It's glittery to talk - a five minute phone cover DIY

Just to update or rather elaborate on a previous entry, I thought I'd give phone cover customisation a try. While there were some lessons to be learnt and kinks in my methodology to be ironed out, though I say it myself, it's a super-effective five-minute DIY project for giving your phone its own unique style. DIY customisation can be a matter of necessity as well as individuality (I love my Google Nexus 5 but cover designs are somewhat limited). It's also enjoyable and therapeutic if you don't mind making a (truly beautiful) mess.

Tips for customising a phone

• Make sure you spread your glue as evenly and thinly as possible.
• Keep your design as flat as possible so that the phone fits properly and doesn't keep slipping out of the case. Keep to one layer of glitter and avoid textured items like gemstones or sequins.
• You can also keep your design flat and thin by placing and spreading your glitter with a palette knife instead of pouring it from the tube.
• Once you've finished your design, coat it with a thin layer of glue to protect it.
• Wait for your glue to dry completely before putting your phone into the case or it could cause major damage.

Fall for biker chic - How to make a fallaway biker jacket without a pattern

As we transition into spring, I thought it only fitting that I should carry on my theme of lightweight jackets with a fluid flight of fancy from the biker chic vein.

You will need...

55 x 150cm of bouclé wool

35cm of hook and eye tape (available here and almost nowhere else; to my knowledge they're no longer available at any mainstream retailers, perhaps because the hooks and eyes are fashioned from the ivory of unicorns and there's a shortage. Either way, it's not like the old days and sadly you have to look online. And breathe.)

Mannequin

Jacket sleeves (ideally lined)

Sewing machine

Fabric scissors

Needle and thread in a contrasting colour to the fabric

Pins

Fray-stop glue

Difficulty

Quite easy

Straightforward in principle but it has its fiddly moments.

Time

A day. Mine took eight hours. I thought it would be more straightforward but a lot of that time was spent problem-solving and figuring out how to make certain things work - both of which have been taken care of in this tutorial, so it should take you significantly less time.

So, just to wrap it up...

Finish off any raw fabric edges with fray-stop glue.

NB: Make sure you pin the fabric to the mannequin with the wrong side facing outwards. Try to position your fabric as concentrically as possible so that the fallaway collar is symmetrical (if it isn't, you can just cut away the excess fabric on the relevant side and fix the edges with glue again).

NB: This hand stitching should be done - and the outer sleeves should be visible - with the right side of the fabric facing outwards.

NB: Attach the eyelets under the folds of the jacket opening and top stitch them in place.

The jacket

DIY your festival wardrobe: Day two

Get your rocks off or stick some on in the name of style? You decide.

The second instalment of our festival-flavoured morsels of DIY ideas is more than a little bit rock'n' roll with (faux) leather, studs, chains, eyelets and an obligatory sprinkling of glitter. As a woman of words I endeavour to avoid slinging in the jarring, overused 'rock chick' cliché so instead I've thrown  retro rainbows and folksy fringing into the melting pot for a touch of 'I'm-with-the-band chic - that effortlessly cool, bohemian, devil-may-care elegance that can be thrown on yet look immaculately styled. Sure, glitter, rivets and chains have always lent themselves to DIY fashion but with the festival season on the horizon and eyelet fastenings bang on trend, their time is now.

DIY in a bottle - a quick tutorial for spicing up fairy lights

My third foray into home decor tutorials with the express purpose of repurposing saw me return to my trusty fairy lights, with a vial or three. Or twenty.

You will need...

In order for this to work, the bottles have to be tiny with wide enough necks for fairy lights to fit through, so I don't recommend that you use nail polish bottles. I got my bottles here.

NB: Make absolutely sure the fairy lights you use don't give off any heat (which is true of some LED lights), otherwise - not wanting to panic you or anything - the whole project could catch alight. And possibly your front room.

Difficulty

Very easy

...Not to mention very straightforward. You need to be reasonably dexterous with pliers and jewellery wire and that's about it!

Time

About an hour, depending on how many lights you have to cover.

Strike a light!

Repeat this process with the rest of the lights and bottles.

DIY your festival wardrobe: Day one

Kicking things off with Coachella - and the inevitable fanfare of fashion coverage that goes with it - the festival season is officially upon us. Whether you've joined the Coachella crowds already or are still hanging on for the summer for your fill of live music levity, 'tis the season for anticipation, appreciation and agonising over what to wear to look effortlessly fabulous while braving the mud. For the latter, let us offer you some quick-yet-effective DIY fashion ideas to peruse for inspiration. Today we're in a-little-bit-country country with fringing, check shirt customisation and bohemian detailing for making your own unique statement.

Pop the wall - How to recycle clothes to make Roy Lichtenstein-inspired wall art

Inspiration

Tracy's education blog » Blog Archive » Afterthoughts: helping... (clipped to polyvore.com)

You will need

Not pictured

Fabric scissors

Paper scissors or scalpel

Difficulty

Very easy

I've even thrown in a printable template to get you started and spare you some of the hard work. You're welcome!

Time

1-2 hours.

 How to make your picture

Print or trace an image like this on as large a scale as you can - ideally over two sets of A3 paper. Join them down the middle and stick them to some bondaweb.

Now to cut the design out in bondaweb.

Cut along the lines to make the various different shapes in the picture; place the shapes on the fabrics you want to use (NB: make sure you place them on the 'wrong' side of the fabric) and iron them in place.

After that, cut the shapes out in fabric and peel away the paper.

Iron the fabric onto the black sheet to make the image. Then, staple the black sheet to the frame.

Doily dose of DIY - how to upcycle doilies with fairy lights

You will need...

* Make sure you use clear sticky tape.

** Make absolutely sure - as in cross your heart and hope to die (or not) - that you use LCD lights that don't give off any heat; if they do, you run the risk of your project setting alight! I don't want to scare you, so just as a heads-up, you can find safe lights here.

Difficulty

Very easy

It helps to not be messy with sticky tape but in terms of challenge and technique required, that's about it!

Time

One hour.

Light up...

A photo posted by Charley H (@chiccheatcharley) on Apr 6, 2015 at 8:36am PDT