Ribbon Necktie, a la Alexa Chung
Ribbon bow at neck Green velvet ribbon neck-tie a la Alexa Chung This post is a nod to the girl of the moment Alexa Chung. She often wears ribbon tied at the neck of a white shirt. So simple, so inexpensive, so subtle and oh so stylish. I have a few pieces of velvet...
Adding Lace Trim to Skirt Hem
Lace edged skirt Adding lace trim to a skirt I loved the neutral coloured lace trimmed shorts from Chloe a few seasons back. I see Erdem are doing similar shorts for Summer 2011 in black. There is lace in the aforementioned style. Sort of resort or preppy. Then you...
Bangles from Electric Cable
Recycled electric cable bracelets How to wind a Scooby Doo bangle To make these Scooby Doo bangles you need electric cable. I found a few meters of 10 core cable. To make them, use a Stanley knife or blade, and please, taking great care, slit the outer plastic...
Scooby Doo and Rope Bangles
How to make coated wire bracelets Scooby Doo bangles The new softer ethnic styled jewellery that is so hot right now is another way to update an existing wardrobe on a budget. I have been trawling the net for patterns for macrame bangles. In the picture are what we...
Bubble Coat
How to make a bubble coat Bubble coat I showed in a previous post how I turned a regular skirt into a bubble skirt by slipping elastic into the the hem. I thought it might be nice to have a bubble coat too. So I did the same to this coat. It's really easy. You need to...
Distressed Denim
DIY denim distressing My intention with this blog has always been to share ways to update an existing wardrobe on a shoestring. I positively loathe distressed denim and will never, ever wear it. It's right up there with hems too long that drag on the floor. See a...
Three Quarter Leg Trousers
Upcycling trousers I am so loving Isabel Marant's winter rockabilly look. And what's even better is the three quarter leg look is dead easy to achieve. Fold a deep turn-up in a straight or narrow leg trouser. Et voila! If you are sure you will love the look forever,...
Sewing Wide Leg Trousers
Home made wide leg pants Pattern for easy to make pants I have so missed sewing and making things these last three and a bit months while I have been on the move. The one item I wore a lot during this time was my wide leg trousers. In the picture is the pattern I...
Top Twenty Packing Tips for Travellers
What to pack for a holiday I thought I would have a different slant to the blog today. Since I have been on the move, I decided I would give my top twenty travel packing tips. So here goes with the travel packing tips - 1. I pack an almost...
Tote or Shopping Bags
Make a tote bag Here is a picture of the tote bags from the last post - in the making. I still have one of the original Body Shop cloth bags which I bought nearly two deacdes ago on the right. In the UK right now designer shopping bags are everywhere now and being...
Easy Tote Bags
Tote bag tutorial I allowed myself a day off to go walkabout yesterday. The UK retailers are having sales galore. Temptation at every turn to spend, spend, spend. It's a bit weird as it's the summer stuff they are moving out to make way for the new winter fashions....
Contrast Lace Trim on Shirt
How to revive a shirt I said in the last post that I was taking a break from this blog for 3 months. It's not possible to bring my sewing machine and supplies overseas with me. However, I found one more picture in amongst my photos. I spoke of adding a white lace or...
Lace Trim on Shirt, Romantic Styling
Upcycle a shirt I am going to have to slow down on posts to this blog for a few months. I'm on the move and schlepping my sewing machine, boxes of fabric, trims and gadgets around with me is simply not an option. In the meantime here is a one more post with a picture...
Flowers on Shoes
Ways to upcycle sandals These slip-on sandals got a face lift with some loose flat-ish flowers. If the flowers had been too small, too tall or too stiff, I doubt this would have worked. I glued the flowers to the top of the sandals with some strong glue. As simple as...
Easy Chanel inpiration jacket
In the picture is easy jacket number ... not sure anymore. I can't stop making them and I love wearing them. I chose this upholstery fabric because of it's splotchy design which is so current right now. I used green rick rack for the edges. The rest of the outfit...
Chanel Influence and the Easiest Box Jacket
Home made box jacket I got sewing again a few weeks ago. The Chanel inspired jacket is back and my pattern is a piece of cake to make. This pattern has no buttons, no lining, no collars, no pockets, no inter-facings or bondings, no nothing extra. The fun lies in...
No Sew Halter Top from Silk Scarf
Easy halterneck top I am back to the idea of wearing scarves. In this picture is a more classic design scarf. I folded one corner over and used a few safety pins to secure the "flap". Then I slipped a piece of ribbon through the "flap" and tied it around Marguerite's...
African Beads and Fabrics
Ethnic beads Today I thought I would do no more than show you where I go shopping. How lucky am I to have a shop with fabric and beads as beautiful as these? The items are mostly African in origin. This particular bead merchant has brass beads, seed beads, shell...
Fun T-shirts
I've been busy making up more designs for plain white T-shirts. The one on the left is a heart shape cut out of white cotton fabric. I did two rows of stretch stitching around the edge and then stitched it to the front of the T-shirt. On the right, I took some fairly...
Christopher Kane inspired velvet ribbon trim on skirt
In keeping with the theme of the last post I've gone a bit Christopher Kane with this skirt. His summer collection had these bold lines on the clothing. Some of the left over velvet ribbon from the Tuxedo trousers was added it to this skirt. A person can...
Diagonal lace trim on skirt
Fashion is a great way to express your character. It's also an easy way to look a right mess. I have to watch myself as I fall in love with colours and items and textures and start to pile it all on. A bangle here and a scarf there and next thing, it's clean over the...
Key ring necklace
Key ring necklace In the last post I spoke of making a necklace out of key rings. At our local bead merchant they sell items in bulk. In the middle of the necklace, in the picture, are bags of clasps and O-rings. I also have a bag of key rings. I used the O-rings to...
No sew silk scarf
I was back at the fabric shop today. I could visit the bead and fabric shops and wander around all day long simply looking at the stuff for sale. I'm not convinced the price of an outfit is what makes it special. It's the juxtapostion of shapes and colours as well as...
Doorstop using left overs
Back to household items. Easy ones. I don't do difficult projects. This is a rectangle stitched closed at the sides and bottom. Then filled with sand and stitched closed at the top. Makes a perfect doorstop. I like doorstops because they stop doors slamming. They keep...
Flower brooch
These little flower brooches came from an idea on the Martha Stewart website. Martha had these paper flowers you string together to make party decorations. I thought why not use fabric scraps to make flower brooches instead? The template is easy enough. It's a rounded...
Funky T-shirt from Knicker Elastic
T Shirt ideas This idea of customising old white tank tops with scraps of whatever I have lying around has been an interesting journey. This tank top got some of the left-over knicker elastic from the headbands I made a few months back. Much like with the green wool...
Easy Summer Dress
Make your own summer dress Following on from the - the last post - here is another version of the easy triangle dress. To re-state what I have probably said a few times in this blog, the variations when you make your own clothes are endless. This dress would make...
DIY Triangle Sun Dress
Sun dress from an old table cloth This triangle shaped sun dress is so easy to make. I will admit I downloaded this particular pattern for free but I wish I hadn't. This download version has four pattern pieces. Hence the seam in the front of this dress in the...
Using Velvet Ribbon to make Tuxedo Trousers
DIY side stripe trousers In the picture is some of the velvet ribbon about to be sewn to the trousers to turn them into Tuxedo style trousers. You could also stitch the ribbon along the outer side seam for a more authentic Tuxedo trousers look. Not much explaining...
Ideas for Trimmings
Various trimmings The T-shirt projects have got me going. I scratched through all my off cuts, odds and ends. In the picture is plastic rope, silver rick rack, velvet ribbon, wool and short pieces of bias binding. I have been arranging them on my T-shirts to make...