Possible project: rose mesh formal dress

People who don't have enough money to be constantly buying evening gowns that you would only wear at most once... you may or may not understand why I love to drool over pretty dresses and pretend to think about how I could make at a cheaper price...

Recently, I've been looking for rose mesh fabric but I can't seem to find any.... for this dress from the Etsy shop UnsungProductions

easy fabric painting idea

There's not all that much to it, but I really like the gold on black and the line work.. This dress is from the Etsy shop WeAreHairyPeople

to do you it would paint thin gold lines in a spider web shape that was ore intricate in the middle and wider as it went out.... I would recommend first drawing it with chalk so it's easier

Peter Hunt and DIY inspiration

I recently went on vacation to Cape Cod, and at a museum I read about an artist called Peter Hunt whose work is, in my opinion, really wonderful. At that time, the government was trying to create a culture of recycling and reusing. He became famous by teaching how to make old ugly pieces of furniture look new and awesome with paint. 

To try your hand at this, you could go to Home Depot or similar stores and get spray paint or paint samples. You just have to remember to sand the surface a bit before you paint, so that the paint sticks.

Whether or not you feel like you are good at painting, you can adjust the designs to your skill set. And really, painting is just breaking down shapes into simpler shapes. And you can always use stencils if you don't trust yourself to freehand it.

 In my experience of painting, you can't go wrong if you use colors you like and claim to have intended any/all mistakes.

How to make a long formal skirt

Inspiration:

Necessary measurements

• Hips -- It is important to take this measurement on the WIDEST part of your hips and add 1-2 inches to that. This does not include seam allowances.
• Waist: -- this is about where you want your dress to sit. 
• Waist to widest part of hip length

Materials

• 1-2Yards of (stretch) satin
• Measuring Tape
• Invisible Zipper
• Marking tool (I just used a color pencil)
• Basic sewing necessaries (sewing machine, matching thread, iron, scissors, etc)
• Your body, to test out the fit

Helpful tip: To be safe, it's always a good idea to go a few inches bigger than you think you need when cutting.

1) To start, I cut a trapezoid- like shape with my measurements on the bias. I made it about six inches longer and added about 3-4 inches extra on one side just in case. I also draped it on myself to check the measurements. Bias defined here

B/2= Half the waist

A/2= half the hip measurement

C= waist to hip measurement

2) To make sure it was symmetrical, I also cut on the fold of the center front (as seen in the crude paint drawing).

3) Then I draped it inside out as if I was going to wear it and pinned and marked a seam in the fit that I wanted. After marking on both sides of the seam, I took it off.

4) With about a half an inch seam allowance, I cut along the seam line I just drew.

5) As done, in the picture above I finished the edges with a zig zag stich and then did a blind hem at the bottom. This is a good video on how to do a blind hem:

** I hemmed before sewing the skirt together, but generally you want to do this last.

6) Add a waistband (if you want to) and then attach an invisible zipper, and sew the back seam closed. Press all seams. I learnt how to from the same series as the blind hem above.

Final product!!

Done, and happy sewing! (Just so you know, I was not wearing shoes in the picture, which is why there was so much of a train on the ground)

You could also make/buy a top and attach it to the skirt (in that case the zipper would have to incorporate the top) to make it a dress

If there is anything that was unclear in the instructions please leave me a comment! Also, I'm self taught, so any tips are welcome too

How to make a Franco Resort/Taylor Swift inspired evening dress

This is a project reminiscent of the Great Drapo video I had posted a while ago...

Seriously, this is so easy to do yourself, I had to point it out.

 You will need more fabric than the video shows, and you want it a bit longer than you think you need it to be so that you can adjust as needed. For my height ( I'm 5' 6'') I would get about 2 1/2 yards of fabric.

The video shows you the basic steps you would take-- taking the top corners of the fabric and draping it across your body, the corners pulled up to form the sleeves and the excess fabric on the open side pinned and sewed to create the side seam in the fit that you want. However,  you wouldn't just tie the corners, you would gather and sew them together so you don't have the bow of fabric (to get the look of the strap in the dress above). There also seems to be a strap underneath the arm to keep the dress in place and covering the bust area. This may or may not be necessary depending on how you drape it. 

It's a good idea to choose fabric that drapes well and to consider-- especially when buying prints-- what that pattern will look like on a large scale... and whether you want to deal with trying to them line up. Naturally stretch fabric would be easier to work with, but non stretch fabrics like satin, chiffon, etc would work well for a grander look. Bias cut fabrics, though a bit trickier to work with, would make the fabric drape better as well.

Remember to test it out before you begin sewing or chopping up the fabric

Another example (from the fabulous 1930's) is this red number in silk chiffon.

 To make this, you just wold leave a slit in the front of the fabric (maybe using multiple layers of chiffon and a lining fabric)

 

I did my own version using a synthetic stretchy fabric with awful amounts of loose glitter... 

I apologize for the equally awful photo

Erdem inspired DIY Lace Embellished Coat

I was procrastinating a bit, and came across this coat by Erdem. Even though it's getting warmer here, I think this would be a really fun project. And there's a lot of stuff that's cheaper since they're out of season
Cut out shapes from lace and sew them to a coat or a blazer... or really anything

The Great Drapo

Inspiration for no sew dressmaking and 40's fashion

DIY Circle scarf inspiration

Good tutorials to make a circle scarf:

I combined the above video with this, because it describes how to create a better drape, while the video doesn't: http://go.tipjunkie.com/hm/2101/www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/11/knit-infiniti-scarf-tutorial.html

Then, for a no sew scarf:

I was inspired by these:

Kimono

Oh so elegant

from here or here or here

Vintage Suit Inspiration

  

                                      1960's                                              1950's

1940's
  

    1930's                                                             

 

1920's
(I don't know if that counts as a suit, but I loved it so much I thought I'd add it in anyways)
Via here, here, here, here

Button Circle Scarf

 

A small circle scarf embellished with a big ol' button

Easy shirt dress DIY

If you find a shirt large enough, that's in good condition and (especially if you're worried about making mistakes) inexpensive/free, you could cut the sleeves to desired length, hem it, and use excess fabric to make a belt. Or just use a belt you already have.

If you need to, you could pinch and pin to a better fit around the sleeves and side seams. Pinch and pin darts if you need to as well... It's about making it having a fit that you like, so you would have to play around with it. But then, my friends, you would have this shirt dress.


If it's a bit to short for your comfort, it would look cute with leggings or jeans too
And-- to add the awesomeness-- it's sweatshop-free




** An update, I realized that not everyone knows what pinching and pinning is, so here is the video I used to learn how to tailor shirts. 

Dresses and pictures from here and here

DIY Animal Print

I'm not a huge fan of animal prints, normally... ike cheetah print, zebra print, cow print, giraffe print...

But I really do like this trend, and I'm hoping to try it soon

to diy it: http://pineneedle-collective.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/do-it-yourself-hand-painted-deer-print.html

courtesy charlotte taylor; fall/ winter 2011 collection (image taken from Honestly Wtf)

from Modcloth

Brooches

(All images by buyers on etsy... click on the pictures for original store)

GS

Poetry on walls

I saw this on Honestly...WTF, and I loved it

To do something similar in your own home, get some stencils and paint and your favorite poem or quote... then open out the windows so your air is less toxic paint smelling...

and BAM the room is officially awesome.

Easy peasy