Vintage and DIY fashion outfit

Velvet vintage dress with rope necklace and charm bracelets

Hope you are enjoying the festivities leading up to New Year and the religious holidays of the last few days.

I was recently given the book – Chic on a Shoestring by Mary Jane Baxter. Here is her facebook page – Chic on a shoestring. Her book is full of fabulous ideas. Can’t wait to try them out.

In the picture is a vintage velvet dress I plan to wear. My mother bought it when she was very, very young. She shortened the hem and I subsequently shortened the sleeves. It’s a heavy dress so it falls beautifully but it can be warm on a balmy night out.

Also in the picture are two charm bracelets, a long semi precious stone pendant and a rope and chain twisted necklace. The how-to’s have all been shown on previous posts in this blog.

The plaited rope necklace is here – how to make a plaited rope necklace.

The idea of twisting beads is here – how to twist a strand of beads to make a choker necklace. I added a piece of chain to mix it up a bit.

Charm bracelet with glass beads

The long necklace is so dead easy. I used a large piece of stone that had a hole through it. I put a finding eye pin through the hole and bent a loop at the end so it would stay in place. Then I added an O-ring to the eye pin so I could slip a piece of chain through. And I attached a long piece of silver chain. Here is another version of the long necklace – how to make a long pendant necklace.

The charm bracelets are also fairly easy to make. You can use quirky charms – think Christmas cracker toys, or more contemporary ones like silver charms. I have shown my mantra bracelet a few times. I used dog tags that had I stamped with my own special words to make it more personal – how to make a mantra bracelet.

The glass bead charm bracelet was bought. However, it shouldn’t be too difficult to make either. You would need a piece of chain with O-rings at each end. Attach a clasp to the one O-ring. Next, load beads to finding eye pins – here is what they look like – finding eye pin. Attach the beads to your chain. Voila! Your very own customised charm bracelet.

As is my custom, I like to rate the eco friendliness of this outfit. My model is wearing a velvet vintage dress, DIY pendant, DIY necklace which are all good green choices. The only bought item is the charm bracelet.Three out of four items give her a 75% eco rating.

Check out the Greenie Galleries at the top of this page for inspiration to DIY and not buy. Think curtains to caftan, wire to bracelet and scraps to scarfs. Share your DIY fashion ideas on the Greenie Dresses for Less facebook page.

I will be back next week.

Greenie.