Making a Fabric Rose Brooch

Earlier this year, during the Spring, I had the most unbelievable luck in a local charity shop; I found a genuine Alice and the Pirates dress!

After doing some searching, I found out that it is the A&P Lace Print JSK II from 2008. From looking at the Alice and the Pirates stock photos, I noticed that the dress originally came with a ribbon rose brooch that was missing from my dress, so I decided to try and make my own.

In my fabric stash, I found some hand dyed organza fabric left over from a university project that matched the deep red colour on the dress almost perfectly.

I cut some of the fabric into strips and hemmed them using my sewing machine so that they would not fray. I then loosely gathered the strips and formed them into rose shapes. I used tiny hand-stitches to secure the shapes in place. I also stitched some pearl beads into them to add a bit of extra detail. In the original design, the rose is attached to a large bow at the back, so I did something similar, using a lighter red ribbon to make the roses stand out as well as a cute piece of matching lace gathered into a circle to use as a base for the pin. I finished it off with another, smaller, dark red velvet ribbon and a few more pearl beads to give it an extra elegant touch.

Overall, I am happy with the finished result. I think it adds a nice detail to the bodice of the dress, which is quite simple otherwise, and ties in with the colours on the printed skirt. It will definitely match some of the other dark red pieces in my wardrobe and I might even be able to use it as a hair accessory too!

♡

A Visit to the Cat Cafe!

  

Last weekend I had the most wonderful time visiting a cat cafe with a friend. I was so excited to go and see all the cats as I hadn't been in several years. They had updated a lot of the decor since I last went, and everything had a lovely soft and whimsical feeling! There were plenty of cozy little nooks for the cats, a few of them were napping but some of the less sleepy ones came up to say hello to us. I had such a nice hour sipping my rose petal latte and taking in the calm and relaxing atmosphere. I could have spent a lot longer there; the time went by so quickly!

Here are a few photos I took of some of the resident cats. There are twelve in total but some of them had gone to a private, cats-only space at the back that is there for them if they don't feel like interacting with humans at the time. Aren't they so sweet!

 

 

I knew I wanted to choose a comfortable and warm outfit to wear to the cafe as it was quite cold and rainy that day. I recently got this pink old-school Cornet sailor OP and was really excited to coordinate it. It was also a sensible choice for the cafe as it is made of a soft cotton and is easily washable. I have admired Cornet dresses for a long time and am so happy to now have one in my wardrobe, it's design is perfection! I decided to go for a simple pink and white coord, layering this cute lace trimmed thermal jersey underneath for extra warmth. As for accessories, I wore a beret that I customised myself with ribbon and lace and over the knee socks with a soft pink ribbon pattern from Baby the Stars Shine Bright. The clock bag was actually a very lucky charity shop find. Finally for my outerwear I wore this wool coat, also from Baby the Stars Shine Bright, and my winter Kickers boots as I needed something practical and waterproof. With the help of my parasol, I was able to stay fairly warm and dry throughout the day.

Here is a close-up picture of the customised design on the back of beret that I wore:

Later on that day, my friend and I took a walk to another cafe where we were able to sit and catch up for a lot longer. I got a cup of green tea that had hints of rosemary and a pink strawberry tart which was probably one of the prettiest pastries I've ever seen. It tasted lovely too, it was nice and fresh and not too sweet.

It was nice to look back on my visit to the cat cafe, and I'm actually planning on going again very soon and have a new cat themed coordinate planned for that. Going on fun and wholesome days out like this definitely helps me get through the cold and dark winter months. 

♡

New La Luice Bunny Bag and a Coordinate for a Cozy Autumn Outing

I have admired the La Luice lace bunny bags for a long time and finally decided to get one for myself and it arrived recently. It really is so beautiful and detailed that when I'm not using it as a bag, I have it displayed in my bedroom as I think it matches the decor perfectly!

I also thought the tag that it came with was so pretty. I'm definitely going to keep it and put it in my scrapbook! 

Today I decided to go and check out a small Christmas market that was happening locally and wanted to put together a coord with my new bunny friend. I decided that was also a good excuse to bring out my red velveteen Baby the Stars Shine Bright skirt as that always gives me a cozy, Christmassy feeling! The blouse is also from Baby and I wore the canotier headdress I made recently as the lace matches the bag quite well. I pinned a red bow from a bolero I have onto the bag to tie it in with the rest of the coord (isn't she so cute, I decided today that I'm going to name her Lulu)!

I didn't actually get anything from the market, but I had a nice time just wandering around (it was located in the grounds of a historic house) with a warm cup of tea and taking in the beautiful late autumn day. Here is a picture of some pretty pink Christmas wreaths that I spotted at one of the stalls:

I hope you enjoyed this sort of diary style post. Thank you, as always, for reading!

♡

Favourite Prints - Happy Garden by Angelic Pretty

I thought it might be fun to start a series of short posts just to appreciate some of my favourite prints in EGL fashion, starting with one of my first dream prints that I was lucky enough to add to my wardrobe in 2021 with the help from a friend who spotted it for sale on the Japanese second hand market. That print is Angelic Pretty's Happy Garden!

Springtime motifs such as cute baby animals, florals and soft pastel colours are common themes in a lot of my favourite prints, and Happy Garden definitely has all of these things! I love how much detail there is in this print and I feel like I spot something new every time I look at it. Some of my favourite details are the little chicks and easter eggs, and of course all of the bunnies (including the custom bunny lace). I feel like each of them has their own individual personality!

The pastel blue colourway was my favourite and first choice as it looks like a clear and bright springtime sky, though I do really love the pink and lavender too.

I was also able to find the matching cutsew a few months after getting the skirt. It features a beautiful, screen-printed design of a slightly shy looking bunny that can be found in the print. I love wearing this with the skirt for casual and comfy Summer coordinates and it matches quite well with some of the other skirts in my wardrobe too. Here are a couple of examples of coords I have put together with these items in the past year:

I had a lot of fun writing about one of my favourite and most prizes pieces and am excited to introduce a few more throughout this series! Which one to pick next? 

♡

Crafting with Vintage Lace - Canotier Headdress

Recently, whilst browsing some charity shops, I came across some beautiful vintage lace doilies and tablecloths that I just couldn't leave behind. I thought I could use them for sewing projects, particularly for accessories. The embroidery and details on them are exquisite, I especially love the cross lace doily in the middle of the photo, but I would like to save that for making something extra special. 

My first thought when I saw the doily on the bottom left of the above photo was that it would be the perfect shape and size for a canotier style headdress. This is something I've been wanting for my accessory collection for a while. I had a look at some old school canotier headdresses that Japanese brands have made in the past for inspiration, such as this 'Princess Tiered Canotier' released by Angelic Pretty in 2007:

I gathered the doily slightly in the centre and embellished it using a combination of ivory and off-white lace and ribbon as I feel like having the two different tones next to each other helps emphasise the lovely textures and details. I also added a frill made out of a larger piece of vintage lace from my fabric stash which is detachable, so that the headdress can be made a bit simpler depending on the outfit that it's styled with. Below are a couple of photos of the finished piece:

Overall, I'm quite happy with how it turned out as it matches the vision I had when I started making it and I'm looking forward to wearing it with some of my coordinates in the future. Let me know if you enjoyed reading about this, hopefully I'll have more sewing and crafting projects to write about on this blog soon! 

♡

About me

 

Hello!

My name is Laurie and I have created this blog as a place to talk about and share some of my interests and hobbies. 

I really love Japanese alternative street fashion, mostly EGL fashion but I also enjoy wearing Mori Kei, Dolly Kei, Larme Kei, Otome Kei and Himekaji from time to time too! I am most drawn to sweet, soft, dreamy, vintage and antique themes in my outfits and I hope to be able to share some of these here. Some of my favourite Japanese brands include Baby The Stars Shine Bright, Angelic Pretty, Metamorphose Temps de Fille, Innocent World, Maxicimam, Emily Temple Cute, Liz Lisa and Amavel among many others.

My love of fashion also stems into my other hobbies. I like to craft and sew my own accessories and clothes when time allows and I studied Textile Design at university, which I graduated from in 2019 (I designed the pattern that I used as the background for this blog)! As well as dressing up, I like to fill my home with cute decor and often look out for unique vintage pieces on my charity shopping adventures. 

On my days off I enjoy going for walks, visiting cute cafes with friends and drinking tea, watching my favourite Studio Ghibli films and anime, playing cozy Nintendo games and occasionally baking my own sweet treats. I dream of hosting my own tea party at home one day!

Thank you for visiting my blog, I'm excited to start writing some posts and I hope you enjoy your stay!

Lots of love,

Laurie 

xxx