Loyal Readers,
I realize that I haven't updated in a while. I've been going through a fair amount of personal stuff, and I'm preparing to go back to school. Thus, until I get settled and on track with my routine, I'm putting this blog back on hiatus.
~Y. McLeod
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Dress Form
Loyal Readers,
Good afternoon. Lets pretend it's Monday and that I'm totally caught up with my blog...
...So, the dress I'm making I had to put a halt on. It's far too big, and sizing it on myself is really difficult. I could ask my mom for help, but I'm too proud and she'd critique. Also I really want/need to learn to make dresses on my own. How do I size on myself without going outside of my body, or trying to use a mirror?
Ladies and gents, I need a dress form.
But lets face it, I don't have the money for BSSB which is considerably less money than a dress form (they're upwards of 300-400 dollars for a good one). Am I doomed to never be able to make dresses that look good on me? Whatever shall I do?
And that my dears is where duct tape comes in. Why spend 400 dollars on a dress form when you can make one for 20 dollars? And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Apparently, all I need is a buddy, 2-3 rolls of 60 yrd duct tape, a long tee-shirt/dress/shorts and a top, cardboard, news paper, and a stand of some sort (which could be a lamp stand, a PVC pole and some wood, a mic stand...et cetera. This should make dress making and even designing much, much easier.
I'll be getting on that tomorrow. And more than likely, I'll take pictures. I might even post them...
Good afternoon. Lets pretend it's Monday and that I'm totally caught up with my blog...
...So, the dress I'm making I had to put a halt on. It's far too big, and sizing it on myself is really difficult. I could ask my mom for help, but I'm too proud and she'd critique. Also I really want/need to learn to make dresses on my own. How do I size on myself without going outside of my body, or trying to use a mirror?
Ladies and gents, I need a dress form.
But lets face it, I don't have the money for BSSB which is considerably less money than a dress form (they're upwards of 300-400 dollars for a good one). Am I doomed to never be able to make dresses that look good on me? Whatever shall I do?
And that my dears is where duct tape comes in. Why spend 400 dollars on a dress form when you can make one for 20 dollars? And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Apparently, all I need is a buddy, 2-3 rolls of 60 yrd duct tape, a long tee-shirt/dress/shorts and a top, cardboard, news paper, and a stand of some sort (which could be a lamp stand, a PVC pole and some wood, a mic stand...et cetera. This should make dress making and even designing much, much easier.
I'll be getting on that tomorrow. And more than likely, I'll take pictures. I might even post them...
Monday, January 11, 2010
A Two for One~
Hello loyal readers,
I come to you humbly asking for your forgiveness. I promised you a post for Wednesday and for Friday...now it is Sunday, and my last actual post was on Monday. Ack! Here, as promised though is Wednesday's post and as a special added bonus, Friday's post!
First I suppose I should answer this question : what in the world is a lifestyle lolita anyway? She is a lolita that lives her life as a proper lady. By no means is every lolita a lifestyle lolita and by no means is it a requirement to be so. Some people, myself included, feel a particular calling to a more beautiful and elegant (if not idealized) life. I've wanted to lifestyle ever since I learned about what it was, but old habits (such as swearing and slouching) are hard to break. On the other hand, there's no time like the present to try and start. I suppose the first step (and where I'll start) is research. The goal here is to act like a lady of stature, a high class woman who, if dropped into the Victorian era would fit right into high society. Start by brushing up on your history of the Victorian era, and specifically women in history. Here are a few websites that give a legitamite synopsis of women in the Victorian era, but don't forget to visit your local library as well:
A breif history of the Victorian woman in country and urban settings
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_out/urban_life_01.shtml
A complete (if not nearly complete) history of her royal hignness, Queen Victoria
http://www.victoriana.com/queenvictoria/
Et cetera.
The afore mentioned links are by no means complete histories. It is up to you do to some research on your own. You also don't have to act exactly like the ladies of the Victorian era, and in fact in some instances it might not be appropriate to do so. As you already know, or will know once you venture more into the lolita fashion and life style, the idea is to follow some basic guide lines but pick and choose as you go along. Just as one day you might wear a sailor lolita skirt with a gothic lolita blouse, it is perfectly ok to mix the ideas of a Victorian lady with a modern one.
In our next lifestyle instalment, I plan to discuss ettiqute and manners. Stay tuned!
Now, for the food portion of our post:
What should a lolita eat? There is a sort of myth surrounding the fashion that all lolitas are obsessed with sweets. This could not be farther from true. Sure, you might very well see sweets as a common motif in lolita clothing, but this usually goes along with the Sweet lolita style of clothing. By no means does that translate into "all lolitas eat nothing but cupcakes and sunshine". Lolitas do not eat Japanese or Chinese food all the time either. Unless, of course, they want to or live in Japan or China.
So what should a lolita eat? A lolita, like every other person out there should eat a healthy dose of fruits and veggies along with grain, dairy, and protein. Sweets should be eaten sparingly. Most everyone enjoys sweets though, and they're great to bring to a meet up or tea party. That being said, the first recipe we'll cover will be chocolate tofu parfaits. "Chocolate tofu parfaits? That sounds terrible!" So you would think. Tofu is a magical food though that provides, among other things, protein and is a great absorber of flavor. We'll also be using dark chocolate for flavor which is a brilliant source of antioxidants. The recipe is as follows:
You will need--
A blender or a food processor.
16 oz of silk tofu. This is key as it blends well and won't be chunky in your parfait.
½ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup dark coco powder
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup dark chocolate, melted. You can do this over a double boiler (or two pots, one with a little bit of water in the bottom and the other on top), or in the microwave. If you do it in the microwave, be careful! Chocolate has a bad habit of burning when you microwave it for too long so be sure to watch your chocolate when you're warming it up.
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix all the ingredients \ in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If you want, mix in some nuts or dried fruit or even angel food cake. Let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour and serve.
Next time, I think I'll tackle a delicious goat cheese and apple salad. Mmm~
I come to you humbly asking for your forgiveness. I promised you a post for Wednesday and for Friday...now it is Sunday, and my last actual post was on Monday. Ack! Here, as promised though is Wednesday's post and as a special added bonus, Friday's post!
First I suppose I should answer this question : what in the world is a lifestyle lolita anyway? She is a lolita that lives her life as a proper lady. By no means is every lolita a lifestyle lolita and by no means is it a requirement to be so. Some people, myself included, feel a particular calling to a more beautiful and elegant (if not idealized) life. I've wanted to lifestyle ever since I learned about what it was, but old habits (such as swearing and slouching) are hard to break. On the other hand, there's no time like the present to try and start. I suppose the first step (and where I'll start) is research. The goal here is to act like a lady of stature, a high class woman who, if dropped into the Victorian era would fit right into high society. Start by brushing up on your history of the Victorian era, and specifically women in history. Here are a few websites that give a legitamite synopsis of women in the Victorian era, but don't forget to visit your local library as well:
A breif history of the Victorian woman in country and urban settings
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_out/urban_life_01.shtml
A complete (if not nearly complete) history of her royal hignness, Queen Victoria
http://www.victoriana.com/queenvictoria/
Et cetera.
The afore mentioned links are by no means complete histories. It is up to you do to some research on your own. You also don't have to act exactly like the ladies of the Victorian era, and in fact in some instances it might not be appropriate to do so. As you already know, or will know once you venture more into the lolita fashion and life style, the idea is to follow some basic guide lines but pick and choose as you go along. Just as one day you might wear a sailor lolita skirt with a gothic lolita blouse, it is perfectly ok to mix the ideas of a Victorian lady with a modern one.
In our next lifestyle instalment, I plan to discuss ettiqute and manners. Stay tuned!
Now, for the food portion of our post:
What should a lolita eat? There is a sort of myth surrounding the fashion that all lolitas are obsessed with sweets. This could not be farther from true. Sure, you might very well see sweets as a common motif in lolita clothing, but this usually goes along with the Sweet lolita style of clothing. By no means does that translate into "all lolitas eat nothing but cupcakes and sunshine". Lolitas do not eat Japanese or Chinese food all the time either. Unless, of course, they want to or live in Japan or China.
So what should a lolita eat? A lolita, like every other person out there should eat a healthy dose of fruits and veggies along with grain, dairy, and protein. Sweets should be eaten sparingly. Most everyone enjoys sweets though, and they're great to bring to a meet up or tea party. That being said, the first recipe we'll cover will be chocolate tofu parfaits. "Chocolate tofu parfaits? That sounds terrible!" So you would think. Tofu is a magical food though that provides, among other things, protein and is a great absorber of flavor. We'll also be using dark chocolate for flavor which is a brilliant source of antioxidants. The recipe is as follows:
You will need--
A blender or a food processor.
16 oz of silk tofu. This is key as it blends well and won't be chunky in your parfait.
½ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup dark coco powder
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup dark chocolate, melted. You can do this over a double boiler (or two pots, one with a little bit of water in the bottom and the other on top), or in the microwave. If you do it in the microwave, be careful! Chocolate has a bad habit of burning when you microwave it for too long so be sure to watch your chocolate when you're warming it up.
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix all the ingredients \ in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If you want, mix in some nuts or dried fruit or even angel food cake. Let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour and serve.
Next time, I think I'll tackle a delicious goat cheese and apple salad. Mmm~
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Sleep
Hello loyal readers~
I've managed to screw up my sleep schedule, so the post for Wednesday will have to wait till next week.
~Y. McLeod
I've managed to screw up my sleep schedule, so the post for Wednesday will have to wait till next week.
~Y. McLeod
Monday, January 4, 2010
Dresses and Makeovers
Good afternoon everyone.
As you may or may not have noticed, I gave my old layout the old "heave-ho" and brought in a shiny new layout specially designed for my gothic lolita needs. That's right everyone, I mastered the basics of HTML just enough to make a few updates to my site. You'll notice that the banner has changed, and so has the background. Originally, I was going to go with a red theme, but the background was funky...In any event, you'll also notice there are new and improved buttons for your website! You can add them to your signature on a message board, you can add them to your blog, or wherever else takes HTML (or even BBCode, if you convert it first), so go forth and add!
Now, on to the reason why you're here: It's Monday which, according to my last post means it's time I tell you about some dresses, fabric, skirts, tutorials, or something of the sort. As you know, I'm working on a dress from an Alice in Wonderland pattern. So far, the sizing is perfect but that can be credited to me because I had to mush two sizes together. I've already altered the skirt so it's longer and more lolita appropriate (which didn't take too much effort at all), but in the future I think I would add width to the sleeves so that it had more gather as opposed to a sort of odd cap sleeve type thing. I think either way it will look good though. The dress itself is green and black (it sort of looks like the purple background on this very blog!), and lined with a thick silky black material. The cotton lace trim is black and eyelet lace. It's really cute, if I do say so myself. I keep saying that I'll post pictures (I know, I know) but this time I think I will.
The only thing is, this dress is taking forEVER to do! Unlike the last time I had a mass sewing spree, I'm actually taking my time and hemming properly...hence lots of frustration. I just have to keep thinking: two lolita dresses for under 50 dollars...two lolita dresses for under 50 dollars...!
As you may or may not have noticed, I gave my old layout the old "heave-ho" and brought in a shiny new layout specially designed for my gothic lolita needs. That's right everyone, I mastered the basics of HTML just enough to make a few updates to my site. You'll notice that the banner has changed, and so has the background. Originally, I was going to go with a red theme, but the background was funky...In any event, you'll also notice there are new and improved buttons for your website! You can add them to your signature on a message board, you can add them to your blog, or wherever else takes HTML (or even BBCode, if you convert it first), so go forth and add!
Now, on to the reason why you're here: It's Monday which, according to my last post means it's time I tell you about some dresses, fabric, skirts, tutorials, or something of the sort. As you know, I'm working on a dress from an Alice in Wonderland pattern. So far, the sizing is perfect but that can be credited to me because I had to mush two sizes together. I've already altered the skirt so it's longer and more lolita appropriate (which didn't take too much effort at all), but in the future I think I would add width to the sleeves so that it had more gather as opposed to a sort of odd cap sleeve type thing. I think either way it will look good though. The dress itself is green and black (it sort of looks like the purple background on this very blog!), and lined with a thick silky black material. The cotton lace trim is black and eyelet lace. It's really cute, if I do say so myself. I keep saying that I'll post pictures (I know, I know) but this time I think I will.
The only thing is, this dress is taking forEVER to do! Unlike the last time I had a mass sewing spree, I'm actually taking my time and hemming properly...hence lots of frustration. I just have to keep thinking: two lolita dresses for under 50 dollars...two lolita dresses for under 50 dollars...!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Hiatus over
Hello again my lovelies. I'm sorry to have abandoned you for so long but I've had my reasons...mostly getting caught up in college and homework and stuff.
For now though, I'm home, and comfortably rested enough to start working on a dress. First though, I suppose I should recount to you my break up to now:
My flight was delayed 3 times due to the winter storms on the east coast. After having a tough semester, this only added to the crap that seemed to be piling on my shoulders. So, after cleaning my room from floor to ceiling, and waiting around for a flight to finally open up, I boarded the plane and landed in SF. I was going to go to Gaskles, and then to Dickens Fair, but I missed both of those events due to a delayed flight *grumble*.
Anyway, break so far has been uneventful. Christmas was nice, I gave my mom a tea pot, and she gave me a nice journal. I visited BSSB with Petra, Tae, Jeremy, Zeke and Dylan and nearly died (and I have to say, if I worked there I might just have to die twice! I asked if they had any openings and they said to submit a resume...I have to get on that) and I've started up a profile on Gaia (again, part of the reason I'm updating). The New Year has brought not much exciting news, but it's only been going on for 3 days.
Anyway, off to the exciting news: I have in my possession the pattern to end all patterns. Yes, ladies and gents, I've gotten my hands on an Alice in Wonderland pattern (which translates to a sweet one piece once I lengthen the skirt!). I'm super excited! I'll post pictures once I'm done. I also have a buttload of fabric that I'm hoping to turn into a sweet new wardrobe...
Also, I'm taking suggestions for a new layout and tips on how to reformat my blog. I'm also hoping to get more folowers, and I'm looking for suggestions on what to write on my blog...so post comments and tell your friends!
I'm pretty sure that's it for updates, my updates will also be more coherent once I decide to post more. Should I have update days (like every Monday or Wednesday?) or perhaps if I update Tutorials/a review of clothes and whatnot every Monday, Lifestyle and whatnot on Wednesday and Friday could be food and drink (with recipes and whatnot). Sounds like a good idea to me, but I'd like input. Lemme know!
~Y
For now though, I'm home, and comfortably rested enough to start working on a dress. First though, I suppose I should recount to you my break up to now:
My flight was delayed 3 times due to the winter storms on the east coast. After having a tough semester, this only added to the crap that seemed to be piling on my shoulders. So, after cleaning my room from floor to ceiling, and waiting around for a flight to finally open up, I boarded the plane and landed in SF. I was going to go to Gaskles, and then to Dickens Fair, but I missed both of those events due to a delayed flight *grumble*.
Anyway, break so far has been uneventful. Christmas was nice, I gave my mom a tea pot, and she gave me a nice journal. I visited BSSB with Petra, Tae, Jeremy, Zeke and Dylan and nearly died (and I have to say, if I worked there I might just have to die twice! I asked if they had any openings and they said to submit a resume...I have to get on that) and I've started up a profile on Gaia (again, part of the reason I'm updating). The New Year has brought not much exciting news, but it's only been going on for 3 days.
Anyway, off to the exciting news: I have in my possession the pattern to end all patterns. Yes, ladies and gents, I've gotten my hands on an Alice in Wonderland pattern (which translates to a sweet one piece once I lengthen the skirt!). I'm super excited! I'll post pictures once I'm done. I also have a buttload of fabric that I'm hoping to turn into a sweet new wardrobe...
Also, I'm taking suggestions for a new layout and tips on how to reformat my blog. I'm also hoping to get more folowers, and I'm looking for suggestions on what to write on my blog...so post comments and tell your friends!
I'm pretty sure that's it for updates, my updates will also be more coherent once I decide to post more. Should I have update days (like every Monday or Wednesday?) or perhaps if I update Tutorials/a review of clothes and whatnot every Monday, Lifestyle and whatnot on Wednesday and Friday could be food and drink (with recipes and whatnot). Sounds like a good idea to me, but I'd like input. Lemme know!
~Y
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