Compensating

For some reason, July has been quite... melancholic so I tried to compensate by doing things I love.

I made mangoes and cream cheese muffins.

My Kindle Fire gave up on me after just nearly two years (yeah, too short a lifetime) and though Amazon Japan offered to give me a replacement at a discounted price, the discount was too small so I decided not to buy anymore. Suddenly, Fully Booked went on sale so I bought myself two new books. And though I love paper books a lot, I do miss Kindle's dictionary function and being able to read in the dark. I'll probably buy a Kinde Paperwhite once I have the budget.

I made a new bag for my shinai (the bamboo sword we use in kendo).

I bought a couple milk cotton yarn skeins and they're in progress of being turned into beanies. My hat-loving friend who lives in Japan recently came home for vacation so I'm making one for him as a gift.

The color reminded me of House Gryffindor hence the Time Turner and the Snitch

After not having held a paintbrush for more than a month, I made a new 8" x 10" poster.

I also made an attempt at painting a self-portrait. It's not good but I hope it's not bad for a first time lol.

Oh, and I colored some parts of my hair with blue dye! Don't be fooled by the photo-- they're just highlights. As much as I'd love to have a full head of blue hair, I don't have enough patience to maintain that.

I can't wait for July to be over and I hope August will be kinder.

Crafty Weekend

Since it was Pi Day (3.14) last Saturday and we had lemons in the fridge, I made a lemon meringue pie with oatmeal-graham crust. I say it turned out pretty well, especially for a first time!

In the afternoon, after kendo training, I went to Cubao to buy materials for a padded shinai bag I've been meaning to sew. I was really tired when I got home but I was so excited to make the new shinai bag so I did.

It took me five hours to finish. I found it difficult sewing with thick padding and I must have abused my sewing machine. The bag looks a little bulky because I bought the thickest padding available. Nevertheless, it's so nice to look at and I love it. I love the adjustable strap as well!

The next day, Sunday, I was resolved on getting rest. However, I could not resist not using the leftover fabric because the amount was just perfect for a knee-length skirt and of course I want a new skirt!

Gathered in front, garterized at the back and has ribbons on the side that can be tied at the back. It probably would have been nicer if I used a wider waistband haha but no regrets!

I'm pretty excited to wear it to class this Friday!

Hand-stitched Felt Wings

Here's what happened one boring Saturday morning:

I cut some white felt, drew cartoon wings with Sharpie (pencil makes it messy) and then stitched the drawing with black thread. I cut the same shape for the backside (so that the stitches won't be seen) and then attached them to bobby pins.

It was difficult to make the pair look identical (maybe I should have used some tracing technique instead of drawing individually) and the stitches don't look flawless but I'm fine with it since the flaws aren't very noticeable from afar and I guess that one of the charms of handmade things lol.

My First DIY Skirt

Finally, I was able to sew my own skirt! It even has a pocket and a zipper closure. (Hurray for skirts with pockets!) I am really thankful for Meream's tutorial! This crafty lady is totally amazing and I love her blog.

I have to admit, my skirt's workmanship is not really good because I never really had any sewing training. I'm just glad I was able to make something wearable haha.

Navy blue polka dots! Just my type of fabric!

I had to handsew some parts of the zipper because I do not have a zipper foot. (My sewing machine belongs to my late grandma. It's vintage and no one knows where the accessories are. I need to find a place to buy feet for old Singer sewing machines.)

I actually wanted to make a lace skirt but darn... lace fabric is very expensive. Next time, perhaps! I'm definitely making more skirts!

Things I Miss: Sewing Headbands

I can remember a bit how I came to making headbands.

I was randomly looking at Multiply and I saw a site that sells handmade headbands at crazy prices. I thought, "Hey, that's overpriced, that's almost cheating and I think I can make those lacy headbands too! I think." Yes, I'm kuripot like that.

And then one day, my orgmate, Lira, asked me if I can sew a headband for her costume for our org's themed Christmas party. That time, I've only started making mini-top hats but I said I'd take the headband as a challenge. Of course, I did warn Lira that it's going to be my first time. The headband turned out to be a headband although it wasn't that pretty. But tolerable, I HOPE. Anyway, I just commissioned it at a low price since it's my first ever headband.

After some time, Lira asked me again to make a headband for one of her cosplays. Well, I did a better job with that headband, at least. (I have a photo of Lira wearing the headband but I dunno if she's okay with me posting her photo here lol).

Then Kat, another orgmate (who is also Lira's best friend from high school) asked me to make a headband for her! And whenever she had "headband needs", she'd ask me to make them for her.

She's even asked me to make the headband and wristcuffs for her creative grad pic!

Pink, white, lace, ribbons, faux pearls, can't get any girly-er!

close-up on the wristcuff

One time I made a headband out of boredom and I decided to give it to Kat as a birthday gift. She's a friend and a constant client after all!

I used the crocheted cotton lace which I really loved!

Yuri has also asked me to make [a challenging] one for her!

Yuri's headband: rose and feathers

And then one time, I posted pictures of my crafts on Facebook supposedly for documentation purposes but it served another purpose: advertising. It was my graduating/thesis semester but commissions came in! Not much, but still. Anyway, I was able to pull them off by doing one commission per week.

I don't really put much profit on my headbands. Afterall, I'm not yet THAT good at sewing and it's just a hobby. The undersides of my headbands don't look pleasing. But I guess I just love working with lace, ribbons, beads so I take the commissions despite being busy.

Did I mention that I only learned how to sew by holding a thread and a needle, by occasionally asking my grandma and my dad and most of all by intuition whenever I needed to mend some clothes? Home Economics in my high school was mostly baking (which is awesome) and Home Economics in my elementary school thrived on theory (which is disappointing) so I never had training in school.

But really, I just have to thank Lira for "jumpstarting" this hobby and to my loyal customer-friends for sustaining the said hobby haha. I still have a long way to go with sewing and designing but I'll do my best!

Transformer

White dress is from Cinderella, bought at 50% off! It has rows of rosettes on the hems.

I added some beads on the dress. I also beaded a black satin ribbon to turn into a sash.

I put belt loops and here we go.

The beads are easy to remove if I ever want to "transform" the dress again. :)

For Your Fascination

I made another mini-top hat fascinator this weekend. I haven't sewn one for a long time now so it kinda feels refreshing. I can't say which is more difficult to make: a headband or a top hat. I guess it's just the same, lol.

Black and White for Anne

I made this headband today for Anne. The previous headbands I made were kind of getting too similar (even though I didn't mean for them to) so I tried my best to put a little more variety this time.

Red and Black

For some purpose, I had to compile pictures of headbands I made before so I asked my previous clients (Kat and Yuri) to take photos of them. Well, they posted the photos on Facebook and people (orgmates, to be specific) saw them. Now, suddenly, I have orders for headbands (thanks, Kat and Yuri!). It's a good thing I only have a 12-unit academic load this semester so I can still squeeze headband-making into my schedule despite having thesis. Besides, I really love making these so getting commissions would mean having an excuse to attend to my hobbies. This red and black one is for Reena. I'll strive to be more creative in my next headbands. :)

Silver for Krinkle

Another headband! Krinkle asked me to make this one for her.

Maginhawa Friday Nights

I've been going to Maginhawa Street with friends a lot recently. Well, it's an awesome and unique place and it's just an Ikot ride (and a few minutes of walking) away from UP. There are different kinds of places, there's an awesome milk tea shop, a really nice coffee shop, a cute froyo place, a few inuman places, etc. The atmosphere is very UP and it fits a college student's budget.

I haven't been to a lot of food places there but my friends and I are planning to try them out. Yesterday, we (I, Airis, Ron, Jijo, Sean, Emil and Jun-C) were supposed to have dinner in Friuli but we got tired and hungry from waiting too long for seats so we ended up in Bistrio Cafe. I had beef with mushroom and it was awesome. They have cool chinaware and furniture too! After that, Cy and Kyle joined us and we went to Moonleaf (where I had my favorite lychee yakult). I swear, these Friday nights with AME friends are one of the best things in the world.

And just to share my most recent creation (click to enlarge):

It's a commissioned headband for Krinkle, which she gave to Lira for her birthday. I still have two to make: Krinkle's and Reena's. Yay for lacy headbands! Hopefully, I'll finish Krinkle's by Monday and Reena's by next week!