DIY Prada SS11 Banana Earrings

I am addicted to the stripes and banana print Prada SS11 collection, and thanks to my friend over at South Molton Street Style I am totally inspired to make myself some Prada inspired banana earrings as worn by Miuccia Prada on the runway. Can't find little plastic bananas like I did in my local market? (Mine were attached to silly plastic hair bands and I just cut them off). Just use some yellow bananas out of a bag of mixed lollies! May not last more than one wear, but are very fun and could be a sweet treat when you get hungry! I'll show you an outfit pic of me wearing the finished product. I also really like the striped black and pink fabric in the Prada collection, am definitely going to make a bodycon skirt out of a similar fabric this weekend. Also, you may have noticed the poll in the right hand column. I sometimes wonder what you guys want to see more of, so please check the box based on what you think. Share the love and DIY! x

Guest DIY Weekly Post - Mulberry Inspired Skirt by Carly from Chic Steals

This week's DIY weekly is being guested by the lovely Carly from Chic Steals! A wildly popular and talented DIY blogger from over the pond, I never cease to be inspired by Carly's projects and 'why buy when you can DIY' attitude. So happy to have her do one of her 'DIY in 5' projects on A Pair & A Spare. My usual DIY Weekly tutorial - a Celine inspired pocket blazer, is up on her blog here so head over there and check it out.

Take it away Carly!

DIY in 5: Mulberry-Style Paperbag Waist Skirt (from a Too-Big Thrifted Skirt)

On my blog I share a series of do-it-yourself tutorials for the beginning DIY'er called DIY in 5 - minutes, that is.  The easiest, quickest ways to take a piece from blah to fab and update it to current trends.

Designer Emma Hill created a collection for Mulberry Spring 2011 RTW with a number of chic and effortless pieces that every girl would want in her closet.  Most notable were her paperbag-waist pants and skirts, which looked gorgeous paired with tighter blouses and tops.  I too fell in love with the sorbet colors and forgiving shapes, and instantly ran out to the thrift store to DIY my own version of her cinched paperbag-waist skirt.
You Need:

*super-large pencil skirt - the larger the better!  (No front seaming or pleats, and choose a stiff fabric so the gathers will hold their shape)
*coordinating 1" wide belt

Optional:
*waistband elastic
*scissors
*matching thread
*sewing machine + needle
*fabric glue
*fusible interfacing
*iron + ironing board

1. When selecting your skirt, find one as big as you can, that's about a below-the-knee length when worn naturally. (The cinching at the waist will take it up a few inches.)

2. Turn it upside-down and pull it up to your waist.

Cinch with a belt tightly at your natural waist.

  "Fluff" out the gathers at the top just like the inspiration photo.

3. Optional: For more permanent gathers, sew waistband elastic inside the skirt where you want the waist to be.

 If you do this, you can also wear the skirt right-side up, belted at the waist, with the gathers at your knees for a completely different look!

 4. Optional: If you want your skirt just like the one in the picture, cut out some matching skirt fabric from the inside waistband or hem to repurpose 2 belt-loops, one at each side seam.  Also, cover your belt in the matching fabric by gluing on some of the skirt fabric you cut from the hem.  (If you're worried that by cutting out bits of the inner waistband or inside hem will destroy the shape of the skirt, fuse some interfacing to the insides after you've cut so the fabric doesn't sag - and don't cut through any seams or through the outside where the missing fabric will show!).

Well, that was simple!

Wear with a round-collared blouse tucked it, or a boatneck long-sleeve tee to up the sweetness factor - and some stompy ankle-boots to mitigate it.

Happy DIY'ing!
xoxox
Carly

Thanks Carly! How fantastic is that skirt? So honored to have such a DIY guru post a project here. Now make sure that you head over to Carly's blog and get stuck into her projects and DIYs - her 30 Day Outfit Challenge will support the wardrobe overhaul that I have been blogging about very nicely, and will help you get into all those clothes that have been sitting in your wardrobe not being worn! 

DIY Scarf as a Skirt Video Tutorial from After DRK

How many times have I posted about scarfs as skirts recently? First Dree Hemmingway killed it in one, and then the skirts popped up absolutely everywhere (see my posts here and here). Came across this video tutorial from AfterDRK and I must say it is flippin easy! Get to it.


A scarf as a skirt from afterDRK on Vimeo.

DIY Weekly - Leather Collar

I am pretty addicted to collars of all different kinds at the moment. I was inspired by this beautiful look to make my own leather collared shirt.

How to:
1. Buy a cheap white shirt, mine was 1 pound from a local thrift store. I was lucky because it had a few cute details like a delicate button strip, small pocket and cute collar. I used leather from a pair of old leather trousers.
2. Lay the collar of the shirt onto the underside of the leather (the rough side) and traced out the collar onto the leather in chalk. To make the collar as polished looking at possible, I traced the collar with the outer edge along the hem from the trousers, so that it wasn't rough.
3. Cut the leather collar out of the leather, cutting along outside the lines of the chalk so that you don't accidentally cut too much.
4. Lay the leather collar on top of the collar of the shirt to check the size, snipping any extra leather off and generally shaping the collar.
5. Using plastic fabric glue (from the pound shop - nothing fancy), glue the collar down. I put the glue directly onto the shirt collar and attached the leather piece over the top.
6. Let it dry.

Viola! Wear with cute shorts. Mine here are also DIY...

DIY Two Tone/Ombre Nails

Although I only wear nail polish on special occasions, really like the DIY two tone nails seen on Style Scrapbook and Dreaming Spires and Old Car Tyres. MJ has even provided a tutorial for the subtle frosted ones she did here.I love the colours that both girls have used, and I think it would be cool using black and white for a monotone look.

 

DIY Full Turban

The inspirational girls at Honesty...WTF have done a great tutorial (following on from the man repeller's tutorial) on how to do a full turban. Just so easy, thanks ladies!

Tutorial from Honestly...WTF:
Before you start, tie your hair in a bun or ponytail. Fold a large square scarf in half into a triangle. Lay the scarf on your head with the center point of the triangle facing forward and the sides hanging down each of your shoulders. Making sure most of your hair is covered, grasp the length of each side and bring them to the top of your head, twisting twice to create a “knot”. 
Once you’ve twisted the ends twice into a knot, bring both sides together to the back of your head and tie it tight. Tuck all your loose ends under the back and front of the turban.
Voila, you’ve just made a turban! You can also create a turban-like headband using a rectangular scarf by repeating the same steps without covering all of your hair. Don’t forget the double twist and happy wrapping!

DIY Balayage Highlights

Ok, so you know the economy is going down the plug hole when the Sunday Times Style Magazine (my favourite sunday morning reading material) is advocating doing your own highlights at home.   Today's magazine includes a how-to for what they call 'Autumn Lights', a process you could use to do the balayage trend that has been out and about for a while. I am so happy that they have put it out there. Not many people would advocate home hair bleaching, particuarly highlights, but I know how expensive it is to get it done in hair dressers and its pretty bloody easy. To create your own highlights, basically all you need to do is take a clean mascara wand, and using a light bleach bought from a chemist, paint some highlights onto the your hair, concentrating on the ends if you want the 'balayage' look. Could go horribly wrong yes, so take it slow and steady. Another blogger I know painted some light peroxide solution onto the ends of her hair in summer, and created some lovely and subtle highlights. Why buy when you can DIY?

I would also definitely advocate using a different colour for the ends - red comes to mind. A friend in Australia has done it recently and it looks a-maze-ing.

DIY Contrasting Collar

This is the perfect addition of a collar to an outfit, the contrasting colours are perrrfect.

Image: All The Pretty Birds

This one sits flat against the neck, so when you make yours using a thrifted black shirt (choose one with a large collar for this one) - cut the collar off, also removing the interfaced section that makes the collar stand up when it is attached to a shirt (shown roughly below). Cut along the inside seam so that the collar doesn't fall apart.You should be left with the simple outline of the sollar. Finally, attach a hook and eye where the two small X are on the diagram so that it stays on.

DIY Lace Trimmed Shorts

In keeping with the seasonal confusion I am currently suffering (this whole SS11 thing seems to have started sooner than usual...), I'm uploading a decidedly summery DIY - hope the aussie readers enjoy! I guess I can wear them on my trip to India and Sri Lanka in December...

I recently bought a large pair of pink long shorts from a charity shop (with the caramel pair I wore to LFW day 1) and did another little DIY with them to make them lace trimmed high waisted shorts. This is how I did it:
1. I pinned and then sewed some pleats in the back waistband so that the shorts were highwaisted.
2. I cut some fabric off the bottom of the shorts, then rolled, iron and sewed them up to the desired length. I used a very light hand stitch to secure the hem.
3. Turning them inside out, I pinned and then sewed the lace trim inside the shorts, so that the lace poked down just below the hem.
4. Then I used a light stitch to attach the lace trim. Voila!

 

DIY Camel Shorts

A few people have asked about the camel shorts I was wearing at LFW - am happy to hear that they were a success as I had made them DIYed them very late the night before - out of a pair of big shorts I had bought in a thrift store for less than a pound. If you've followed me for a while you'll know how much I love to make cute shorts out of trousers. I never buy shorts - that's how committed I am to DIYing them  (and I guess also an indication of how easy it is to do!)

Before:

I bought two pairs for less than a pound (gotta love outer London charity shops!)

 To make them I followed the following steps:
1. Pulled them up to high waisted and pinned and then sewed a series of pleats in the back.
2. Checked the leg length I wanted in a mirror by rolling them up, marked with chalk to show the minimum length.
3. Cut some fabric off the bottom so the hem wasn't too bulky (making sure to cut less than I though I should because its always better to cut too little than too much - take it from someone who has ruined many a or skirt or pair of shorts being over-eager with the scissors).
4. Rolled them over at the bottom three or four times to the desired length. Ironed flat.
5. Used a very light stitch to secure the hem - making sure to do a very fine stitch on the outer side of the shorts so it was barely noticeable.
6. Ironed the hem and pleats flat.

After:

I can't say they were perfect but they were good enough (always my motto when DIYing!)

Images from LFW via the Next Flickr.

DIY Giuseppe Zanotti Glitter Boots

Buy yourself a pair of thrifted boots and some craft glue (make sure that it is the type that dries clear) and a wholllle lot of glitter (my addiction to all things gold will mean that I'll be buying gold glitter). Wearing plastic gloves, cover the leather of the shoes in a thick layer of glue and then sprinkle liberally with glitter. You want a thick layer of glitter with no leather showing through. Leave to dry.

Image: Google

DIY Acid Wash Denim

We are heading into a chilly winter pretty quickly in old London town, and while I am still holding off from wearing tights (once you put them on you dont take them off for 6 months!), I am definitely getting back into wearing jeans. Everywhere I look I see deconstructed acid wash jeans, love the jeans in this picture by Vanessa Jackman. So easy to do at home.

Image: Vanessa Jackman

DIY Instructions:
Materials - A pair of jeans, household bleach, a spray bottle + rubber gloves.

1. Put on the rubber gloves. Pour the cholrine into the spray bottle. If you want a more lighter effect, mix some water into the bleach.

2.Wet your jeans with water and place them on the floor . If you are not doing this on a tiled bathroom floor like I did, I recommend putting something underneath the jeans, ie. plastic wrapper or cardboard to avoid any bleach staining your floor.

3. Spray the chlorine on the desired spots - the jeans in the image above would have had bleach sprayed all over them. The stronger the bleach, the faster you can see the bleach results. The results on my jeans were visible in seconds. If you have mixed water in your bleach, be patient as the results might show about 20 minutes later.

4. Wash your jeans. Recommend hand washing first then machine washing.

Wear old clothes when playing with bleach!

Black jeans will usually bleach to a beige colour while blue jeans will go light blue/white.

DIY Fur Clutch Bag

This bag could be easily made out of a thrifted fur coat, and doesnt it just look so soft to touch? Cut out a large rectangle - the back panel of the fur coat would probably work well - fold in half, sew up both short sides, and add a zip to the other long side.I think the bag in the picture is actually a laptop bag (correct me if I'm wrong)? A clutch would work just as well - and make a nice pillow if you ever wanted to rest your head on a night out!

Ps - I am in the process of cataloguing all my posts by themes - you can see the beginnings of a catalogue on the right hand side. Hope this will help you all in future when you are looking for DIY Help/Inspiration!

Images: Vanessa Jackman 
(Whats not to love about Vanessa's steet style blog - she captures the most gorgeous people!)

DIY Hanging Sleeves

Add some dramatic sleeves to a sleeveless dress or singlet top using big buttons. It would be very cool using leather, or even a silk/polyester flowy fabric that would drape over your arms.

 

Image: Because I'm Addicted / tutorial my own