Couture to ribbons - how to make a DIY JW Anderson slatted top

JW Anderson's slatted chic is set to be a blinder for next season.

Inspiration

J.W. Anderson Ready To Wear Fall Winter 2016 London (clipped to polyvore.com)

You will need...

A top or sweatshirt (believe it or not!)

Bondaweb

10mm jump rings x 50

4mm eyelets x 100

Eyelet punch tool

Interfacing

Marker or tailor's chalk

Patternmaster or graded setsquare

Long-nosed pliers

Difficulty

Quite easy

Can't think of anything too demanding here but getting everything perfectly neat and professional-looking can be challenging.

Time

This took a lot longer than expected! Unfortunately, it took me somewhere between five and eight hours, although a lot of that was down to trial and error, so I'd say the actual work itself, without setbacks, would take somewhere within the region of five hours.

Slat that

Turn the sweatshirt inside-out and cover the front and back with interfacing.

Decide where you want the slits to go. I set mine out at 10cm intervals across the front, using my patternmaster to measure parallel lines 6cm from each side of the top, followed by two lines for the 'edge allowance' (you'll see what I mean later on) - each 2cm apart - and repeating the process until I reached the centre. I repeated this process across the back.

Cut strips of Bondaweb to cover the edge allowance on both sides. Again, mine were 4cm wide and I wouldn't recommend making them any narrower, otherwise the eyelets may be too wide for them. Iron the Bondaweb in place.

Cut lines along the centre of the edge allowance (you should have these already marked out) with V-shaped tips at either end.

Fold the edges back on themselves, including the pointed tips at the ends, and iron them to fix them in place.

Turn the sweatshirt right-side out and punch eyelet holes, measuring them as you go along to make sure they're the same distance apart and that they line up. I set mine out at 10cm intervals. Insert eyelets. You will need to use the eyelet puncher for this part.

Finally, join the eyelets together along the slits by inserting the jump rings. After that, your sweatshirt should hopefully look like this:

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

J.Crew Mardi Gras Earrings (see more steel 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.

Boxy Clever - How to DIY a Givenchy Geometric Paisley Blouse

Giving it some Givenchy with an old shirt, vintage scarf and fabric offcuts.

Here's a DIY-scapade I thought I'd share with you, both to whet your creative appetites and show you that if you keep hold of old scarves, fabrics and clothes (and find yourself coveting a £1200 Givenchy blouse worn by Rihanna and Fergie) you never know what creatively motivated rewards you may reap. Both the aforementioned stars stepped out in the Givenchy boxy paisley printed check blouse (okay, RiRi's was the bomber jacket version but picky picky!) and I wanted in - to be in a geometric vintage silky piece de resistance, that is!

Difficulty

So-so

In principle, the method's straightforward but it does have some fiddly bits and requires a lot of patience (as well as mild hoarder tendencies like I have!)

Time

20+ hours

Sadly, this one's a long'un requiring a lot of neat hand stitching, namely the slip stitch.

You will need...

A black blouse and...

Optional extras:

Tailor's chalk or gel pen

Ruler, patternmaster or graded setsquare

Blue fabric paint (make sure it's intended for dark fabrics)

Iron all your Bondaweb onto the wrong side of your scarf (where applicable) and satin fabric.

Pin your pattern paper to the back of your shirt and trace the outline.

Unpin your shirt and, referring to the original, trace out some similar geometric designs or whichever shapes you wish to use for your DIY version. You may want to use a ruler, patternmaster or graded setsquare, which will also come in useful for giving your pieces a 1cm seam allowance. Otherwise, you can use a fine pen of tailor’s chalk pencil to trace out your pieces and cut closely around them.

Make sure you’re clear as to which pieces are meant for your satin and which are meant for you scarf (label them if necessary).

Cut your pieces out, fold the seam allowance back on itself and iron it in place. If your seam allowance is 1cm then eyeball it, like I did, otherwise, fold along the lines you traced.

Hint: Bondaweb glue can get quite messy when ironed, so try to press with the edge of your iron and keep to the edge of the fabric, away from the adhesive.

Iron your pieces in place and slip stitch the edges down. You might want to use your pins to get your placing exact.

…And there you have it:

Optional extra:

You can use some blue or navy fabric paint for dark backgrounds to get the same subtle navy patterns that the original has, if you want some extra real McCoy authenticity.

DIY Digest: Foiled!

Another charming addition I thought I'd share with you - one that adds a £10 foil-finished jumper and some silver fabric paint, and no the result isn't £35, like the design that inspired it.

 Image: Riverisland.com

It was this impromptu urge to indulge that became me as I strolled through the shop earlier this weekend, before an increasingly well-used self-talk mantra that was to chine in my mind once again: "Wait for the sale!" before my creative call-to-arms; "I can make it at home for nothing!" My point? It comes at two different angles, for meandering as I was to the sale section, I recalled that I was comfortably replete in the silver fabric paint stakes and thought "All I need is a white jumper - surely that'd be bad tactics for them to put something as blatant as that in the sale?" Thankfully, how wrong I was. 10 minutes and one £10 pearlescent white jumper later, I knew exactly what I had to do to get a bona fide metallic foil effect.

You will need

Black and silver fabric paint - £3 each from Dylon

Fabric paintbrush - I'd recommend a coarse, bristly one

A white or cream jumper, bonus points if you can get one with a pearlescent "foil" finish, failing that, you can create a similar effect on the surface onto which you wish to paint, by investing in some pearlescent fabric paint

Time

I actually did time this one to the minute, well to the 30 minutes the whole process took me. Happy and glorious times!

Difficulty

Very easy

Needless to say, if you ask me!

How it's done

I find it helps to sketch your skull in place first with a pencil. Then mix in some black with your silver so that it contrasts with the background. Apply generous amounts of paint with each brush, sketching out some tiny leopard-style patterns in paint. You'll see that the pearlescent surface shines through to give it a metallic effect instead of the usual matte finish.

DIY Fest: Sweet sugar Kane

Difficulty

Medium-easy

Fiddly in places but generally straightforward.

Time

Mine took 15 and a half hours - thank God the design's only on one side!

And just to show you how it's done...

Scarf Ace

Scarf printed tops are the signature look of the current season - room for one more?

This concept of this tutorial came to me as a creative solution to the issue of what to wear to a festival (and still look fabulous whatever the harsh, conspiring weather!) I came up with a kaftan-style scarf printed top that's lightweight, cool and not too clingy. In fact, the advantage of its shape is the freedom of movement that it allows, as well as the versatility - it can be worn sleeveless with the drapes cascading along the sides or wrapped around your arms for extra warmth. What's more, if you glam it up and choose a silk patterned scarf, it's as chic for day wear as it is classy for the evenings.

Now that we're well into the season for spring/summer 2012 (read, just about getting started as far as the weather's concerned), I've noticed that the fashion statement to shout the loudest this season has been the Dolce & Gabbana-inspired scarf print look. The above examples are, well, just to refresh your memory, if, indeed they're needed (in which case, I do hope you enjoyed your holiday in space and eagerly await your postcard) Scarf prints are just one of the key looks inspired by Dolce & Gabbana, as they hold a well-heeled (and high-heeled I should suspect) foot in the camp of couture, with their collections being among the most talked about, season upon season. What's more, nostalgic romanticism was at the core of their creative inspiration from the start, the scarf prints of this season have just been a novel, contemporary approach, as is inevitable in fashion. As Domenico Dolce once said: "I like time. Now is not two minutes later and it's never like before. Repetition doesn't exist." Amen to that, and to alternate interpretation, Mr D.

Speaking  of new sartorial incarnations, the kaftan-style top I came up with was meant as an easy tutorial, ideal for all abilities and levels of experience. I also find it's great as a kind of all-purpose top, ideal for evening wear, throwing over a bikini at the pool and even for wearing with cut off shorts at a festival. It's easy to move in and great for adding a touch of elegantly draped finesse to an outfit...though I say it myself!

You will need

A patterned scarf, about 1m x 1m (H&M currently do one for £7)

About 1.5m ribbon that's strong and wide (mine was 3.5cm in width, priced at £4.35 from John Lewis, however you can buy it much more cheaply at a market. Also I'd recommend you choose a versatile colour that's not too hard to match like black or white)

Sewing machine

Thread that matches your scarf

Sewing scissors (the smaller and sharper the better)

Embellishment trims and all purpose/contact adhesive (optional. Quick tip: A thin covering of glue on the ends of your ribbon is a great and subtle way to stop it from fraying)

Tape measure

Patternmaster or a ruler and setsquare for measuring points on the scarf and making sure they're measured along straight lines.)

Metallic gel pen

Sewing pins

Difficulty

So-so

Just because you'll more than likely be working with a satin scarf or even something more sheer like chiffon, which can be a bit of a fiddle to sew. My advice is to just take care and take your time to avoid any nasty snagging and ripping.

Time

It took me 5-6 hours but I was pretty distracted so normally it'd probably be a lot less.

 So, here's how to give your scarf a second life...

A Brief Miu Miu-sing

My gratitude for your patience in this overdue entry and tutorial. I like to think, and live in hope, that it's been worth the wait - as well as further proof of the absolute gospel truth, and I understand one of the fundamental laws of physics, that one can never have too many bags or shoes. So, with that, I shall keep you no longer and cut straight to the chase...

For this entry I was part trend-conscious, part indulgent in my choice, taking on Miu Miu's red leather rosette pouch:

Difficulty

Fiddly

Pretty straightforward (I'm aware I say that a lot) but requiring of a steady hand and a reasonable degree of skill, especially for crafting the "rose." Definitely worth the effort but you have been warned!

Time

Mine took about 10 hours, most of which was spent waiting for the contact adhesive to dry - you have to apply it to both surfaces and wait 10-15 minutes before pressing them together - so, with a little multi-tasking and organisation, it's definitely possible to economise a little more on time.

You will need (in no particular order)

A small red bag

Black and opaque yellow fabric paint by Dylon (£3 each at John Lewis and £2.99 at Hobbycraft)

A sheet of A4 paper

A clutch pencil

A patternmaster or graded setsquare

Contact adhesive (£6.18 in tub form, which I used, or £2.08 in tube form)

0.5m leather or pleather

Scalpel

All-purpose scissors

Seam ripper

Wide paintbrush

Black gel or ballpoint pen

Palette knife

Sewing pins

The reasons? All will be revealed in the following video:

That hand-crafted oeuvre again...