DIY inspiration: Rhinestone Friendship Bracelets

I love making woven friendship bracelets using embroidery thread. All these bracelets came from this amazing seller on etsy. They are made using vintage hardware and gems, but you could easily recreate something by sewing on old broken jewellery and chains. Summer may nearly be over, but something like this on your wrist would definitely prolong those summer vibes! 

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DIY long vintage dress to dip hem tunic

Heya!
Thought I would share my latest dress transformation using a vintage St Michaels dress I found in a charity shop for £4. 

(Vans Authentics - Office, scrunchie- handmade)

I fell in love with the print and couldn't wait to make it shorter and more wearable. I thought I would do something different this time instead of just shortening it and cinching it in at the waist with a belt as I normally do with dresses like this. In my head I pictured a loose floaty smock/tunic style dress with a slightly longer hem at the back, that I could wear with lace cycling shorts and chunky heels. 

I started by getting rid of the elasticated waist which was stopping the dress from hanging loosely. This was hard at first as the elastic was sewn into the waist seam, so I had to make a new seam.

 I folded the dress over at the waist and sewed the whole way round just below the elastic. After this I could cut away the elastic and I was left with the flat, ungathered seam that I had created. I always overlock my seams and I sewed round this seam again just to strengthen it. 

This left me with waaayyyy more fabric than I had anticipated, and although I wanted it loose and floaty, it flared out like a tent, so I took it in at the sides. I did this by trying it on and feeling how much I wanted to lose each side. I then laid it out flat and pinned where i wanted to sew- I took out 2 inches from each side starting at the arm pit. This gave a much better fit whilst staying quite loose. 

Next I did the dip hem. I found the centre of the front of the dress and folded it down this central line and laid out. I then marked from the highest point at the front (try on and mark this first) and the lowest point at the back. Then i drew a sweeping line in between them to join them up. 

I then pinned the fabric up to this line and tried on. Once I was happy with the shape I overlocked and hemmed this edge. Overlocking makes the hem so much easier to turn on floaty thin fabrics like this.  I had a nightmare with this part because I stupidly started sewing next to a vase of flowers, managed to get the fabric caught round it and spilt the water all over the dress, my machine, the floor and myself. Far from ideal and I won't be making that mistake again!

Lastly I decided to do cut out sleeves. I laid the dress out flat and then measured 1.5 inches from the end of the sleeve and then cut a straight line right up to the shoulder seam. I then repeated on the other side and hemmed both. I just thought that added a bit more interest to the dress. 

And here is how I would wear it:

dress - vintage St Michaels 

leather bag - vintage

shoes - ebay 

lace cycling shorts - ebay

watch - Marc by Marc Jacobs

name necklace - ebay

lips- MUA lip liner in Red Drama and Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang 

What do you guys think? It was nice to do something different with a vintage dress and I particularly like the fact I can wear my new lace cycling shorts! Also I'm in love with this new vintage bag. Its the softest leather and cost just over a fiver from a charity shop. 

I am feeling very inspired lately after I went to the De Montfort uni open day in Leicester on Saturday. We visited the degree show and it was incredible. The standard of work was so high and it made me so excited for the future rather than scared and full of self doubt which is the effect some open days have had on me before. I'm trying to decide between a course like textiles for fashion, fashion fabrics and accessories or contour fashion (swimwear, underwear, corsetry). The contour fashion exhibition impressed me the most but I'm unsure whether that would be a good degree choice for me. I'm rubbish at small intricate things that need lots of little components and take lots of time. Oh well I still have a year at college to decide what I want to do. I'm absolutely distraught I will be a mature student by the time I get back to uni though. Oh life. 

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P.s. This is my last post with ombre hair. I just can't make myself like it. Its a nightmare to make my hair look nice when its bleached. I'm going to go a light natural brown so there's still a bit of a lightening effect towards the ends. My hair is trashed I need a good 3 inches off the ends wahhh girl problems. 

DIY American Apparel inspired scrunchies

Sunday afternoons were made for making scrunchies. I had so much fun making these and they are so quick and easy to make. 

I was inspired by the ones from American Apparel which are from £4.50-£7- a lot of money for something so easy to make. 

Photo from American Apparel

Here's how I did it:

I love the shiny purple one but its that annoying fabric that sheds everywhere. Looks like I have glittery purple dandruff. The black one though works fine!

I prefer scrunchies to hairbands because:

1. They are easy and quick to make
2. They reduce breakage because they are softer and don't snag
3. You can put your hair up wet without breakage
4. You can create some very big, voluminous messy buns you wouldnt be able to achieve with bands
5. Adds an 80s/90s twist to your outfit and takes you down memory lane
6. Easier to find in your bag
7. If you turn up a skirt, dress, trousers etc. you can make one from the excess material to match your outfit- my scrunchie always used to match my dress when I was little ha
8. A lot more interesting than a plain old hairband

What do you think? Would you wear a scrunchie?

Thanks for reading :)

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DIY men's gold chain bracelet to necklace

Hello :)

I got this bracelet originally to use on my box clutch DIY but it wasn't long enough for a wrist strap. I always just assume men's bracelets will be enormous but this one wasn't sadly. (I got it off eBay for £2.99 including delivery).

I'm a big fan of the gold statement jewellery around at the moment. Everyday I wear my gold Marc by Marc Jacobs watch and gold midi rings and stacking rings- i feel lost without them. I thought I would use this bracelet to make a similar more daintier version of the chunky chain necklaces about at the moment.

Here's my step by step DIY. It's super easy to do using any old men's gold chain bracelet.

Sorry about the images being all different shades; I took a couple at another time of the day. 

I'm really happy with mine it makes a statement but it isn't too in your face like some of the necklaces at the moment. I think you could wear it day or night. 

Let me know if you have a go at making this, I'd love to see your necklaces!

Thanks for reading and hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

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DIY Inspiration : Box Clutch

Today I found a box clutch in a charity shop which I snapped up for £3. Its a great shape and I'm just thinking about all the things I could do to it. Here's some clutches inspiring me at the moment:

All Lanvin apart from the green (Burberry) and the yellow (Kenzo). (All images sourced from google)

Recently I've bought loads of new pencil skirts and crop tops for nights out . This summer I especially love the white and colour block trends. My favourites are a white pencil skirt and a white crop top with mesh sleeves with thin strappy heels and a bold lip. I think gold and white looks so good together, so I'm definitely going to add a thick gold curb chain wrist strap to the box clutch like the Lanvin ones above. 

I'm also loving the lion and tiger imagery which is about at the moment, especially from Kenzo. I think it really adds some personality!

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DIY 80s vintage dotty dress transformation

Hey!
Two posts in one day! I don't know what's happened to me haha! This is just to show you the vintage dress I changed and basically made into a mini length. I bought this in a charity shop and it was enormous as you can see from the pictures! I fell in love with the navy dotty print and the wide lepels. This just made me think of Princess Diana, and straw boater hats.   
Here's what it looked like before I took my scissors to it: 

Truly hideous and I do question why I put photos this unflattering on the internet haha! 


So I began by turning it up to a shorter, more wearable length. I threw out the original belt, but surprised myself by actually keeping the shoulder pads in; normally they are the first things to go but I didn't think they were too extreme this time. I then just took it in at the sides and lost about 4 inches off each side. I didn't bother with darts because I wanted it to still be slightly loose. Lastly I cut the sleeves shorter and rolled up and sewed on my machine.
I'm quite pleased with it, its not my favourite dress ever, just something about it I'm not happy with..? Maybe I'll come back to it at some point and do more to it. I definitely like it more than before though that's for sure!

And here's the finished result:

(Scrunchie - handmade, belt - market, shoes - Forum Gladiator from Office)

Thanks for reading :)

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