Bows, buns, buys oh my!

This last weekend I went camping with my friends at one of their farm properties. It was such a beautiful setting! There was a giant grassy hill that I spent many hours rolling down! It was a fantastic weekend- sadly most of the photos only group shots of me and my friends, and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate me smacking them up here on my blog haha.

Here's a nice shot of the aforementioned hill! By the end of the weekend, that grass was a lot flatter!

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For the weekend, I wore just camping-suitable attire- so no photos haha! But today I wore this for a lazy day about the house.
Later this week I'll try to take up Fern & Fawn's monthly challenge of incorporating roses into my outfit!

Shirt; EzyBuy・ Overdress; Supre ・ Pants; Thrifted・ Shoes; Thrifted・Socks; Glassons・ Bow; Bodyline・ Necklace; Wonder Rocket

I've also found a great solution to making easy buns (hair buns that is)! Surprisingly, it is by using a sock! Who would've thought! If you have trouble with topknots, try this as an alternative, and see if it works! I just discovered it today, but I can already tell it's a (strangely) useful thing to know. Being Lovely blog tells you how to do it here (or click the image below).

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I haven't done much shopping recently. Most of my new clothing has been through sewing, which I will talk about a bit later! However, I've been keeping my eye out for some good deals about the place!

Left to Right:

• CottonOn lace trim cardigan for $10- thin, but good for Spring and late summer!
• Farm print leggings for $8- these are very warm, so I'm keeping them for the winter
• Frilly mini skirt for $5- I'm not one to wear miniskirts, but the fabric really got to me haha
• Trelise Cooper stain glass window necklace for $20- I'm a big fan of Trelise Cooper's clothing, and this would make a good accessory for a dolly kei inspired outfit I think! The chain is slightly reminiscent of a rosary.

Here's one of the sewing projects I worked on last week (again from my darling Pochee magazine! :P )

It's a pair of shorts and a wrap around skirt, that can be made into two different kinds of salopettes simply by pinning a front bib onto them- so in theory, I have 4 different wardrobe pieces! I only had just enough fabric to make them both, so I have to be very economical! 

Pro tip- make sure you put pattern pieces in a safe place where you won't mistake them for scrap fabric... (╥_╥)

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How has everyone been lately? (✿◠‿◠) The summer here so far has been terrible! Barely any sunny days to speak of! 

I'll update with an inspiration post and rose-theme outfit later this week! 

Thanks for reading!☆

Simple Headband Tutorial

(I was going to post more of the mori meme, but this tut took up a lot of space, so I'll save them for another post!)

Today I present to you... *drumroll*

Simple Headband Tutorial!

It's based off of a pattern in my Pocheé magazine, but because I couldn't read all of the instructions, I made my own!

Hopefully these instructions are clear enough- don't hesitate to ask if you have any problems! 

Also, here's a quick outfit shot with the headband!

Headband; See above! :P・ Shirt; Thrifted ・ Dress; Thrifted ・Tights; Columbine ・ Shoes; Thrifted

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Also, of recent, I've been obsessed with 1960s/1970s Japanese music. It definitely brightens my day- and I hope it brightens yours too! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Thanks for reading! ♥

The Meme Continues...

Hello again!

Finished my dress a few days ago! I apologise for the quality of image in this post- I couldn't find my tripod! 

The sewing itself was very easy, and I was able to do it without having to understand the Japanese, but I had a few issues with cutting out the pattern (I couldn't tell whether seam allowance was included or not! ノД｀Overall though, I am very happy with the result! Initially I was just going to have the dress completely plain, but I found some cotton lace ribbon and I though it suited well!

Throughout this summer I hope to make more clothes (I've already finished a pair of shorts as well!), and hopefully post some tutorials on here. Keep checking back to see if I've actually kept my promise! ●´ω｀●

Here's a little outfit with the dress- I'm really happy with the length of it! (Again- sorry for the image quality! Taking this photo involved a balancing act with lots of boxes...)

 Hat; Dotti・ Shirt; Thrifted ・ Dress; Handmade ・Scarf; Gift ・ Socks; Columbine・ Shoes; Thrifted・ Necklace; Gift

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Day 3 – 10 things you hate in mori.

Not much at all! Although, there are misconceptions about the mori girl 'style' that grind my gears a bit.

1. The idea that everything must be beige and have ruffles and be layered. I love the aforementioned things a lot, but I hate it when people say that's all there is to the style.
2. Misuse of tags on tumblr - haha. This is my pet peeve. There are a lot of similarities between Dolly Kei, Cult Party Kei and Mori Girl style, but they do have their many differences! It annoys me a bit when someone tags something with all three styles! ・°・(ノД｀)・°・

That's about it! It's not so much about things within the mori girl style itself. ◕‿‿◕

Day 4 – 10 8 different kinds of food you like.

Only 8 because thinking about this made me hungry  ﾟДﾟ

images from google images

1. Stroopwafels. I got these at a farmers market once, and I never looked back. They are so delicious when they are warmed up
2. Lasagna. Actually, I'm a sucker for anything with lots of cheese, tomato and mince. 
3. Hummus. Probably my staple spread for anything and everything.
4. Cranberries. I love them in juice form, dried, or warmed up so they're all squishy.
5. Falafel. Delicious in sandwiches, or just on their own.
6. Asparagus. One of my favourite parts of summer. I love it with garlic butter especially.
7. Oats. Too good to just be for cereal.
8. Green tea and green tea flavoured foods. I have a bag of matcha powder in the cupboard and I like to use it in my ice cream!

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Recently, I've been having a look at Hana To Guitar's online shop. The bambi vests and jackets really reminded me of what Gabrielle of Fern and Fawn has been making with fawn print fabric. °ω° They kind of make me wish that summer would stay away!

Images from Hana To Guitar

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Time to go back to the sewing machine to whip up some more items of clothing!

Thanks for reading  ♥

Mori Meme Day Two

Day 2 – 10 things you love in mori.

All images from various magazine scans

1. Detachable Collars
2. Clogs/Sabots
3. Pinafore and Jumper Dresses
4. Rucksacks
5. Check Fabric
6. Socks- many patterns, colours and layers!
7. Delicate hair accessories 
8. The hairstyles!
9. The idea of exploring forests and your own environment. 
10. Journaling and keeping track of your day through diaries, photos and illustrations.

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Also I'm currently in the process of sewing this dress from a Pochee magazine!  It's hasn't taken very long so far (only about 2 hours) to do most of it!

I'll probably have it finished by tomorrow! ...probably....

Thanks for reading  ♥

( ﾟ-ﾟ)( ﾟﾛﾟ)(( ﾛﾟ)ﾟ((( ﾛ)~ﾟ ﾟ

With one day blurring into the next...


Either that or I'm complete dork.
Sorry for the disappearing act I've pulled on all of you lovely readers! I'm in the midst of my final high school term and so the weeks have been just zipping by (as have school project deadlines °Д°)

As well as a super quick update, this is a more formal method of announcing a further hiatus of my blog. Yes you can shake your fist at me now!

Exams are coming up real fast, but after that I'm free to blog for the next 4 months! °ω°
Plus I have some real exciting news about life events (well... exciting for me at least, but I hope you'll get some smiles out of it)

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One thing that I have done of recent was make a floral headband. I found bunches of fake flowers (such as the ones on the left below), a headband, and with a sprinkling (more like a dousing) of hot glue I produced a Mucha-esque wreath. 

In total, the entire thing only cost $3 and about half an hour of my time.

It's really simple, so everyone should try it!

Also, my bestest best friend purchased this absolutely adorable Little Prince diary for me! ≧◡≦ It's so cute and even has itty bitty stamps! Thank you so much Cat~ <3<3

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A rakuten store I've had my eyes on of recent is soulberry.

Even if I can't purchase the clothing, the images alone are enough to inspire a range of outfits. Especially with the summer months coming up (I always feel like the odd one out being in the southern hemisphere!), I've been really interested in how to incorporate mori style in a way which is suitable for heat and humidity. Thankfully a lot of the clothing style focuses on natural fibres such as linen, so that has been an area of interest! 

There's a lot of other blogs that have suggestions for summer mori style, but do any of you have your own tips or tricks? ◠‿◠

Anyway, here's a few of my favourite images from soulberry!

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Matryoshka - Anesthetic

This is hardly a post that makes up for all the time away, but I'll be blogging like a mad man in the months to come!

Keep hands inside the vehicle at all times. Hehe ♥

Chilly...

Back to school! It's gotten a lot colder all of a sudden too. I have chill blains on my hands ・°・(ノД｀)・°・

But at least there are delicious tangelos to eat! Yum yum!

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Winter means that I can do a lot more layering to keep warm (and to fulfill my desires of layered outfits haha). I've not been so good with hair styling (top knots galore!)- does anyone have any tips for styles with plaiting? I am just so useless at it! I was wondering if there was a secret trick to getting them right! ●´ω｀●

 Right: Earmuffs; Dotti・ Shirt; Thrifted ・ Dress; Thrifted ・ Pants; Thrifted ・ Socks; Daiso・ Shoes; Thrifted・ Scarf; Thrifted ・Bag; Formerly my mother's

Left: Dress (as coat); Thrifted・ Dress; EzyBuy ・ Skirt; Thrifted ・ Tights; Imprint ・ Socks; Daiso・ Shoes; Number 1 Shoes・ Scarf; Gift ・Bag; Handmade

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By sheer coincidence, I saw that Fern & Fawn's mori girl challenge for this month is collars! Just last Saturday I made a detachable collar, mostly to check out how to do it. The colours and construction are far from perfect- it was a trial run really. 

I actually sewed the entire thing by hand (-_＼)... Never again... I'm not sure why I didn't use the sewing machine haha...

For the collar, I used the Detachable Peter Pan Collar pattern from BurdaStyle. It's free to download, but you will have to create a BurdaStyle account. It's definitely worth the effort though- there are many other great sewing patterns (free and pay). The construction instructions are very clear (although I only used the pattern), and there are photos to help you along the way if you're just a beginner sewer. 

Detachable Peter Pan Collar

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I found this box of unopened Moomin biscuits that my mother bought in Japan about 4 years ago haha

I've really been enjoying reading the mori memes that blogs, such as Fern & Fawn, Fawn & Doll and rats and rats and rats for candy have been doing! Maybe I should become more on-to-it and do one myself  ﾟ ヮﾟ

Sorry for the relatively short post guys... 

I'll update in the next few days with an inspiration post!

Thanks for reading ♥

Beige is my best friend

I asked one of my friends "What comes to your mind when someone says my name?".  They answered "Beige and curly hair" (●´ω｀●)ゞ 

So I felt like embracing them both haha

I made this teddy bear head bag after seeing this one on Etsy. It's just big enough to hold my cellphone and wallet- it's more for decoration than actual use  ﾟ ヮﾟ I purchased a large teddy from a garage sale, and some eyelets from a craft store to thread the shoulder strap through. The strap was off an old handbag I never used. I am hoping to replace it with a leather (or leather-like) strap soon. ◠‿◠

Here's an ad featuring Chelsea Maika to give a happy feeling to the start of the weekend!

Have a great weekend everyone! ❁

Hello! ｡◕‿‿◕｡ 

These past few days I've been coming up with outfits to wear with my favourite dress:

It has to be my best charity shop find for sure! It's comfy, simple and the teddies are kind of cute don't you think? It's really versatile as it can be worn as is, with shirts underneath, or even on top! It's probably  my most worn item, so I thought I should put extra effort into my outfits that feature it.  ﾟ ヮﾟ

 

*:･ﾟ’✿,｡･:*:❀･ﾟ’❁,*:❀･ﾟ’❁,✿,｡･:*❀･ﾟ’❁

Last weekend I did a little bit of crafting and fixed up a clock so it wasn't so garish. Thankfully, I don't have any problems with numberless clocks haha ┐(‘～`；)┌

Before & After a lick of paint or two and some scrap fabric!

*:･ﾟ’✿,｡･:*:❀･ﾟ’❁,*:❀･ﾟ’❁,✿,｡･:*❀･ﾟ’❁

Well...I'm finding less and less cicada shells so summer is surely ending now ヾ(＠^▽^＠)ﾉ

Welcome autumn! ･ﾟ’❁,✿,｡･:*❀･ﾟ’❁