Did you know that it is REALLY HARD to find gyaru sewing tutorials??  I was so surprised that there were so few of them when I searched for them!  I’d really love to be among those putting some out there, because a lot of this is not very difficult to make!

Today I will cover how to make some loose-socks-looking legwarmers!  They will be baggy around your ankles for a cute effect!

I also want to note that I made these some months ago, before I had a sewing machine that I could use regularly. n_n;  Additionally, I made several mistakes – but I will discuss them as we go along, so that you can avoid making them yourself!

First things first, the materials!
I used solid black as the main fabric, and a pink & purple plaid for contrast.
You’ll also need elastic, either 1/2 inch wide or 3/4 inch wide!

Now, do as I say and not as I do,
and make sure you wash your fabric first, and iron it so that
it is nice and neat while you are working with it. :p

I didn’t make a pattern for this because really, we’re only cutting out rectangles!
I just directly drew out my measurements on the fabric with a marking pencil.
A white colored pencil works fine.

Now, as for how I measured this piece:
Measuring around my lower leg, just under the knee, was 12 inches.
I added just two to that number and cut the top part of our legwarmer shape at 14 inches.
This worked out okaaaay in the end, but I think I should have allowed
more leeway than that.  Maybe add three or four inches to your body measurements
rather than only two!

Anyway, the lower end of the shape will be a little bit wider.
This will make that baggy look at the ankles, like cute loose socks.
I made the bottom of my trapezoid two inches wider than the top, at 16 inches.
But I invite you to do four or five inches more than that,
because in the end I didn’t feel that I had made enough of a difference
between the two measurements. n_n;

Oh yeah: You also want to measure the length of your lower leg,
from knee to ankle in a straight line, for the height of the trapezoid.
Mine for that was 14 inches.

To recap, the top width is under your knee + a few inches,
the bottom width is the top measurement + a few more inches,
and the height of the trapezoid is the length from your knee to ankle.

This whole project is not an exact science, so do not worry about being
super precise with your measurements.
Because of the elastic involved in the end, it’s fine if you’re off by
half an inch or whatever.  It’s also fine if you draw or cut messy lines.

Oh yeah, and if you fold your fabric over while cutting, you can cut
both pieces at once!
I put small X’s in the top corners of my pieces so that I would
always know which side of my fabric is the wrong side.

Double-check for that X at the beginning of each step
so that you know you have the wrong side as the inside of the legwarmers!

The legwarmer is folded in half long-ways and stitched up~

Don’t make my mistakes.  Don’t sew by hand if you don’t have to.
It will take FOREVS.

One sleeve is done!  Arrange your seam so that it is in the center back.
Also, this is the part where you want to press this seam with an iron.
It will look SO much neater than mine does in this photo lol.

This is also a good point to slip it over your leg and see how it fits!
This is the point where I’d realized mine was a bit more narrow than I wanted,
and I should have made the top width of my trapezoid a bit wider…
But it wasn’t TOO bad, so I kept going!

now do it AGAIN.

Now we are cutting out rectangle strips for the cuffs
at the top and bottom of the legwarmers.
They need to be just over twice the width of your elastic,
and the same length as the top & bottom edges
of the trapezoids that we just finished, plus one inch so that they can overlap slightly
when you sew them together at the back.

I realized that in the other photo my marking pencil’s lines were hard to see,
so here they are again – the light blue markings on the wrong side of the fabric.
We have two shorter strips and two longer strips.

Here you can see the two top cuffs and two bottom cuffs much more easily!

The strips are folded in half longwise and pinned along the edge of the legwarmer,
laying flat against it because we’re going to flip it up after it’s sewn together.

This is hard to show, but the seam for the cuff lines up with the seam
for the legwarmer that we sewed earlier.
Overlap the end of the cuff with its other end.

After sewing all the way around (but NOT vertically up that overlapped end),
flip the cuff up and it looks like something that is very neatly finished!
(And, sorry that my inner seams are so messy.
If I were sewing with a machine I would turn them inside so that they are neat!)

Now do that three more times, one for each remaining cuff!

Elastic is easier to push through a channel like this if you put
a safety pin on one end!
As for the length of your elastic, subtract two from the measurement
you got when you measured around your lower leg under your knee!
Do the same for the lower cuff, subtracting two
from the measurement around your ankle!

As you push the elastic through the channel, pin the other end to secure it,
and it will begin to gather a little as you go!

Here is how cute it is with elastic in both ends!!

Once your elastic is threaded through, overlap both ends of it
and finally make that vertical stitch up the seam in the cuff,
going over it at least three times to secure the elastic inside!

It’s a little hard to see, but I made three vertical stitched there
to reeeaaally securely keep the elastic in place –
if you’re doing this by machine it is way easier to sew through the layers!

Technically, the legwarmers are finished at this point!
Try them on to see how they fit!!

I want to add more details, though!!
Here is how I made several layers of ruffles along the back.
Laying the legwarmer flat, I measured that it is 7 inches across.
We’ll need strips longer than 7 inches because they are going to be
gathered up to make a ruffle that fits that 7-inch space!
The ruffles will decrease in size as they go up,
so I need several of them, each a bit smaller than the last.

Again drawing out my rectangles directly on my fabric lol.
There are two strips in each size – one set for each legwarmer.

Here are the strips all cut out!

Now I turned the edges down all around to make them look neat and finished.
This step takes FOOOREEEEVERRRRR by hand, don’t do it!

Gathering goes like this!
Run your needle along the top, pinching fabric together through it,
and pull the thread through.

Like this.

Now I lay the ruffle down against a ruler so that I can fit it to being 6 inches long.
…I was going to go with 7 inches long before (that was the width of the
legwarmer itself laid out flat, remember?)
but when I was looking at it here, my strip was not long enough to look
properly gathered at 7 inches.

Really, when you’re making ruffles, you need to not be like me,
way too stingy with fabric.  Make your strips, like,
twice as wide as the space you want to fill them with.

Pin along that gathered edge kind of upside-down like this…

…so that when you turn it down, it looks finished like this!

sew sew sew

I also made vertical stitches along the ends, to hold it down
and also make sure that the ruffle is flaring out diagonally.

Yeah, this would look a lot better if I’d used more fabric for the ruffle!
Make sure that you use it liberally! c:

Now the next ruffle!

Whoa, it’s beginning to come together!

Yeah!!

Cute!!!

And that’s four!!
I am completely done with the ruffles on one side!!!  WOO!!

Here is the second!!

What you don’t see here is that like a span of a whole day passed
between attaching all of those ruffles to both legwarmer pieces LOL.
This would be done in MINUTES by machine, but oh gosh,
it was so tedious and time-consuming by hand…

I want just one more little detail!!
Little bows at the knee!

Bows are just cut from a rectangle of fabric, then very small strip.
Both pieces have their edges turned under all around, then
the bow is pinned in place.

…And stitched down in the corners, as well as anchored in the middle.
Definitely one of the easier steps involved haha.

AND!!!  WOW!!!  THAT’S IT!!!

Here they are all finished!!!
Ahhh, I wish that I’d made the ankle width so much wider.
And I wish that I’d made the ruffles so much fuller.

But you know what?  I love them.
They are incredibly super cute and a fantastic accent
to my black/pink outfits!!

When I make more legwarmers in the future,
I know exactly what changes to make to them so that they are perfect!
I can’t wait to make more in more colors!! \(^o^)/

This past week, I sewed a pretty pink princess bunny plush for myself!  I really haven’t made a plush for myself in ages~
She is covered in glittery fabric (the pink inside her ears & the cupcake print for her dress are coated with glitter) and lots of lace, pretty trailing ribbons and pink flowers!

Here is the pattern I followed to make this, a reprint of a vintage sewing pattern!:

Simplicity 2595 Vintage Angel Bunny Plush Sewing Pattern

However, I did not follow the last steps of the pattern 100%…
I did my own thing for the bunny’s pinafore rather than using eyelet lace,
and I did not give her angel wings…

Now I shall share some process pics!

Laying out the pieces and just getting started~
These are all on white fabric, but you can see the pink ear piece
I already cut out on the left

–

Getting ready to start sewing is always so exciting!

–

Here is the bunny body mostly sewn up, but not stuffed yet!
LOOK AT THIS DUMB DEFLATED BUNNY I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

–

The bunny is looking slightly less dumb but its arms are still unstuffed
and it looks SO DOOFY.  I put extra weight into its butt and feet
with weighted stuffing pellets~
A plush Harvest Moon chick is helping to support it to sit up.

–

Here is the face embroidered with sweet pink eyes and ribbons and flowers
over her ears!  I think this is the first pic where you can actually tell
that the pink fabric is sparkly.

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With the bunny’s body done, it’s time to make a cupcake dress!

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There are soooo many small, meticulous stitches required to make clothes for plushes…
making those sleeves was super hard. ; ^;

–

The main dress is finished!  This bunny is a good model.
I also skipped several steps involving making a slip and petticoat netting
for under the dress.  That skirt is sooooo ruffly (it’s only slightly under
the amount of fabric I would use to make a skirt for myself!)
so I did not think the extra volume was needed.

–

More small, tedious sewing for the bodice of the pinafore.

–

At this point, I started straying from the pattern’s instructions and
started doing my own thing, adding lace and decorations where I liked~

–

And she is done!  Manymany hours went into this project,
but I’m so happy to have such a pretty, sparkly bunny princess
who is covered in cupcakes and ribbons and flowers.

–

I’m really happy with her!
If I wanted to, I could even make new dresses for her~
But, I think I will take a break from making tiny sleeve stitches for a while!

Hello lovelies!!  I mentioned the wide headband that I made in my bell-sleeved dress post, so here is my tutorial detailing how to make one yourself!!

The headband is shown here almost completely hidden under this giant bow.  Adding details to this headband is VERY EASY!!!  I have suggestions for potential details at the end of the tutorial!

Now, let’s begin the tutorial!!

Drawing your Headband Shape
Here, you can see how messily I’ve scribbled a rough pattern shape onto the wrong side of the fabric.  I didn’t even use a marking pencil, just a mechanical pencil that was nearby LOL.

Anyway, the shape is 24 inches long.  At its widest point in the middle, it is 6 inches wide.  It’s going to be folded in half, so a 6 inch wide shape here will make a finished headband that is 3 inches wide.  When I tried it on later, I actually found 3 inches to be cloooose to being too wide.  For future headbands, I think that I will make them 4 inches wide at this step, resulting in a 2 inch wide headband.

The shape tapers in at the ends to about 2 inches wide – this is the part that’s going to be underneath and at the back of your head, and it’s where the elastic is going to be fed through.  It’s not really necessary to taper the shape in like that, though, and in fact, since I said that future headbands that I make will be slightly narrower, I probably won’t taper the ends at all, and just use a long, simple rectangular piece.

You’ll also notice a small X drawn in the center of the piece – that’s to remind myself which side is the wrong side!

Cut and Fold in Half
I used pinking shears to cut mine, which keeps little thread pieces from falling out everywhere, but this is my own preference and you can certainly use regular fabric scissors.

Fold it in half longways, with the WRONG side out, and pin in place.

Sewing
DON’T sew the narrow ends – just sew along the long side, close to the edge.  Be sure to backstitch, because you will need that reinforcement there when turning it inside out later!

Well, that one straight stitch was pretty much the whole project.  We’re almost finished at this point lol.  All that’s left is turning it right side out and putting a tiny piece of elastic in at the bottom!

Turning Right Side Out
The beginning of this step is the only hard part, because the ends are so narrow.  I have a wooden dowel nearby my sewing supplies that helps me push fabric through, like pictured here.  Any pointy-but-blunt object will work, like the end of a pen.

Almost Done Turning
Much easier at this point.

Fold and Press
With your right-side-out headband, fold it in a way so that the seam is at the bottom center, then iron it so that it’s pressed nice and flat.  The fact that you can see small puckers in the fabric along my seam means that the tension on my machine was too tight.  Don’t be like me.  Don’t make my mistakes.

Pinning Elastic in Place
Simply cut 3 inches of elastic.  What we’re going to do is feed it into the narrow ends, about 3 inches deep.  Hold the ends with pins while you’re working.  A lot of the fabric is going to get pushed together and gathered around those three inches.  That’s what you want, so that it stretches properly and holds on to your head~

Fold the rough ends of those edges under, too, so that they look finished.  Mine is still messy.  It’s okay to be messy.  It’s good for you.  Very therapeutic.

Stitch Over Elastic
These stitches are over the ends of the elastic that are inside the headband.  Go over them several times, backstitching to make sure they are each held securely.

Go over the middle, too, to close up the opening!  Messiness is A-OK.

And you are finished!!  Try it on to make sure it’s comfortably snug~

And these headbands are highly customizable!!

• You can leave yours blank like mine so that you can pin detachable bows or brooches onto it for mixy-matchy accessories!!
• Sew ribbon or lace down the center, longways, for contrast!
• Or cris-cross ribbon over it for that Lolita headdress look, especially in combination with the next suggestion:
• Sew lace along the front and back edges!!
• Or just one edge – mix it up!
• Make a ruffle from fabric and sew that along one edge – you could make a psuedo-bonnet!
• BOWS!!!  Big bows at the center or to one side or the other, small bows on either side, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.
• Attach long ribbons (or long-tailed ribbon bows) near where the headband rests near your ears so that they trail over your shoulders and hair~
• Drape strings of pearls so that they hang off of it for a pretty mermaid look!

I could keep listing things for ever and ever. o_o  I bet you can come up with things too!!

Hello!! (^o^)/  For the past few days this week, I have been working on sewing this dress!  It has wide bell sleeves, like a peasant top, and I decided to make it out of solid pink fabric and a beautiful pink rose print fabric, which made it look like a garden party dress~  I’M SO IN LOVE WITH IT!!

It is not a Lolita dress because the skirt is not long or full enough, however I am considering adding a wide ruffle trim to the bottom of it to add several inches (although even then it still will not be full enough to accommodate a petticoat).

I also made a wide headband out of the pink fabric, which is elasticized at the back, and a big bow from the rose fabric, which is attached with a pin on the back so it can be removed from the headband and pinned elsewhere.

(I’m not wearing makeup in this picture – usually I put at least eyeliner on but for these I was too lazy! oAo)

Now for my progress shots!!

Read the rest of this entry »

Hello!!  Let’s do another DIY today!!

I have these ponytails I got for super cheap (I love browsing the girls’ hair accessories section of EVERY STORE), look at how cute they are with a plastic flower in the middle (a little hard to see ’cause it’s transparent), fluffy fuzz, and long trailing ribbons!  They have always looked ballerina-like to me~

The problem is, I never wear my hair in ponytails!  So these have just been sitting in my hair accessories bin (I have a medium-sized basket full of them on top of my dresser oAo), completely unused, which is a crime considering how cute they are!

So… simplest solution ever.  I turned them over, snipped off the elastic part, and hot glued a two-way clip there instead.

With the hair clip part, they can still be clipped in to the hair in front of ponytails if I ever do decide to wear them that way!!

But they’re so much more versatile now, too!  You don’t need your hair in ponytails in order to wear them any more.

And with the brooch pin part, you can pin them on anything – like a brooch on your top, on either side of your socks (if you are like me and wear knee socks a lot), on a canvas bag or purse that you have, anywhere that you want to have pretty trailing ribbons!

Here’s a pic of me (first posted over in my other DIY post about making those elbow-length gloves) using them clipped on the gloves as well as one on the hat!

Yes, that’s a white one!  I was so excited when I found these in the store, I picked up both pink ones and white ones. o_o

They got the same two-way clip treatment~

I have been enjoying incorporating all of these into all kinds of cute outfits!!