make the fitted portion of your waistband by cutting it to your finished size plus seam allowance (14.25"+Seam Allowance in my example)
Fuse some interfacing (NO seam allowance on the interfacing!) to your fitted waistband to make it lie flat. Iron in all the seam allowances, and pin one end over the open end of your elasticized waistband:


Gather your skirt to your waistband and stitch. Then fold over and topstitch, remembering to stitch over the join from fitted to elasticized waistband!


And you are done! The front of the skirt should look like this:


And the back should look like this:


As always, feel free to leave any questions or comments!

Sparkle Stitches~In Seam Pockets

Hello everybody! I have been quite busy these past few days and apologize for the lack of updates ^^; Apart from school and work, I have also been baking up a storm with my mom's friend twice a week :D Maybe I will share photos from those episodes sometime....

But for now, here is a very simple tutorial on in-seam pockets! I have been meaning to add pockets to my skirts for a long time, but always end up forgetting ^_^;; My Little Bear's Cafe skirt replica has an in-seam pocket, and that reminded me to put this together!

First, you will need to cut out a front and a back for each pocket. I made the fronts of my pockets with the print upside down so you can tell the difference :P In my friends AP Sugary Carnival JSK, the front piece of the pocket (front refers to the piece that is closer to the front of the dress, and the back is the piece the palm of your hand touches when you put your hand in the pocket) is made with plain white fabric and the back only has a strip of printed fabric right at the opening rather than being made entirely with printed fabric. This is done to save on fabric costs, but I find it quite unnecessary!

Click on the photo to make it larger
Make sure it is large enough to get your hand in and out of! And add seam allowance around the edges.

Next, pin and sew the sides of your skirt together, leaving the opening of the pocket unsewn.


Now pin the pocket pieces to the opening RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. Stitch the seam allowances together


Pull the pocket pieces to the inside like so:


Stitch the two pocket pieces together. It really is not necessary to overlock the edges because the shape of the pocket means that most of the edge is cut on the bias and will not unravel. You can overlock it if you wish, but that may create unnecessary bulk and/or a line when pressing


This next part is optional (and a bit difficult to explain) but I decided to stitch the front of my pocket to the seam allowance to prevent it from flipping out or to the back. If you are using your fashion fabric for both the front and back of the pocket, it really won't be too noticeable if the pocket turns out a little. I you aren't, you may want to consider stitching the pocket front to the seam allowance.

This is what the inside of the pocket looks like with the stitching


This is the inside view of the pocket. The solid line is the side seam, and the dotted line is the extra stitching that will keep the pocket from flipping out.

If there are any other questions or comments, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to explain more!

I hope this was helpful to some of you and hope to see more pockets in Lolita!!