Take photos

I have this thing where I have to make an effort everyday. I think about who I'm going to see that day and whether they've seen that outfit. And then I get confused about what outfits I've worn! If you're like me and hate looking the same too often just take a photo in your outfit each day. If you do it in the same mirror it is so much easier when you're looking through your previous outfits because it is only your clothes that have changed in the picture!
By doing this you'll remeber what you wore last time you saw someone in particular and it's a good way of remebering what outfits you want to wear again!
Ps. if you have an iPhone you can even put your photos into a seperate 'outfit album' - I'm not sure whether you can do this on other phones, give it a go!

DIY hotpants

So I’ve been all over hot pants this summer and since I have way too many pairs of high-waisted shorts had to buy some.

I bought these powder pink denim hot pants from Topshop and paid £34 I wear them a lot but the price stopped me from buying another pair from the same place which I loved just as much. So I thought what better than to make them?
Find yourself a pair of jeans that fit and that you don’t want as jeans any more (I went for black due to my stupid amount of blue denim shorts.) As with everything, fold the legs and cut the majority of the leg off. Once most of the leg that’s getting in the way is gone, keep the jeans folded and cut in a diagonal line upwards - this way they wont be too long and able to be folded, which differentiates them from shorts, hot pants are meant to be very short! Try them on and adjust the cut accordingly. It’s likely that, if the jeans are a thin denim, that they wont fray nicely like shorts you buy in a shop, even if you try with a scissor blade. So my advise would be to fold the uneven bits (because I know better than anyone it is IMPOSSIBLE to cut in a perfectly straight line) pin, and sew.      

And your done. A pair of hot hotpants recycled from jeans you done want anymore! Certainly cheaper than buying them, more fun and, the reoccurring advantage, no one else has them!

Topshop vs DIY

I haven’t sewn all the way around my shorts yet, so I’ve been wearing them with one leg untidy, DON’T BE LAZY!
Ps. If the jeans are too tight for you they will be difficult to wear as hotpants as they will be too revealing and tasteless, hotpants are sexy, but make sure they fit well and you pull the off with class. I’m sure you can J

Swimming costume comment

A french woman came over to me on to the beach today and told me that my DIY swimming costume (http://catwalktocomputer.blogspot.com/2011/08/cut-out-swimming-costume.html) was beautiful.
It's always nice to hear that random pedestrians like what you're wearing but I promise, it feels so much better when you've spent time making that item of clothing yourself. It's so worth it!

DIY Beach Bag

Now, I was on holiday at this point travelling from one place to another by train only, so a sewing machine was not an option (in fact, I had to buy a sufficient amount of thread from a German market.) I had no pins and no idea what this piece of nonsense material would turn out to be, but as it had cost me nothing but a very small amount of luggage space I thought I’d just do what I do best and give it a risky go! (if you’re much like me and make rash assumptions and always hope for the best with your needle and thread, this blog will be very much up your street!) So, start at the bottom with your needle (or if you’re lucky, sewing machine) and stitch from the corner to the place where you want the opening of your bag. MAKE SURE THE MATERIAL IS INSIDE OUT! That way your stitching will be on the insde and you can turn it back when your done and it'll look almost professional! (Keep the bag tied at the top and when you get to the area you think you’d like the opening untie and see if you have enough room to fit your beach/holiday essentials.) Once you are happy with that side of your bag do exactly the same on the other side, making sure you have stopped sewing at the same point on the other side. (make sure little holes are sewn up, if any, at the bottom of your bag to prevent your headphones etc. from falling out.)

The two ends of your material tied acts as a handle so there is no fiddly-ness with that, simply untie your knot when you want to get stuff out. And that’s it! Okay so if you hand stitched it took you a while and it isn’t as well crafted as a bought beach bag, but it’s your own creation and cost you nothing, and that is always something to be proud of!

(mine is a little long and does, when stuffed full of towels and sun lotion, look a bit like a Christmas stocking, but I didn’t mind too much. If yours looks long and stocking-like, just untie your ‘handle’ and cut it shorter before sewing so that the bag hangs less low.) Have fun!

I didn’t have room for a beach bag in my case this summer holiday so I thought I’ll buy one there, beaches are surrounded with shops selling beach related items. However, unemployment does not help when all the beach bags are 20 odd euros! So I thought, I have some left over material from a long, garish skirt that I made into shorts, I’ll put it to good use. I'd cut a very long strip of material from the bottom of the skirt in order to make it short enough to make into shorts. This strip of material was about 200 mm wide and 2 metres in length. If you’re going to make a beach bag in the same way that I did make sure that it isn’t less than 200mm it width or it make be too narrow to make into a bag.
Here is the simple way of going about it. Lay the long strip of material out before you and fold it in half. Tie the two ends of the material in a double knot so that it creates a makeshift ‘handle’ that you are able to put over your shoulder.

DIY Leather/Denim Shorts

Note - if they’re not the exact same length after cutting don’t cut again because of the risk of them being too short, just fold one hem up more, pretty self explanatory really.
And you’re done! You saved yourself 20 pound and you’ve got shorts that no-one else does! Do it.
Ps. Always keep your left over material you never know when it’ll be useful.

Ever been to a vintage store? The shorts there are always so nice, and usually handmade from old jeans. But why pay £35 for shorts that another person has made when you can buy your own old jeans! Charity shops or carboot sales are the best target for old-man jeans and usually they’re not expensive! I got a pair of leather trousers from a vintage/junk shop in Germany for 9 euros and they’re surprisingly good quality. MAKE SURE your leather trousers or jeans are too big for your hips and fit on your waist for high-waisted shorts, plus if they fit nicely on your legs then they’ll be way too tight when you roll them up - a common mistake I made a lot! So once you’ve got a perfect pair of jeans or leather trousers, the hard part’s over. All you need now is a pair of scissors. In order to make sure the legs are the same length fold the jeans/trousers in half and cut each leg together. Put them on and fold the hem up whilst you’re wearing them in order to make sure they’re even.

DIY Cut-out Swimming Costume

This one is so easy but looks really impressive, someone actually offered to pay me to make her one! But it’s a three second job. Get a normal swimming costume, but a nice one - naturally I am drawn to leopard print. You can either make a template of the size and shape of the holes in the sides or do as I do and hope for the best! Fold the costume in half and make a very small half moon cuts in the side.
Don’t make them too big because they’ll stretch when it’s on. If you want to check where you want the holes before cutting put the costume on and make marks. Another thing to be very careful about is making the holes too high up, you will be revealed for all the world to see! Besides that you can make the holes as far inwards as you like, again watching out for the height of the hole and keeping in mind that the material will stretch! And you’re finished, happy swimming!

DIY Barcode top

All you need to make a barcode top is a plain top, fabric paint and a pair of scissors. With black, squeeze bottle fabric paint you can do pretty much anything (Tulip Fabric Paint)
 

I did this top (left) in about three seconds. (Plus the 72 hours for complete drying.) Just use some card to drag out the wet paint to make it look deliberately untidy.



The barcode top took longer. If you’re going to do something more detailed get a picture from the internet. Make sure you squeeze the bottle hard if you’re going for long, straight lines in order to keep the paint flowing. Cut the top either before you start or after it’s dried. (Also, always put a piece of paper or card under the material you’re painting on just in case it goes through and ruins the back of the top.) The top I used was a three pound Primark vest top - size 16. Get a big size if you’re thinking of cropping it this much so it hangs over your boobs - if you get a size that fits you it’ll be tight and look less tasteful.

This kind of cropped top looks good with high-waisted shorts or jeans for the day or a body-con skirt for the night, with a strip of midriff showing - an 80’s look that’s been reinvented.
(We did use a barcode reading app on my dads iPhone to see if my barcode actually read anything. It didn’t.) The top cost me 6 pound in all and it’s one of a kind - make it your own J

PS. my friend asked me when I showed him, 'why a barcode though?' and I replied that it was a tattoo idea which I decided against, but it symbolises that we're all a product of a creator - which I think was a very well thought out meaningful answer! So that's your explaination if questioned!