Sunday 12 February 2012

A sweet way to update your wardrobe: DIY peter pan collars onto old shirts


Just a few hours ago, I found myself trawling through endless online stores in a zombified state, systematically adding hundreds of pretty things to various shopping carts and promising myself that I wouldn't buy anything (although already knowing in one part of my mind that I would). This is a scenario which occurs all too often. Today, however, some ridiculously self-disiplined part of me spoke up and went: NO! ANNIKA! YOU SHALL NOT BUY - YOU SHALL... CREATE! Go and make something of the ridiculous amounts of clothes that you already own (and don't even wear, may I add)! Go and embrace your creative side! Go on, do it!

And, well, I thought that this part of my brain had a pretty good point. So I dragged out of my wardrobe a whole heap of basic t-shirts and singlets and pretty floral tops which I once loved but now think are incredibly boring. I also pulled out of my vastly expanding pile of fabrics some lace curtain fabric that I bought from a thrift store for $1. "Right", I said to myself, "make something cool with these things".

And this is what I came up with:


(Plain grey t-shirt from Forever 21)
(Cotton On floral singlet)
(Floral blouse from General Pants Co)
(Banana Republic plain white long-sleeve tshirt)
(Half lace/half chiffon top from Forever 21)

So I thought that this is a pretty good way to update your wardrobe (the top half of it, anyway) if you're feeling a little bored with it. And it was (basically) free, as well! You just need to visit your local op shop and browse through all the old bits of fabric and upholstery (most thrift stores will have a sad looking basket sitting in a corner/under a table somewhere where you can find this) and put up with looking a bit mad because you're purchasing a whole bunch of unmatching, old lacey curtains. But these old curtains often have the most interesting and incredible patterns on them, and are just way too lovely NOT to be put to good use.
These are two examples of ones I bought ($1 each!):


The second one is particularly good, because the scalloped edges of the fabric provide natural peter pan collar shapes. And how adorable are the little birds??

Once you have your lace, you need to source an old/unloved t-shirt or singlet that would look pretty paired with it (basically anything. What doesn't look good with lace?).

Now here's the DIY bit:

1. Place the lace/curtain fabric (wrong side up, if it has a front side) over the front of the t-shirt.

2. Draw onto the back of the lace with a fabric pen (a normal pen works just fine as well) the shape you think the collar should be. ONLY do one half of the collar (you will see why in a moment). Use the collar of the t-shirt as a guide for one edge of the lace collar, and judge for yourself what the other edge should look like/how big it should be. In any case, the shape you draw onto your lace should look something like this:



3. Cut out this one half of your lace collar. Then, to get a symmetrical collar (always good), flip this piece you just cut out over, and use it as a stencil to draw onto the lace again, and cut out your other half. You should now have these two pieces from your lace:



4. Use craft/fabric glue to attach the two lace pieces (front side up) to the front of the shirt, like this:
You can glue the whole bit of lace onto the front of the shirt, or alternatively put just a thin line of glue on the edge of the (t-shirt's) collar and just stick the inner part of the (lace) collar to the shirt. And now you're done!

Here are some outfits that I put together with my newly collared tees:


I'll figure out a good way to update the lower half of your wardrobe now, and get back to you on that! I'm sure it will involve lace. I am entirely obsessed with any intricate or interesting lace pattern recently. A good DIY for updating old/basic/boring shoes, however, (if you're interested) can be found here.

Hope that you're having the sweetest day,

Annika xxx

I wear my heart on my legs, not on my sleeve...



Yes, yes, it's another (slightly) Valentines themed post. For this I apologise. But I did some more DIY tights, and I think they're pretty cute, so I wanted to share them with you! Plus I also did some awesome thrifting today (a post to come about this tomorrow), so I also wanted to show you some of those finds :) I found this bag, top (actually a dress) and shoes today!


 

Wearing:
 Tights - DIY
Collar - DIY
Top (actually a dress) - Vintage
Skirt - here
Hat - here
Bag - Vintage
 Shoes - Vintage

Love you all!

xxx Annika

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Oh, hello there Mr Saint Valentines, Sir. Do you like my tights?

Just a quick outfit post. You can find the DIY and full post for these heart-print tights here.



Wearing:

Blouse - here
Tights - DIY
Bag - oasap.com
Belt - Vintage
Shoes - Forever 21
Hat - here
Side note: I'm not blonde again. I would be mad had I changed hair colour yet again. And bald. No, these were taken just before I went blue again, after bleaching out the lovely green :)

Hope you have/have had a super day!

xxx Annika

DIY Floral Brogues (a neat way to update your shoe collection)


 I bought some fairly basic but nice shoes the other day from Rubi Shoes, then promptly went mad and half-destroyed them. Well, what I was trying to do was to paint them and make them look all oxford-style and elegant, but all I managed to achieve was... well... this.


It wasn't pretty. Paint + shoes + the place where your foot bends so that you can walk = a flaky, crumbling, crappy looking mess which look like you've walked through a construction site then through wet paint then back through the construction site again for some reason.

LUCKILY, as I also used a really crappy paint, it washed off. I was on a mission though, and still wanted to DIY these shoes SOMEHOW. So, from my ever-expanding hoard of fabrics I grabbed this quilter's fat-pack I bought the other day at Spotlight (because it was on sale for $1.50, and the pattern was pretty). I cut out 4 strips measuring 28cm x 12cm (11in x 5in) , removed the shoelaces and then glued them (using craft glue) very carefully to the top parts of the shoes (the parts within the pre-made borders).




I didn't risk covering the toe area again, as I had learnt that that area gets very creased by walking.

Then I used my precision knife to cut out very carefully along the ridgey bit of the shoe, and glued these edgey bits down with craft glue.



Get one of these knives, they're very good for this kind of thing, and for general DIY-ing. Don't try and use scissors for this DIY, it will either be very very very hard, or won't work.


I then had a bit of an issue poking back through the shoe-laces hole, but managed to eventually fix it all up. And look how they turned out!


 

Well, they're at least much better than my genius painting idea. And no one else owns a pair like them. I was pretty happy with my DIY shoes in the end!

Find an old pair of flats or basic brouges that need an update, and try it out yourself!

Have a stunning day!

Annika xxx

Sunday 5 February 2012

50s Polkadots & Petticoat


I got this sweet polka dot dress three years ago from one of my favourite Vintage stores where I live. It never, never ever fit me properly because I was too thin. I've gotten much curvier lately (relatively), and it fits! So I'm celebrating my new curviness with this 50s bombshell style photoshoot.


Wearing:

Dress - vintage
Petticoat - I made it!
Bag - OASAP 
Stockings - wholesale-dress.net




Have a gorgeous day,

Annika xxx

DIY Heart Print Valentines Tights

Here's a little DIY just in time for Valentines. I feel so schmaltzy making a Valentines themed DIY, but I've actually gotten into the Valentines "spirit" as it's my first Valentines with my lovely guy. I've become lame and schmaltzy, I guess. Don't judge me!! And enjoy the DIY!
DIY heart print tights

Firstly, supplies you will need:
DIY tights
- Arcrylic paint
- Clear Nail Polish
- Sheer tights (anything from 10 to 30 denier is best, mine are 15)
- Paintbrush (forgot to include that in the photo there... but very necessary!)
- Scissors
- Cardboard (can be from anywhere, an empty ceral box etc)
- Sticky tape (also forgot to include that in the photo...)
- Lots of time is also required (DIY not for the impatient)

Next, make your stencils:
Draw one large love heart and one small love heart (or however you'd like to do it, maybe several sizes, or maybe only one? I'm not here to tell you exactly how you must do these things.) onto two squares of cardboard, then cut them out. Seal up the bit where you cut into it with sticky tape.

Next, put on your tights and place the stencil on your leg, wherever you think it'll look nice. Paint thickly, filling out the stencil. Make sure the layer of paint is fairly thick, but not goopy. You can then remove the stencil and fix up any edges that look a bit dodgy with the paintbrush. Now do as many of these as you like on the FRONT of your legs. Have a look in the mirror (while trying not to move your legs too much, and avoid bending your kness - walk around like a robot if you have to) to make sure the placement looks good.

When you're done the fronts of your legs, use a blowdryer on each heart for about 20 seconds to speed up the drying process. It's very important that you don't begin the next step until the paint is BONE DRY.

Next, paint over each heart with clear nail polish (in a thin layer). If paint is coming off and going into the nail polish, you have rushed it. WAIT UNTIL IT IS DRY.

Next, use your blowdryer again, or wait for a loooong time if you have the patience. When you can touch each heart and it doesn't feel at all wet or tacky, you are ready to take your tights off.

When taking your tights off, peel very carefully around each painted heart. If there is any paint left on your legs (other than a faint outline), STOP. It is not dry enough, and it won't work. Chill, sit back down, and WAIT another 5 minutes or so (I can't stress this enough).

Once you take the tights off, turn them around and put them on backwards. Begin process again.

Now you're done! Whether you're a single lady or spending valentines with a beloved, you will surely enjoy your sweet looking legs.

Wishing you all a super lovely day,