DIY Weekly: Autumn Hued A-line Mini

For the last month or so I have been watching the leaves growing on the wall outside our house change colour, taking on the most beautiful deep magenta colour. Is it just me, or is Autumn making you pine for these rich tones of red and burnt orange? I was in Mango last week and the definitely have their finger on the Autumnal pulse. But as I always say, 'people who can't buy, must DIY'. With these colours in mind, last week I picked up a wine coloured wool A line skirt that was screaming out to be DIYed into a mod looking a-line mini. Being short on time but big on ideas, I cheated when I shortened this skirt and used hemming tape to secure the hem. If you haven't used hemming tape before, I suggest you go out and buy some, it is soo good for quick DIYs and emergency hem fixes. The tape is basically a strip of dry glue that, when ironed between two strips of fabric (like a hem), sets and secures the fabric.

Before:

How to:
1. I checked the length of the skirt I wanted, marking with chalk.
2. I cut off the excess section of skirt, leaving a few inches allowance for the hem.
3. I pinned and ironed the hem down (making sure to roll the fabric over twice so that the frayed edge was covered).
4. Between the rolled hem and the fabric I placed the hemming tape and then ironed flat (make sure that the tape does not come in contact with the surface of the iron, it will liquidize and it is VERY hard to get off, just ask the iron I ruined last year).
5. Finally I secured the hem with a few small stitches. Voila!
After:

I've been getting lots of wear out of my suede thigh high boots from Zara since the weather has cooled down. They were the best purchase ever (£35 on ebay yum!).

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 Sheer Pleated Skirt

Am back from an amazing trip to Rome and overflowing with DIY ideas! There was so much DIY inspiration everywhere I went. Had to repost these images from Andy of Style Scrapbook, she made her own sheer pleated maxi skirt. I've been loving the sheer maxi skirt recently and just like Andy I've been hard pressed to find a good one. She has cleverly used pre-pleated black sheer fabric which takes all the stress out of doing the pleats yourself (I've done that only once before and it was a nightmare).

All you need to do is:
1. Buy a couple of metres of black lightly pleated fabric and some skinny elastic.
2.  Cut the length of the skirt by measuring it on yourself or on a maxi skirt you already own. For the width, ensure it is 1.5 or 2 times the width of your waist (the wider the fabric is the more pleated the skirt will end up being).
3. Measure and cut the elastic to your waist.
4. Create the lightly pleated waist by folding over the top edge of the fabric and sewing along it so that there is a 1 inch wide pocket along the top. Thread the elastic along the top. Secure the ends of the elastic together.
4. Sew the fabric along the the long length side to finish the skirt.
Andy has done a very sweet detail by leaving the top of the waistband raw. You can do this by creating the waistband 'pocket' for the elastic along the width of the skirt an inch down from the top by folding over and sewing.