After ‘The great British Bake off’ caused the nation to don their pinnies and rolling pins, a new series called ‘The great British sewing bee’ has hit our screens with the hope of doing the same with a needle and thread. But before you write this off as something for your gran, it’s about creating high fashion garments and creating your own style. So, to celebrate sewing being ‘cool’ again and update your wardrobe without creeping into your overdraft, here are two DIY fashion ideas inspired by the runways.
You may have thought you’d seen the last of scrunchies when you threw them in the bin along with your hair mascara. But the 90s nostalgia trend has made scrunchies every girl’s most prized fashion accessory once again. The launch of brand ‘My Crazy Scrunchie’ has revolutionised the scrunchie by creating hand made one off styles . Vivienne Westwood featured the brand in her SS13 show and they have been given the seal of approval from model Cara Delvigne. But at prices ranging from £12-£23 they’re not ideal for the typical student budget. Fortunately scrunchies are one of the easiest DIY sewing projects and cost almost nothing to make.
All you need is…
- a scrap of fabric measuring 10cm by 56cm (cut up dresses with patterns you may be throwing out or if you’re passing Preston or Manchester, vintage shop Retro Rehab sells amazing vintage cut offs for 50p each)
- a needle and thread
- pins
- a piece of elastic measuring approx. 0.5 cm by 22cm
- a safety pin
- scissors
- Iron your fabric strip to ensure there are no creases.
- Fold the strip in half length ways so the wrong side of the fabric is showing.
- Pin the two sides together.
- Fold back approx. 1 cm of the fabric at one end and secure with a pin.
- Hand stitch the two sides together using small stitches, but make sure not to sew up the ends. You should end up with a tube of fabric.
- Turn the fabric tube inside out so the right side of the fabric is showing
- Put a safety pin through the end of your piece of elastic and then use it to feed the elastic through the fabric tube, the fabric should start to scrunch up as you do this
- Once you have fed the elastic through tie the two end of the elastic together in a knot.
- Make sure the fabric is bunched up as much you would like and begins to resemble a scrunchie.
- Slide the end which you folded the 1cm of fabric over the other end and secure in place using a simple overstitch.
Studded collars were first featured in Prada’s menswear AW show back in 2009. However, as androgynous styles started to filter into women’s fashion, collars have become a key accessory in women’s fashion too .They have returned to the runway each season in more and more different variations and styles. Alexa Chung is a fan of dresses featuring the Peter Pan collar and shirst with stud embellished collars. However, such decadent collar s needn’t be restricted to just collared shirts and dresses, cue the detachable collar. Detachable collars with simple embellishments instantly glam up any outfit and look perfect with a round neck jumper or top.
All you need is…
- an old shirt ( just ask your boyfriend/Dad/flatmates or ask in a charity shop if they have any shirts which are unfit for display which they can sell you cheaply as all you need is a decent collar)
- a needle and thread
- scissors
- tweezers
- fabric glue (only needed if using embellishments other than studs or buttons)
For the embellishment you can use whatever you like but these are a few ideas:
- buttons- cut them off old clothes, buy them at haberdasheries or sometimes charity shops sell bags of them
- studs- these can be purchased from bead suppliers, haberdasheries or Ebay
- pearls/beads/ jewels- you could use the beads from broken jewellery, ask around your friends if they have any old or broken jewellery that they don’t want which you can cut up
- Cut the collar off your shirt. Make sure to cute along the seam line which attaches the collar to the shirt.
- If the collar is worn or stained, turn the collar inside out.
- Embellish as you like, below are some examples of how you might want to customize your collar.
- If using studs, get ones which have 4 spikes on the back. Stab the spikes through the material and bend them down to secure in place using a pair of tweezers.
- If using buttons, sew them on by stitches through the button hole/loop several times to ensure it is fixed in place.
- For any other embellishments secure in place using fabric glue. But make sure you leave plenty of time for the glue to dry before moving or touching the collar.
