DIY Festival Attire

                

 

 

 

 

 

Lately I seem to have been involved in overseeing a fair amount of festival packing for friends, but I have to confess to feeling a little bored with what has become a bit of a uniform. So I went in search of some stylish fashion DIYs that reflect my approach to statement festival dressing, they should have an element of fun but be cheap enough to allow you to cavort with wild abandon with out worrying about damage to your fashion purchases, at the same time I wanted to find unique pieces rather than copies of expensive fashion lines in magazines, these type of fashion DIYs are often of the up cycled variety and lean more to style than trends.

#Diy #Peplum Top With A Detachable Belt

DIY PEPLUM TOP WITH DETACHABLE BELT

Peplum seems to be everywhere right now, so while I'm saving for a designer leather peplum belt, I thought I would have a little fun with this style diy - turning my old much loved TopShop tea dress into a swish peplum top with detachable peplum belt, two for the price of one so to speak! Florals with a dark background are a huge trend this A/W 2012 so thanks TopShop! I think the finished result looks pretty sweet with my trusty denim pencil skirt and when I want to mash up my patterns a bit more I can wear the belt with a fitted printed T-shirt. What do you think?

   Diy Peplum Top With A Detachable Belt

  You will need

 A belt with holes running almost end to end medium width

 Or a pair of punch pliers and a regular belt

 A floral dress or skirt (depending if you want to create a top with matching belt or just the peplum belt)    with a flounce hem/loose frill.

Sharp Scissors

Needle and thread

Sewing pins

What To Do

1. Taking your scissors cut the skirt off the dress about mid way down or if you are using just a skirt the same applies, I found this easiest to do by hanging my dress on a hanger on the back of my door first.

2. You should end up with two sections like these.

3. Hem the edge of the dress top, then turn the skirt inside out, you should find a double seam that will allow you to cut through the frill, if you cut carefully in between the two seams the fabric won't fray.

4. Now if you don't have a belt with end to end holes you will need a pair of punch pliers to punch some more holes that reach almost to the end of your belt, I bought mine from Amazon, alternatively  use a small screw driver.

5. Now open out the skirt hem right out, so it runs straight across, double fold the fabric, then place your belt so it is lying just above the seam of the flounce. Next fold the fabric again so the folded edge just meets the edge of the flounce seam. The seam should stand proud of the flounce not flat, pin the fabric in position if it helps, then anchor the folded fabric in place with a stitch along the length of the deep frill, sewing into the raised seam. This reduces the stitches visible on the outside of the finished belt.

6.You may find that the belt is a little short for your frill, rather like opening a pair of pleated curtains play around with the fabric till your happy with how your frill hangs from the belt, then pop on your top, tuck the hem into a fitted something of your choice, a pencil skirt works well and fasten up your peplum belt over the top so it flares just over your hip. Then swivel the belt around so the belt is fastened at the back of you and make sure you tuck in the end of the belt to the fabric sleeve. Voila! Mission complete, you can feel rather proud and reward yourself with a cup of tea and a slice of cake if there is any left in your cake tin!

Back To Front Style DIY

Today's fashion post is on Back To Front Style!

This must be the easiest diy fashion post I have ever shared with you, but sometimes the easy one are the best. I recently picked up this gorgeous silk blouse at my local charity shop, I loved the print and the bright mish mash of colours, the sleeves are pretty on trend too, but I just felt the neckline was'n't quite right for me.My fashion mantra is great style is in the details and the drape, so I figured a speedy fashion fix was in order.

 I turned my blouse round so the back became the front and cut out the label from the neck, (the zipper is fairly deep and perfect to convert this look to lady like sports chic) it was looking good with my favourite dark denim pencil skirt but being of Dita Von Teese proportions, cough, ok, basically short waisted, which can leave my hips looking a bit on the full side.

 I decided to extend my back to front styling to my pencil skirt as I thought the placement of the single pocket below my hips and to the side would help draw the eye away from my hips and help with balancing out my shape. I added in one of my other favourite style tricks I used a salmon pink strap from one of my patent handbags to cinch my blouse in and add a little edge. Here is the look minus shoes as modelled by my favourite mannequin! I love the juicy colours.  

Reversible Western Bow & Sailor Collar DIY

Diy Reversible Western Bow & Sailor Collar

Hi there, I thought I would share my latest style DIY with you, which shows you how I made a large reversible bow from an old oasis shirt of mine, great for adding a bit edge to your t-shirt or round neck tops and dresses! Bows are even bigger news than usual at the moment as Minnie mouse my favourite Disney character is soon to infiltrate the catwalk, more on that later!  

You need a collarless sleeveless shirt, a western style denim or cotton shirt with a print is perfect as you need a deep yolk back and front of your shirt (this gives you the squared of sailor collar when you turn the bow back to front) but if you only have a shirt with sleeves and a collar it's obviously not an issue, just get out those scissors and cut those babies off outside of your seams! 

What you Need

1. Darning needle and thread 

2. Double sided tape 

3.Sharp Scissors

4.An old shirt with a deep yolk

How To Transform Your Shirt Into A Reversible Large Bow

 1. So now your shirt is free from sleeves and the collar simply cut the rest of the fabric of the shirt up to the very edge of the yolk seam, cut it as close as you can, but not any higher. I actually was a bit relaxed about how tight to the  seam I cut as I wanted a little grungy fraying on my cowboy shirt, as I felt it worked with the studs and checks.   

2. Next fold the edge of the shirt up till the edge sits just beneath the button hole and tape it in place, then stitch it in place using a large darning needle and matching thread.Repeat the process on the other side.By doing this you are defining the neck of your large bow.

You will find that there is a slight twisting of the fabric after you adjust and sew the neck fastening into place, I love the slightly 3d pleated effect this creates.

Voilà your done! To create your detachable sailor collar just wear this bad bow (not a spelling error!) back to front and charm everyone with the fancy pants detailing at the back of your look. I love it modelled by my favourite mannequin Beryl worn with this simple berry T and my crunchie yellow leopard jeans. What do you think? 

Do It Yourself Style

Keep your bottom warm and cheerful with this homemade rainbow saddle!

When times are tough the tough get creative, here are my top three thrifty but stylish D.I.Ys Do you have a favourite D.I.Y that you made recently?

Plastic spoons who would have thunk it? So elegant you could use black spoons too.

I love this idea for make up brushes, you could paint the base white if this is too rustic for you.

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