Fur real - How to DIY a Fur logo Fendi sweater

You will need...

A black sweatshirt

Assorted faux fur in different colours

Craft mount

Fabric scissors

Printer (unless you're an ace at tracing and copying templates)

Patternmaster or graded setsquare

A4 paper or magazine (hear me out on this one)

Pins

Difficulty

Very easy

An easy and therapeutic case of cut, stick 'n' colour (if you don't mind things getting a little messy!).

Time

About an hour, if that.

Get your fur on!

Print the above template across a sheet of A4, cut the letters out and place each one on the flat 'wrong' side of a differently coloured piece of faux fur.

A photo posted by Charley H (@chiccheatcharley) on Feb 1, 2016 at 1:47pm PST

Pin the letters down and cut the fabric around them.

A photo posted by Charley H (@chiccheatcharley) on Feb 1, 2016 at 2:34pm PST

The next step is to decide where to stick the lettering - and make sure it's straight! I did this by placing a magazine (you can also use an A4 sheet of paper) along the top of the ribbing and directly above the hem. I also used a patternmaster to make up the extra distance because I felt that the lettering didn't sit high enough.

Once you're happy with the placing of the letters, keep something in place to mark the line out and stick them down with craft mount.

DIY-scapades - a pompom cardie

A busy schedule and a spell of apathy I've been feeling under the oppressive grip of winter were the motivation behind this quick cardigan refashion. It's something about the fluffiness of the pompoms plus the fact that you simply have to sew press studs along the middle and then stitch the pompoms in place and Bob's your uncle that made this just the right project for a bleak winter's eve. All that's left to say is that when you do sew the pompoms in place, make sure you stitch through the middle of the pompom, pulling the thread as tightly as it will go.

Get it in the neck - an extra easy choker tutorial

With chokers taking centre stage as a trend - starting last year and it appears it's meant to go on for next season - you can't go far wrong with anything from metal masterpieces to 90s retro. I plumped for an easy tutorial to tackle the latter, remembering vividly how I used to love the new age look of an adjustable choker fashioned from black cord and a single charm (ideally a mood stone or an ethnic-style bead). Take it from someone who's been there, adjustable single-bead chokers are every bit as much of an authentic '90s staple as their velvet and stretch wire contemporaries.

Crossover chic - DIY lattice ankle boots

In one of my more indulgent entries, I thought I'd round off the party season with some bold yet adaptable gold lattice ankle boots.

You will need...

Ankle boots

Gold leather or faux leather

Stick 'n' Stay craft mount

Scalpel

Fabric scissors

Sewing machine or stapler

Staple gun

Black laces or ribbon

Difficulty

Challenging

This turned out to be one of my more challenging and time-consuming projects, taking more than five hours to make, so I'm writing it as a log of what I've been getting up to and what I learnt to do differently.

How to make them

In hindsight...

From here onwards is where I would change the method to make the project both easier and neater. What I should have done and would recommend doing would be to cut away the remaining fabric from the boots completely, fold it in half, trace the design onto the other side and cut it out. I would then have needed to cut away the fabric on the other boot, laid it flat, traced the design onto that and cut it out.

My next step would have been to lay the two cut out pieces face-down onto the gold material, facing the 'wrong' side, and trace around them with 2cm strips where I wanted the laces to go (which I'd fold into loops - as I did later on) and 1cm of excess fabric along the base, before cutting them out. After cutting both pieces out, my last steps would be to stick them to each of the matching pieces of material I cut from the boots with craft mount and attach them to the boots by stapling the material along the soles.

The boots

New year's eve-angelic - How to DIY Sophia Webster Evangeline sandals

Spot the difference

Designer

DIY

All set to party for new year's eve? Got plans in place? (Like, had them since April, duh!) And yet completely stumped on what to wear for the big night? I here at Chic Cheat can help assuage your last-minute wardrobe worries a straightforward statement shoe refashion that can give an old pair of black evening shoes a lift or - one might even say - wings!

You will need...

Black high-heeled sandals (unless, of course, you want yours to be in another colour to the original. This is, after all, a free country!)

Gold leather or faux leather (I'd recommend the latter in terms of affordability)

Scalpel

Stick 'n' Stay craft mount

Glue gun

Gold fabric paint

Black pen

Printer (optional but recommended)

Difficulty

Quite easy

In principle, it's very straightforward in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of a way; you cut out a design and stick it in place. On a practical level, however, it does help to be dexterous with a scalpel on leather (faux or otherwise - I'd say both were the same difficulty) and therein lies the challenge, if any (if that makes sense).

Time

A few hours; cutting shapes can be painstaking!

Taking flight

This is a template for the design I used. To save yourself the hassle of tracing or copying, I'd recommend printing the design, which measures roughly 18cm x 10cm, and cutting it out.

On the back of the gold material, trace around the template twice, then turn the template over and trace around it twice again, so that the last two shapes mirror the first two shapes.

Using a sharp scalpel (I'd recommend one with a fresh blade) cut all the shapes out.

Use craft mount to stick the shapes along the sides of the shoes and a glue gun to stick the four points down at the back of each shoe. Finally, paint the backs of the wing shapes gold to match the front sides.

Thunder stuff - how to DIY geometric Balenciaga earrings

Balenciaga Multi Thunder Earrings (see more yellow gold earrings)

My latest creative outing was inspired by Balenciaga's geometric Thunder earrings. This latest venture of festive sparkle-inspired imitation came partly as an ode to the statement earring as an invaluable companion to the classic LBD for carrying off a streak of individuality with seamless elegance. However, it was the idea of making wire jewellery that didn't look like a paint-by-numbers (as it were) craft project that swung my decision to take on this quick, simple project.

You will need...

Soldering iron and solder

Gold stud earrings

Gold wire, about 2mm thick

Jewellery making pliers

Difficulty

Very easy

If you're reasonably dexterous with wire and long-nosed pliers, this should be a quick, straightforward and enjoyable outing.

Time

I wasn't really watching the clock this time around - you might almost say I got too caught up in the moment - but it was definitely under an hour.

Styling thunder

Bend the wire into a geometric design. I found that the best way to get the tight oblong corners of the original was to twist the wire as far as you can in a semicircle around the tip of the pliers.

Make a loop at the top of the earring and solder it to the stud.
N.B. I used studs with quite wide bases and would recommend them for best results.

Repeat the process to make the other earring.

Luxe and Tux - a brief refashion

For those of you who are wondering if I'm still alive or have been abducted by aliens just as the respective mid-winter festivities are starting, the good news is that tonight I have finally found the motivation to write up my latest project with a mini-tutorial in picture form. My refashion of an evening jacket was inspired by the YSL tuxedo jacket Cara Delevingne wore to the Paper Towns premier.

The Best of Cara Delevingne's 'Paper Towns' Style (clipped to polyvore.com)

Having a glam jacket to add at least a token gesture of warmth over skimpy party dresses is no bad investment for the chilly winter months. What's more, a boxy suit jacket is the perfect match of devil-may-care glamour and aloof androgynous mystique, a twist on traditional elegance that gives festive glitz and sparkles a razor-sharp edge.

You will need...

A suit or evening jacket

Leather, faux leather or satin trim, about 10cm wide

Sewing machine with a leather needle (which you can pick up at all good haberdashers) unless you're working with satin

Scissors

Time

5-6 hours.

Difficulty

Quite easy

In principle, it's a straightforward project but you need to be reasonably confident at sewing with leather.

Luxe it up

Since I was just covering the collar, I let the picture speak for itself with a few pointers and directions.

This is how mine turned out: