Monday 27 July 2015

Go (Hil)figer - How to DIY Tommy Hilfiger metallic star booties


Footwear Stills - Tommy Hilfiger Runway Show



A versatile wardrobe staple, Tommy Hilfiger's metallic star booties added just the right balance of glamour and Ziggy Stardust-era rock chic to capture the imagination of fashion insiders. And so, while these booties had celebrities and editors alike in raptures and I wanted in on the action, so I got crafting.

You will need...

Black suede or suedette ankle boots

Red enamel paint

4-6 squares (about 20x20cm) of differently-coloured metallic fabric - ideally leather or faux leather

Car body filler 

Palette knife

Craft mount (I recommend Crafter's Companion Stick 'n' Stay)

Fabric scissors

Felt tip pen (or something for sketching on the back of fabric)

Difficulty



Moderately easy

Sculpting the heels can be fiddly but apart from that, it's pretty straightforward.


Time

About 5 hours.

Sticking stars...











The tutorial in full











A photo posted by Charley H (@chiccheatcharley) on




Trace out as many star shapes as you can on the back of your metallic fabric - if you need to - and cut out the star shapes.






Use your car body filler to sculpt the heel. I find that the best way of tackling it is to lie the shoe on its back, mix a generous dollop of body filler and slather it into a rounded shape the top of the heel, holding it in place about halfway down with the flat plastic applicator provided, until it dries. Then mix a second batch of body filler and repeat the process. Mix a tiny bit more filler and apply it with your palette knife to smooth down the sides. Once you've made your wavy heels, paint them with red enamel paint. I'd recommend two coats so that it's completely opaque.







Once the enamel paint has dried, stick the stars in place with craft mount.












Saturday 18 July 2015

DIY digest: Get shirty!


A five minute project to wrap things up!Zimmermann Anais printed cotton and silk-blend wrap top





I have two things to thank for coming up with this straightforward, charity-shop-friendly DIY project: the wrap top above and this viral vest video - and several permutations thereof - that's been doing the rounds recently.


The process lends itself to all abandoned shirts needing a new home - like, say, your wardrobe - from sheer blouses to Hawaiian patterned horrors from yester-decade (hypothetically speaking, at least). Mine was done on a chiffon blouse, procured from a charity shop for the agreeable price of £2.50.






The diaphanous nature of the fabric meant that I wasn't happy with using fray check to finish the edges, so I folded the edge back and machine-sewed a zigzag hemming stitch (this does make the project a little more time-consuming to finish but thankfully not much).




A photo posted by Charley H (@chiccheatcharley) on



Sunday 12 July 2015

The big drop - how to DIY J Crew Mardi Gras earrings


J.Crew Mardi Gras Earrings

While statement sunglasses - not forgetting a particularly ubiquitous Dior offering-  might have been ruling the roost in the must-have item stakes, Style.com assures us that super-sized earrings are the statement piece-du-jour on the fashion week street style circuit. It's a daring feat for a bold statement;  pulling off massive hoop earrings and drawing attention to the ear, as an erogenous zone, are both a challenge. However, the instant potential to dress up the most effortlessly casual of outfits with these earrings makes them worth the investment - and worth the effort if you're making your own.

You will need...


* You need flower beads, peach faceted beads and peach faceted drop beads.

Not pictured

Pliers

2 fish hook earring fastenings

Difficulty



Medium


This was more challenging than I expected; I'd say it required moderate technical skills and a lot of care and manual dexterity, otherwise it could get very messy.

Time

4 hours.


Just a drop or two...


Cut out two large circle shapes out of fibreglass, with two cut out circles inside them, near the top.


Pierce some holes along the bottom of each shape and one at the top. Thread some short strands of wire through each one.

Mix some resin and hardener and douse the fibreglass with it. Paint some brown blotches of varying thickness to give the fibreglass a tortoiseshell effect.






Attach the beads and hooks by threading each wire though each bead or fish hook and twisting them together with the pliers so that they're secured.

Glue the flower beads and diamantés in place.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Clutching at the fringe - How to DIY a Georgina Skalidi Blue RAF Clutch with Fringes

A tasselly ten-minute tutorial inspired by the statement clutch trend.Georgina Skalidi Blue RAF Clutch with Fringes


For my midweek entry I thought I'd share a quick but striking one with you inspired by Georgina Skalidi's fringed RAF clutch.





Monday 6 July 2015

Cutting it fine - How to DIY a snug-fitting cut out top





A photo posted by Charley H (@chiccheatcharley) on





A bit of Acne action, my inspiration for figuring out how one cuts shapes that don't gape into a top, bodysuit or swimsuit  came from this cool top I snapped from Stylist magazine and embedded, semi-scrapbook-style. Here's the top again in black:



Acne Studios Deanna Cut-Out Swimsuit




Difficulty



Pretty easy

As I say with many projects of mine, it is said purely in the interests of back-covering and avoiding presumption as to how easy you're likely to find it. It's straightforward but like so many projects of this ilk a degree of manual dexterity is required.


Time

30-45 minutes


Making the cut


Put the top on a mannequin so that you can fit it easily and accurately.

Cut out the shape you want for your design; you might want to draw it first. Bear in mind that the shape is likely to be at least slightly warped in the process so keep it simple.

For a snug. non-gaping fit, do a loose tacking stitch with a needle and thread about half a centimetre from the edge (eyeball it!) and pull it until it's 'skin-tight.'
Pin some bias binding along the inside of the shape and sew it in place along the outer edge.


Leaving loads of excess thread at both ends, stitch along the inside edge with the longest stitch your machine will do. Pull the thread tightly so that the bias binding ruches, easing the ruching along the binding so that it's consistent throughout the shape.


And there you have it. This process also works with bodysuits and swimsuits.