Sunday, June 27, 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Big Earrings

Because I now I have long hair, I decided it might be a good idea to start wearing big earrings again. At work I bought 3 big pairs for $10 (yes, if you live in Sydney go quickly as the sale is on at Stylust, Miranda). I've worn studs in my ears forever, and even when I took them out to put on the big earrings, there was green gunk on the back of the earring because I have been wearing them for so long. Obviously time for a change.

  

....

P.S. Here's an outfit photo with my finished doily tights. I love this big vintage sweater I wear as a sweater dress. Even if I dress it up, I still feel like I'm in pajamas.







Monday, June 21, 2010

Chandeliers and Doilies

Tonight I sat and watched Gilmore Girls while sewing on the chandelier bits onto my doily tights. This makes them a little bit Miu Miu.



  

I'll take photos of the final project and post them tomorrow. 

In my new hat

Today's Op-Shop Finds

I'm running low on cash (as usual), but I just HAD to have a visit to my local anglican church op-shop today. I was craving a fix of cheap vintage clothes. This op-shop is fantastic because all the little old ladies donate their old wardrobes to it, and it's dirt cheap! I had an armfull of stuff, but even with the low prices, I just couldn't afford all of it. So here is what I decided to buy:

A 70's red Fedora for $8


60's Gold Shoes for $6


 
A white lace table cloth for $5
I've been looking for lace fabric to make a long lace skirt, but it's just too expensive to buy new at Lincraft. I'm not spending $18 a metre on it! So This table cloth is perfect, and if I find I need more fabric, there are 2 more tables cloths exactly like this at the shop so I can just buy another.
I will update on this lace skirt project soon.

So that is what I found. I'm thinking I'll have to go back tomorrow to get the things I didn't end up buying. I'll probably stay up all night wishing I bought them.

White Doily Tights

I'm back.
Last week I had the flu and felt like doing NOTHING.
But finally, yesterday evening, while watching the horrible show Underbelly, I decided to start my tights project. Remember my post on other blogs and their amazing tights? Well, I was inspired and decided to make my own.

I bought a pack of these awesome vintage crocheted doily things, and some "chandelier" beads to make my own version of chandelier tights.

I started by sewing on the doilies. It didn't take as long as I thought, but I was also entertaining myself with that horrible tv show. I felt like my Grandpa DJ's female friend at my cousin's wedding when I was 4. I fell over and ripped a hole in my white lace tights, and she darted them together on the spot. I don't remember her name, but I do remember the amazing job she did so quickly.


It's easier to do this job when wearing the tights. It means that when you sew, you sew to the stretched material, so you can actually pull on the tights. 



I placed the doilies randomly around the contours of my leg. I will sew all of the front ones, then take the tights off, spin them around, and put them on back to front to be able to sew the back doilies. Once all the doilies are in place, I'll start placing the chandelier beads in amongst the pretty lace shapes.

 

I will continue to sew more tonight while watching TV and update y'all with a good photo.

...

Number of times "doily" or "doilies" was written in this post: 8
I feel like a Nanna.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

New Photos on Look Book


Check out my outfit photos posted on my Look Book.

90's Grunge is back.

Listening to Nirvana outside on a sunny winter's day. 



Zipper Jewelry

Recently I've been noticing more and more zippers not only used as a handy closing device but as decoration. Style Hurricane has created her own zipper cuffs and "Alexander Wang Zipper Glasses." Stylust (the store I work at) even has 2 zipper necklaces. It's a great idea, and works perfectly for the current trend for DIY grunge.

Here are some awesome projects:



Black Zipper Necklace from Stylust



Beige Zipper Necklace from Stylust


Saturday, June 12, 2010

GLOVES!

Winter's here! And the perfect accessory is a pair of gloves. Sydne isn't cold enough to have to wear a massive coat, but your fingers still get nippy. Fingerless gloves are the perfect solution.

I've started decorating a few pairs of fingerless gloves I found at the dollar store to match my button socks, but it's been slow because I haven't had time to work on them. The first pair are pearl gloves - a little touch of glamour.


And here's my collection of gloves. The two fur pairs are from work and are rabbit, the red pair are vintage ones I used to have as a kid from the 90s, my pearl gloves and a pair of black ones that will be decorated soon.


Rockin' out in Blingin' Headphones

I admit. I love the song "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. It's one of the few songs of hers (with "Alice" and "Sk8r Boy") that is actually decent to listen to. Not that "Sk8r Boy" is a decent song to listen to, it just reminds me of the summer when I was 13 on canoe trip. But "Girlfriend" is my happy song. All three are my happy songs.

So...on that note, I've decided that my headphones are finished. I do need to order more stones because I have a few orders from friends, so I'll order more multi-coloured ones and finish what I think needs finishing. But, for the moment, they are finished.

So here are photos of me in my finished headphones... rockin' out to Avril.... at home alone. It's sad, I know, but I'm having a great time! These headphones have awesome sound, even though they do have a bit of noise pollution when in public areas, but for home use they are just AWESOME!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Embellished Tights and Socks - Blogs

I thought I'd share some of the cool tight and sock projects I've found on other blogs to inspire me for my "business venture" with Stylust. My favourite ones are the MiuMiu tights from Corcorosa, the white lace tights from Corcorosa (she has great skinny legs for these things), the bubble tights from Park&Cube, and the Metallic tights from Fashion Infusion.

Typed "Tights" into the search engine of each of these blogs and posted the results. Most of their projects are included on the search result pages.


Leather Disc Jacket Progress Report

As promised, here is a progress report of my Leather Disc Jacket that is going to look AMAZING when it's done. It's just taking a REALLY LONG TIME to finish, but in the end, I think it'll be worth it. And as stated over and over, it's not my original idea but one from the blog PHOSPHENE.

Materials:

  • 1 Black Cardigan
  • Bags full of scrap leather, any type of leather (I'm actually using a mix of lambskin, kangaroo and cow)
  • Circle template, or something to trace that is about 4cm in diameter (I used a bottle of glue)
  • Chalk
  • Scissors
  • Needle and Thread
Step 1: Trace circles onto the swede side of the leather using chalk.



Step 2: Cut out the circles. You may want to cut out about 50, sew them on, then continue to cut out, and then sew on, and repeat that process. It would be WAY to boring to cut out all the circles you need (which, in the end will be around 300-400, I think) all at once, and then sew it on. This way you don't need to count, you just cut what you need!




Step 3: Punch out a hole in each of the circles to aid in the sewing process.




Step 4: Sew the circles individually into rows on the cardigan. Loop the stitch through the hole you punched and then the outside of the circle - this way you don't have to strain to try and push the needle through the leather. You're really just sewing around the leather. And do sew them individually! Because it's a stretchy cardigan, it will look better, instead of having them all attached and pulling the sweather in funny ways. Sewing them individually is also safer - if you pull one off, you don't pull them all off.

Start at the bottom, so you can layer overtop as you move up the cardigan, like scales of a fish. As I said before, this process will take a while, so do half the front, then cut more circles, do the other half, repeat, repeat, etc., etc.






Step 5: Repeat as necessary to fill the whole cardigan.
...

Now, as stated at the top, this is a progress report, so this project isn't done. But it's slowly (very slowly) getting there. 

But there is something important that must be emphasized - 

WARNING: 
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PROJECT IF YOU ARE NOT PATIENT, NOR IF YOU HAVE NO SPARE TIME.

This project takes a long time, and you need a good number of hours here and there to cut and sew. Watching TV series is a good way to keep your mind occupied while doing this project. 2-4 hour time slots are perfect for doing this project. In the end, you may need about 20-30 hours (roughly...and I'm guessing).

I've finished the front of the cardigan, and I'm now starting to layer up the back. And I still have the sleeves to do. PHOSPHENE's isn't as dense as mine, which might have saved her life, but I wanted mine to have the feeling of a fur jacket.





I've still got a way to go, but I think it's looking AWESOME already.