Jun 17, 2010 | DIY, Life
So I’ve decided to forgo my “DIY Links of the Week” roundup since I honestly can’t keep up with all the great stuff out there, and by the time I come across it I’m often late to the game. So here’s something new! First off, please allow me to share a couple projects that have been on my radar that are just plain awesome.
These are embroidered, people. Embroidered. EMBROIDERED.
And then I must have had shoes on the brain because I became a little obsessed with the shoe makeovers.
Blogger Nurinia from shares her tutorial on making ribbon-tied wedge shoes with removable ribbon. I love her idea for securing the ribbons, and how you can change them out when you tire of them.
ItsaboutSarah added lace and pearls to a pair of black heels to make these fantastic ladylike shoes. Think of how well this would work on a pair of beat-up plain thrift store pumps!
Speaking of thrift stores, they almost never have shoes in my size (which is a very popular size 7.5). But now I can start foraging for shoes that are too big for me, too! Cut out the toes of a too-large boot and shave down the sole to create a peep-toe bootie, just like Lions, Tigers, and Fashion Oh My! did. Oh My! And she made some DIY Miu Miu maryjanes.
So now here’s what’s new…I’d love to see all the projects you’ve been working on. Here is my first…
DIY ROUNDUP
Can’t wait to see everyone’s projects!
xoxox
Carly
Leave Comment
Jun 1, 2010 | DIY
You gals have dresses on the brain, as evidenced by my formspring.me inbox.
Okay, first to the reader who is looking for more men’s shirt dresses:
I’m sure you’ve already seen mine but in case you had missed any I’ve relinked them above. All were made by repurposing men’s shirts.
I’m also working on another tutorial for you guys for the dress above, made from a men’s long-sleeved shirt.
Here are a couple others I’ve noticed around the web:
midnightintern‘s FABULOUS Rockstar Sack Dress. Have I mentioned it’s fabulous?? (And I’m making a similar one in cobalt blue right now!)
Adventures in Dressmaking posted a tutorial about turning a blouse (men’s shirt will work just as well) into a dress by adding the bottom skirt. Also, read back through her archives to see other tutorials and transformations, as well as a great tute for turning a man’s shirt into a skirt.
Rachel at Transient Expression linked her Shirtdress tutorial in the comments – which I had seen awhile ago and forgot to add in! Thank goodness she caught it – because her chambray pinafore-style dress is just perfect for 2010!
Though it’s in French, km17 has posted the finished results of some men’s shirt refashioning that she did following the instructions from a Japanese pattern book. [I do think those Japanese refashioning books are really cute and innovative (and they can really makeover your man’s shirts!! But then again, I’m biased.;-)] She hasn’t posted the how-to, but you can probably figure out how she did it by looking closely at the finished pieces.
And Wardrobe Refashion, CraftStylish, Craftster.org, CutOutandKeep.net, and Threadbanger are all great resources for refashions!
Thanks for your questions, as always:-)
xoxox
Carly
Ask me anything
Save
Leave Comment
May 5, 2010 | DIY
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind is what to get for the mother in their lives. DIY a lovely gift for a Mom of any age – using fabric and glass, two of the best materials known to the modern gal. Here’s an internet roundup of some great projects to create flowers that last forever, and beautiful jars to display them in or use as knicknacks around the house:
Happy Together makes a beautiful bouquet out of multilayered fabric flowers by tracing the shapes of store-bought flowers to make a pattern.
If you’d like some patterns for making fabric flowers without having to sacrifice store-bought blooms, I’ve shared a few patterns for a camellia, carnation, dahlia, and lush camellia on my site Chic Steals.
If you’re looking for rose-making how-to’s, here’s a tutorial on DuhBe for a satin rose bloom, a Rolled Fabric Rose tutorial downloadable pdf from Portobello Pixie, and a Tattered Fabric Rose Tutorial from Everyday Chaos.
You can also buy small fabric gifts for Mom (decorative pouches, stockings, scarves, underwear * o * …) and roll them up tightly to make your own rolled rose bouquet, adding straws, wrapped wire, or takeout chopsticks for stems. (Taking a leaf from Hanky Panky, seen above.)
Now as to what to put your lovely flowers in…
And if you want to go all-out and present in a beautiful vintage-style faux blue mason jar, Bridal Buzz has the how-to for ya.
To take a break from the “must give flowers for Mother’s Day” mantra…what not think a little out of the jar box? If Mason jars are on your mind, maybe Mom would love this handcrafted terrarium that Craftzine can help you with?
The Home-Made Sun Jar from Instructables user cre8tor is another fabulous use of the jarred variety.
You could also make Freehand Etched Glass Votives, thanks to Instructables user Robyntheslug.
Or, you could make hand-poured candles in jars, courtesy of Centsational Girl.
Bath salts…bath fizzies..bath bombs…lotions…find every single recipe you could ever want for home-made bath & body products at Craftbits.com, and present in a beautiful jar.
Or even a jar of a homemade cookie mix, granola, or hot cocoa might work well for a mother with a sweet tooth. (Guilty!) See RazzleDazzleRecipes for a ton of great cookie-mix-in-a-jar recipes.
And isn’t this ingenious? Cupcake in a Jar recipe, courtesy of MyCakies.Hope that’s planted some seeds for some great DIY ideas for Mom…and if your Mom isn’t the type to swoon over flowers or decorate with jars and knicknacks…well, there’s always a gift card to Amazon.com, right?
Have a Happy Mother’s Day!
xoxox
Carly
top image from stockphotopro.com
as posted on Threadbanger
Leave Comment
Apr 19, 2010 | DIY
Got any cool [semi-recent] DIY tutorials you’d like to see featured here? Send them my way!
xoxox
Carly
Leave Comment
Apr 16, 2010 | Media
Fashion is Booming
Edited by Fashion Pulse Daily
Style cares not about the economy, so we continue on, falling in love with a fabulous pairs of shoes, lbd, and the perfect little cardie. New boutiques, designers, ideas, and innovative, avant garde concepts continue to emerge, and we can’t help but start a new love story with our latest DIY project, amazing vintage find, department store score, or simply a fabulous floral umbrella. And so, as the title suggests, fashion is booming, creativity is soaring, and we can take a big exhale and shove our worries aside – it’s time to allow ourselves to get excited about wearing some new or all-time favorite spring-weather garments and accessories.
As expected, there was a fabulous round-up of links in the forum as well, all worthy of your eyeballs!
[Note from Jennine] Oh, and if you’re looking for something to do this summer… IFB is looking for interns!
Links à la Mode : April 15th
- 39th and Broadway – An Interview With The Person Who Really Determines How Your Clothes Fit!
- Chic Steals – What happens to a piece of clothing once it is donated to a charity such as Goodwill?
- Dedicated Follower of Fashion – Explores the new Spring/Summer Collection from Stylesmith:
- Denim Debutante – Three Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Jeans
- Evoluer – My best friend & I came across mint condition vintage Chanel at the local thrift store!
- Fashion Pulse Daily – Discovers a new way to think about dress via Linda Grant’s ‘The Thoughtful Dresser’
-
Fasshonaburu – Need inspiration on fun color combination? Try looking at wedding palette articles!
- For Those About to Shop – Breeyn McCarney’s eco-conscious collection finds beauty in despair
- House in Tillford – An interview with two big blogs: learn from their experience on how to grow your own blog
- Idiosyncratic Style – Recycled Style Project: DIY paperclip necklace
- Independent Fashion Bloggers – Microsoft Launches KIN : The Social Media Phone
- Maple Sucre – The Women x Women Exhibition: Inspiring Young Women to get Behind the Lens
- M.I.S.S. – The Rag Trade: Wear it Now or Wear it Later
- Oranges and Apples – Ways of wearing vintage
- Retro Chick – Video Tutorial: Vintage style victory roll fringe bangs
- Some Kind of Style – Mr. Sartorialist In Town…
- Style Eyes – Couture: What’s the Point?
- The Coveted – March Springs, April Showers…. Floral Umbrella for Spring
- TheWellAppointedCatwalk – Suneri on Newbury
- TheWorkingWardrobe – Battle of the Blazers: 25 different blazers for 25 different styles and body types
- TrueQueen – Can Sweat Pants be Sexy?
- Tweet – Simon Ekrelius: Chalk, Mirrors and Confessions
- Widespread – An Interview with a new SF based store who gathers inspiration from the world
from IFB’s Links a la Mode 4.15.2010
Did you see the link to my Goodwill post up there? (2nd link!)
So happy to be included for this week!
xoxox
Carly
Leave Comment
