Chic Cheat: Louis Louis

Animal magic becomes animal-mad chic!

If, indeed, there is a God, or an equally omnipotent being, it was very nice of him (or her – why not?) to notice that we the British were, in fact, due a summer, and make up for it by giving us a gracious heatwave, albeit when all persons concerned were back at work, school and related nasally-inclined grindstones!

Sartorially, we’ve had a summer of colour-clash-chic prints, contrasting colour blocking, nautical novelty and fabulous florals spending most of the season with knockdown sale prices, which is surely a sign of the times. For us lucky consumers, it’s a confection of disposable delights given away for almost pennies, for the shops, a desperate measure under desperate recessionary circumstances and for the workers responsible? Probably god-knows-what unimaginably horrific exploitation or abuse of human rights. That said, the head of my fashion course at university said that rather than necessarily hideous slave labour, some manufacturers feed, water and house their workers, providing a full and civilised community.

Either way, in amongst the harem pants, jumpsuits, tribal and Aztec references garnished with a vague sprinkling of neons, there were some trends which, although huge on the catwalks, were by and large overlooked on the high street, much to my surprise. My favourite were Louis Vuitton’s fabulous glitter sequinned animal motifs, revered by the likes of Vogue, no less, as a key look of the season.

Lupine luxury at Ungaro with sparkle and beading

Looking stylishly symmetrical at Vivienne Westwood

Canine chic at Topshop Unique

Then again, perhaps this prediction was further still ahead of its time than expected, if Vogue, once again, is to be believed (you know, quite possibly) with animal motifs once again making a foray into the big trends for autumn and winter, in all their sequinned, embroidered and printed glory. So here’s how to make your own…

Difficulty

Quite easy

Simple, straightforward and self-explanatory, for the most part. Requires a bit of skill, in the non-overlapping-yet-totally-covering application of sequins, and some planning, in putting your pieces together perfectly like a puzzle, but expert technical level it ain’t!

You will need

Giraffe sequinned top

Sparkly fabric - A-Z Fabrics on Goldhawk road - think it works out at about £4 metre in black, turquoise, silver and yellow

Jumper - about £5 from Primark

Bondaweb - £4/m from John Lewis

You also need a pattern tracing wheel, all-purpose scissors (that can cut through fabric and paper) and a pen you can use for tracing. All items except pen available in Korbond’s sewing bag, about £4 from Tesco

Iron and ironing board

Zebra sequinned top

Top - about £3 from Primark

Sparkly fabric - A-Z Fabrics on Goldhawk road - think it works out at about £4 metre - in black, pewter wine and red

Bead and fabric glue for correcting mistakes/ fabric that comes loose - Ells & Farrier do a 125ml bottle

Bondaweb - £4/m from John Lewis

You also need a pattern tracing wheel, all-purpose scissors (that can cut through fabric and paper) and a pen you can use for tracing. All items except pen available in Korbond’s sewing bag, about £4 from Tesco

Iron and ironing board

Tiger sequinned top

Jumper

Sparkly fabric in gold, orange, black and bronze - A-Z Fabrics on Goldhawk road £4/ m

Bead and fabric glue for correcting mistakes/ fabric that comes loose - Ells & Farrier do a 125ml bottle

Bondaweb - £4/m from John Lewis

You also need a pattern tracing wheel, all-purpose scissors (that can cut through fabric and paper) and a pen you can use for tracing. All items except pen available in Korbond’s sewing bag, about £4 from Tesco

Iron and ironing board

How you make a sparkling statement…

Print out the template of the animal motif you want to use. Print it out A4 size.

Place it on your bondaweb and trace around the edges of the coloured areas

Place it elsewhere on the bondaweb and trace around the outline. This will be for the base.

Using the dotted textured created by the tracing wheel as a guide, mark the edges out with your pen and cut out the pieces individually, write out which piece goes with which colour. Refer to the template if you’re unsure.

Repeat this with your outline.

Iron the pieces of bondaweb to the sequinned fabric and cut them out.

Referring to the template, place each piece, one by one on the jumper/ top, starting with the base, and affix it with an iron.

Alternative sequin cluster method

You will need

All the items already mentioned in the last list, plus…

9g Gutermann tubes of sequins in the relevant colours – available from a range of haberdashers and craft shops

Bead and fabric glue - Ells & Farrier do a 125ml bottle

You may also want to substitute the sequinned fabrics with plain coloured fabrics, for a smoother surface

Method

As before, then after you’ve attached your base fabrics, cover them generously with fabric glue.

Sprinkle your sequins sparsely enough to completely cover each area but not so that they are on top of each other or overlap, as this will cause them to drop off, leaving areas of nasty white glue visible.