If you don't know me, you need to know I love to put all sorts of stuff on my head, from cat ears to home decor. That's one of the things I love the most about Lolita fashion: it allows me to go crazy on the head gear section (as if it wasn't crazy enough already!) I remember this Christmas meetup where I just grabbed ornaments from the tree cause they matched my dress that day.

Another thing I love about Lolita is having the chance to be creative and create my own pieces, so I've been super excited with the canotier fashion that has been going on lately, and I decided I would make my own one for the summer International Lolita Day, cause I love crafts and getting messy!

Here we go with my tutorial for a customised canotier!

Step 1: Get a canotier

It can be a hat that you find in some random local store or a part that you find on a specialised supply shop. The second one is bound to be bare (without the signature ribbon around the crown), whilst the ones that are "ready to wear" will have a coloured ribbon that probably doesn't match your outfit plans. For me, that was the case.


Therefore, I grabbed a needle and a pair of scissors and got ready to unribbon my straw hat. If you have a seam ripper, that would work better, but I don't have one yet. After a while, you will have a bare hat ready for decorations!


Step 2: Sew a ribbon

It is time to start making your canotier your own, so just pick your favourite ribbon or lace. Bare in mind that you will need material to cover the diameter of the crown and one or two extra inches.

The joint usually falls on one side, and I recommend that, if you are decorating your hat, you cover that bit with your decorations so you don't need to worry about it. If that's not the case, just make a bow with the same material you're using around it.

Now it is just a bit of patience sewing the ribbon around the hat. Make sure you sew on the top side, and just do the bottom one if you realy want more support. When I reached the end, I folded it a bit before finishing it so I didn't have a loose bit, even if I was covering it later.

(Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the sewn lace but you can see it later in other pictures!)

Step 3: Decorate!

Or as I also call it, glue gun time! It is time you pick your favourite flowers, lace, fruits, pieces... and go as over the top or simple as you want. I've had some trouble finding nice fake flowers in Spain and, as I'm great at procrastinating, had to go for a local, next-day delivery shop four days before my meetup that ended up having pretty nice flowers.

Here is the lace I used and some hydrangeas I ended up discarding for this project

I wanted it to match the dress I was wearing for my meetup, so I went for a pink-ivory colour scheme. Make sure you try different set ups before you actually put everything together. I recommend to take pictures of the ones that you like so, even if you don't make it now, you can get back to those designs in the future. Alternatively, if you have made a proper design on paper before, you just need to recreate it in real life.

I tried this setup but ended up going for something different

Step 4: Wear your hat!

Now you only need to put your hat on and enjoy your one-of-a-kind piece. Here is a picture my friend Merkades from Dolls Stories took.



Bonus: Add safety measures

If having a hat on your head is going to make you feel self-conscious, feel free to sew a couple of plastic or metal combs to the sides so it stays in place!

Have you been making some accessories lately? What is your favourite handmade piece? Please show me in the comment section!

As requested, here's my review of issue n.6 of the Otome no Sewing mook. For those not familiar to it, Otome no Sewing is a biannual Japanese publication with several Lolita fashion patterns and instructions on how to sew them. There is both full outfits and separate pieces for you to make, and coordination ideas for the clothes. Moreover, it comes with a few crafts tutorials for small accessories. This issue was released in winter 2014. I bought it on Amazon from a seller called samurai media for 21,61€ (including shipping) and it took almost a month to get to Spain from Japan. I'm sure there's cheaper or faster sellers (it retails at 1200 yen/9,60€) but it was convenient for me at the time.


Now, first thing I'd like to state is I don't know how to sew and I've been learning Japanese for about 6 months now (and of course nothing related to sewing vocabulary). I recently bought a sewing machine and I'm learning how to do stuff on my own. That said, the instructions are pretty much self-explanatory. It comes with pictures and you can easily figure out how to do what you need to do. Of course, you also need the skills to put it together, which I'm trying to get now!



As I said, this is a winter issue, so it includes a coat and a jacket design. Apart from that, you will find the following:

• Hime Lolita outfit. Includes JSK, jacket, overskirt, fur cape, blouse, petticoat, echarpe, bonnet and rosette.
• Classic/Country Anne of the Green Gables outfit. Includes OP, apron, bloomers, long skirt (more EGA-like), blouse, totebag, hat and shawl.
• Separates: kodona pants and cape, underbust JSK, long sack OP (which is slightly different from the one on the Classic outfit), military style, double breasted JSK, simple shirred JSK, pleated skirt, tiered JSK, simple JSK with solid top and printed skirt.
• Tutorials: puffy velveteen headbow, mini bow clips (BTSSB style), loom bead appliques (for decoration, charms...). 

As you can see, you get a lot for your money, particularly if you get it closer to the retail price! Not all de designs are patterned tho (that's the case of the bloomers and the petticoat, for example). The garments included in the pattern sheet are shown on both sides of the sheet. However, the patterns for these are drafted in the mook and quite easy to put into paper/fabric.

These are the pieces included in the patterns

• I've gained more weight that I wish I had and Lolita brands are tending to release smaller sizes lately.
• I'm quite bored of the same clothes we see on mainstream shops, and buying the bulk of my wardrobe overseas would be expensive.
• I need to do new things.