DIY Lace Trimmed Denim Shorts

Cut a pair of denim shorts into teeny weeny - then add cotton lace trim around the hem.

Image: Knight Cat

DIY Dries Van Noten Inspired Dip Dye Jacket

As soon as the gorgeous Bianca of Il Etait Une Fois posted these pics of Dries Van Noten's dip bleached denim, I knew I just had to DIY my own version of the jacket with bleached sleeves. This is possibly the easiest DIY I've done in a while - and just involved soaking the cuffs of a thrifted denim shirt in some bleach overnight until they had became bright white. 

Wearing: DIY jacket, Country Road White Singlet, Lace Shorts designed by me, Mango boots, Mac lippy.

This was my Dries Van Noten inspiration:

And here's a few pics of how I did it. Hopefully quite self-explanatory. Using undiluted bleach, and wet the sleeves before dipping the ends into the bleach. Leave them there for a few hours or overnight.

DIY Two Way Shirt

Found this cute Uniqlo shirt over at Shini's blog Park & Cube (literally my visual sugar). How good! If you dont have a Uniqlo near you why not make one yourself by adding some button and button holes to a shirt?

Sick to the power of rad

Ok so I have a confession to make - I am completely rubbish at doing outfit shots. I hate annoying my boyfriend by asking him to take pics of me, and never get the time to do them on my own. So you get another outfit layout - I hope you don't mind. This was easter Thursday evening - for dinner that somehow turned into a rooftop allnighter (argh). Tried not to look like too much of a hipster-cool-kid-wannabe with all sorts of shit going on but it was hard...

sequin short with ribbon belt designed by me, denim waistcoat from a thrift shop in north london (missing a button... sad face), sheer white tee from a random japanese brand, Nars laguna bronzer, mango bootines, awang pouchette.

DIY Blogger Discovery - Rar Traum Store

Have discovered another amazing DIY blog - Rar Traum Store. The lovely Gabriela contacted me and mentioned that she did a few DIYs... I checked out her blog and Phoahhhh! I think you would probably call her work designing rather than DIY - its a hell of a lot more than a slapdash craft project. What I particularly like about her work is her ability to take a piece of junk - even things she finds in the trash or in scrap bins - and turn them into something utterly amazing. She has made some amazing jewellery using stones, crushed glass, scrap metal and just about everything else, and I adore her crazy denim jacket - very Balmain. My favorite piece of hers is an amazing deconstructed clock. Head over to her blog and check it out yo.

Do you love her Gaga inspired crown?

DIY Leopard Collar and Love Heart

Leopard print collar and loveheart back inspiration from Bitching and Junkfood.

Images: Bitching and Junkfood

DIY Inspiration - Acne Armour Jeans

Ok so I know I have blogged about these before, but saw a close up shot of these acne armour pants on AfterDRK and am still in love. Have taken to wearing jeans alll the time, last winter I was a tights and dresses girl but you really can't beat a pair of skinny jeans, black short cuban style boots and a warm coat (and mittens and a woolly hat - damn its cold at the moment). As a result, I am trying to think of ways to spice up my jeans collection a bit and armour on the knees is killer. To DIY my own, I am going to buy some buttery leather, spraypaint it gold, cut into knee armour shapes and sew it to a pair of old jeans.

Image: AfterDRK

DIY Inspiration - Nautical blurred stripe top

I love the gorgeous 'my favourite things' Tommy Ton has done recently - every single image inspires me to DIY - there are lots of deconstructed tops jackets and knits. Mmmm yum. The image below of the blurred striped top made me think DIY instantly. I am so inspired to do this with some water soluble paint and a white top - washing the top immediately after painting the trips to get the blurred-ness.

DIY's by readers!

So happy to see I've inspired some amazing DIYs out there! Natale Eve of Evelesco has done two fantastic ones, the Chanel cap toe shoes and the Dries Van Noten dip bleach denim.

Dip your denim in some bleach and leave it to dye. Natale Eve learnt that you should dip less than you think you should due to the spreading upwards of the bleach. They look so great don't they?

These gorgeous cap toe Chanel-esque shoes Natale Eve did using some old grey suede pumps and a sharpie pen - perfect!

I love to see I am inspiring you to do some DIY, send me a pic of any of your recent creations.

x

DIY Details on the Runway - Dries Van Noten SS11

I love coming across a collection that is so heavily inspired by DIYable details. This beautiful Dries Van Noten collection shot by Tommy Ton has so much DIY I don't know where to start.
Key DVN details to DIY:

• Keep tying your oversized collared mens shirts as skirts (bloggers have been doing it for a while - art imitating life perhaps?)
• Dipped bleached denim - bleach your denim shirts and jeans by dipping into bleach. Leave for a while in the bleach to get the very white on blue look.
• Deconstructed jackets - still a favourite, attach different sleeves to a jacket.

DIY Autumn Denim Layering

DIY layering is essential to getting through the confusing 'what to wear' Autumn months. These two streetstyle shots caught at Paris Fashion Week shows us how to layer a denim shirt perfectly. To insert a little bit more DIY into this look, cut the sleeves of a denim jacket or trench coat and layer away!

 

Image:Muoti mielessa

DIY on the Runway - Balmain SS11

Just when you thought studs, zips, safety pins and the like had been done to death, the master of DIY inspired designs comes out with a collection that completely ups the ante. Just as he inspired a million studded blazers in 2009, I can foresee a major punk safety pin trend taking off again. Whilst not highly original, it makes it easy for DIY enthusiasts like me (and you hopefully) to be on trend! My favourite outfit is the second one down - all back with silver embellishments on the shoulders and arms of the blazer. DIY that shiz!

Heres a few things to take away from this collection:

• Safety pins are back (again). go.buy.now. spray paint gold or black and attach to thrifted blazers to emphasise shoulders
• Black paint applied haphazardly to blood red jeans is killer
• Red, black and denim together is the way of the future
• Keep your denim cut offs, maybe even rip them a little more?
• Destroyed tees are still on the radar.

Hmm after writing that list I am concerned that there is nothing new or original that I haven't blogged about in the past, can you see anything else DIYable? Is this collection killer or a  re-hash?
Update: Have slept on it and decided I am in love....

Images: Knight Cat, Studded Hearts, Le Fashion

DIY Chloe Inspired Denim Shirt

Here's a DIY I did a while ago and forgot to upload - new seasons are upon us and I find it a bit confusing. Do I embrace the camel capes of AW11 or the tie dye mini dresses of SS11. On that note, I hope this throw back to a few seasons ago will be a little bit of a reprieve for you. Inspired by the Chloe washed denim with dark pockets. I am sure you are familiar.

Um steps to do this - take a denim shirt (I bought mine at Glastonbury Festival at the Park stage when it got a bit chilly one night), check that inside the pockets is the dark colour of the unbleached denim, take off pockets and voila! Easy.

Am about to start selling a massive haul of new and vintage clothes on ebay - I have literally halved my wardrobe- and this will be in the haul.

DIY Runway - Topshop Unique Destroyed Shorts

Shini took this pic from the Topshop Unique show - and I am in love with the destroyed pattern on these pink cut off shorts. I didn't notice them in the Style.com image as I couldn't see the back of the outfit. Very cool. I love how they have left the pockets on as they are. To create this effect, cut a grid of squares out of the denim, and then wash repeadedly so that the edges of all the squares fray.

Image: Park and Cube

Ps. Found this coverage of LFW Day1 on the Next blog (guest blogger Shini and Jill from Street Style London) and stumbled upon a pic of me. Day 1 was such a blur!