Je T'ai Vu Sourire

Hi dolls,

little change of plan: I will announce the winner of the giveaway not tomorrow, but on monday, because I will visit the Polymanga, a manga and anime convention that takes place in Montreux this year, so I probably won't have time tomorrow.
Today, I had a really pleasant afternoon with my dear friend Aya, whom I haven't seen for ages. It was so nice to see her again! So I dolled up a little, of course (^.^)

Outfit rundown:
Hat&skirt: handmade
Alice band: Claire's
Bolero: handmade
Blouse: Innocent World
Lace collar: ebay
Socks&shoes: Bodyline

Last Call

Hi dears,

just a reminder, my giveaway will end this sunday, so it's your last chance to participate!

I also updated my sales (once again), and added a pair of shoes, some jewellery and a lot of fabrics! Check it out if you're interested (^.^)
http://ff-and-ss.blogspot.de/p/sale.html

Corset Vest

Hi my dears,

this weekend, I finished sewing something I've been looking forward to for ages. I started making it two weeks ago, but then didn't have the time to finish it immediately (you see, I can only sew on weekends, and not even every one), but impatient as I am, I was bursting to finally complete it!

As you might know, I love corsets. And I love vests. I think both of them go quite well with Lolita and other styles I admire. So why not combine the two? 

I've seen corset vests before here and there, so I decided to make my own version. It's quite short, so I can wear it with Lolita too. I first thought about making an underbust cut, but this is not very flattering for me, so I went for a more classical vest cut.

I only had to buy the busk (clasp? I'm not sure what it's called in English), the rest I had all in my fabric stock. The dark brown fake leather has been lying around literally for ages, it was too small for a real garment, but too big to throw away. The sand coloured fabric is actually a polyester fabric, but it looks like suede leather. I got it out of a jacket my grandmother gave me, she didn't use it anymore and asked me if I wanted it, so I was glad to take it (^.^). The lace finally is another leftover from a jsk.

I used golden eyelets to match the busk. The ribbon was white originally, so I dyed it with black tea. Like this, the contrast is less harsh. It's not the exact same shade of brown as the rest, probably if I had dyed it with coffee, the result would have been better, but I think it's not too bad like this.

I wanted to make something special for the lining and ended up liking it almost more than the outside (^.^). Normally, I just take a plain cotton fabric for the inside, like IKEA-Bomull, it's cheap and nobody sees it anyways. But some of you might be familiar with the expression Innenschön (an invention by Natron I believe?), and I had these cute pink patchwork fabrics lying around.

And to prove that it goes with Lolita (and because I had the dress and the petticoat with me):

Valse Des Fleurs

Hello my Ladies (and Lords, if present),

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend! I did (^.^)
On friday, I usually don't have any lectures, so this week, I took the opportunity to visit my Lolita friend Lea in Fribourg. Such a beautiful city, I have to go there more often! If you happen to be in the area, it's definitively worth a visit.
I decided to wear a Lolita outfit, matching the almost spring-like weather:

Outfit rundown:
Hat: H&M
Doctor bag: Loris
Fake fur collar & gaiters: handmade
Longsleeve: handmade
Jsk: Last Country
Socks: Bodyline
Shoes: Deichmann

Accessoires:
Sewing machine necklace: handmade
Birdcage necklace & earrings: handmade
Snake ring: Romwe
Cameo ring: handmade
Hair clip used as hat brooch: H&M

Found My Heart On A Sugary Carnival

Hello cuties,

First, an important announcement: this is going to be the 100. post with the tag sewing! That's amazing, right? So if you thought I'm not going to make a big fuss about it, you're completely wrong (^.-)

But hey, I have something else to celebrate, which I'd love to share with you! Ready? There we go:

I had several ideas for the title of this post, and I probably chose the most shallow one. Tant pis. Two years, two months and six days ago, I made a post with a similar title, and today it's the second most read post on my blog (wow!). Back then, still in the beginnings of my Lolita journey, I expressed my admiration for my favourite print: 

Sugary Carnival by Angelic Pretty. 

Although my approach and my tastes in Lolita fashion have changed greatly since then, some things remained the same. According to this, I still wholeheartedly subscribe to what I wrote back then:

I enjoy looking at OTT Sweet Lolitas, with their hair piled up and covered in accessoires. Sugary Carnival therefore is - for me - the incarnation of OTT Sweet itself. This is probably the only brand item with Sweet print I'd really like to have (one day, you know...), I think either in lavender or in black.

Who would have thought, that, one day, these reveries would turn into reality? Me certainly not.

But nevertheless, they did, and today I can announce proudly to be the owner of the OP re-release in black, with matching socks and headbow. I'm sooooo happy, you can't imgaine (^.^)

(By the way, my observant readers might have guessed it after reading my next-to-last post, I hinted it a little).

So, altogether oblivious of the fact that I just had spent my whole budget on this dress, I decided that, in order to wear it with dignity, I needed some more accessoires. 

The first that sprang to my mind was the infamous Magical Pony Bag by Angelic Pretty, which is often seen coordinated with the print. I like ponies, and I like the idea of a pony as a handbag, but I really don't like AP's interpretation.

It's creepy, right? It's creepy as fuck, especially with these closed eyes. I mean, come on, AP, you can do that better!
Anyways, I thought I definitively can do that better (she said that so humbly). As I never made a plushy from scratch beore, I decided to buy one and turn it into a bag. When I saw this little fellow, I fell in love immediately:

It's face is sooo cute!
The biggest problem was that it was in a lying position, whereas I wanted it to stand. So I had to take most of its body apart, cut new pieces hoping it would turn out as I imagined and sewing it back together, thereby adding pink and shocking pink fleece fabric, which match the print quite well.
I sewed a lot by hand, and I think it turned out not too bad. Or what do you think?

The head is only supported when there is something in the bag, otherwise it hangs a little sadly. This is not a big problem as I tend to stuff too many thing in my bags anyways.

The reins are made of hear-shaped plastic beads, arranged in a rainbow (*.*)

It's sooo fluffy (^_^).

On the saddle, I used a heart-shaped ornamental stich to add some detail. Yes, my sewing machine provides it, isn't that amazing? I made the saddle towards the end, if I had thought about it earlier, I would have adorned more pieces, like the hoove parts...

I also had fun adding lots of bows everywhere (^.^)

I know, people could say it's a replica (I can already hear them scream). Yes, formally, it's a replica. And yes, I'm against this kind of thievery, because it can really hurt a fashion label. But (yes, there's a but), I'm not going to sell it, I won't make any profit out of it. I just made it for myself. So I hope the Lolita gods and Mana will stretch a point here.

Anyways, after that, I turned towards more crafting activities and made another matching headbow, a necklace and some bracelets:

For the headband, I made double bows with the fleece fabric, added a mini my little pony and glued the whole thing on a headband. First, I wanted to make only hair clips, but then decided that a headband would be more convenient.

Also for the necklase, I used a mini my little pony and the same hear-shaped beads I already took for the bag.

So, that was it with the long post, congratulations if you made it until here!

The question remains, when am I going to wear all this crap? For the nex meet-up, of course! I'm really looking forward to it, as I'll see a lot of dear people again, and coincidentally it coincides with my birthday, too! So this just has to be a great day, right? Let's just hope it won't be raining, because then I'll have a big problem...

My Little Zombie Pony

Hi dolls,

just a little outfit post for today. I really like this t-shirt (^.^)

Outfit rundown:
Hat, tights: H&M
Blouse: R-series
Bolero: handmade
T-shirt: Darkside
Skirt: Dear Celine
Shoes: Deichmann

Chocolates & Cupcakes

 Hi my dears,

according to the post title, one could think I've been standing in the kitchen during the weekend. Far wrong - I did some sewing!

There is to need and to need; some of you might know what I'm talking about. For example, the part of my brain which is in charge of my reward centre tells me that I absolutely need the Sugary Carnival Op by Angelic Pretty.
However, every time I pack my bag to visit my mum (which is almost every weekend), the universe tells me that what I actually need is a toilet bag.

So I dug into my fabric pile and found some leftover fabrics that went quite well together.

Those who remember the very beginnings of this blog probably recognise the chocolates fabric. I made a bag out of it back then (I still carry the bag around quite often), and as I was so in love with the print, I kept the rest of the fabric, luckily!

In order to combine it with the checked fabric (can you spot it?), I joined them with white piping. 

And, as for the lining, I still had some mint green cupcakes fabric lying around. Like this, it's also pretty and cute on the inside (^.^)

What We Remember Becomes Folklore

Hi dolls,

currently, there's not too much of interest happening in my life... I have a lot of ideas what I could sew, but unfortunately I'm stuck with university I have the chance to go to school and learn a lot of interesting things, which takes up most of my time. 

However, I have two outfits to share with you!

The first is from Tuesday, I haven't worn this blouse for ages, but I really like the colour - it's quite unusual. As it was also freezing cold (again - I thought spring was coming?!), I coordinated it with this mint knitted sweater. So cozy!

Outfit rundwon:
Hat, tights: H&M
Blouse: New Yorker
Sweater: Tally Weijl
Skirt: handmade
Shoes: Vögele Shoes

The second outfit is from today, I felt like wearing something cute and simple. I made also a second attempt with curling my hair using the headband method I mentioned earlier. I think curls go quite well with the dress (^.^) and yes, this hat is my favourite accessoire at the moment!

Outfit rundown:
Hat, tights: H&M
Dress: handmade
Shoes: Bodyline

Did you already subscribe to my giveaway? If not, do it now! (^.-)