DIY: Tie-dye stockings / Halloween Zombie stockings

DIY Tie-dye Zombie Stockings

A few weeks ago, my friends and I had a Crafternoon party where we fiddled with food dye and stockings. Our plan was to make ombre stockings and tie-dye stockings. The ombre stockings didn't turn out great, but the tie-dye stockings turned out AMAZING. Well, at least in my opinion. So here's the how-to! 

Materials:
Nude nylon stockings
Food dyes and various colours (my advice is to get primary colours and then mix these colours to create more colours!)
Vinegar
A pot of boiling water
Gloves (if you don't want to end up with funky fingertips like I did)
Rubber bands

Steps:

1. Twist your stockings lengthwise until you end up with a ball-like mess. Secure the ball-like mess with a rubber band. Or you could think up more interesting ways to twist your stockings for a more unique tie-dye look. 

2. Add vinegar to your pot of boiling water. This helps to ensure that your stockings remain colourfast. I didn't follow a formula for the ratio of water to vinegar. To me, this is creative craft, not a science experiment. 

3. Bring the water down to a simmer.

4. Add the desired coloured dye(s) into your pot of boiling water. (P.S.: It is highly recommended that you mix 2 different colours if you want the tie-dye effect like the one I have done. My friends and I started out with a pot of pink dye, then added blue to create purple. I popped my stockings into the pot of purple dye thinking that it would only give a purple tie-dye effect. But woah, surprise surprise! It turned out with an amazing diffused red and blue look.)

5. Leave the stockings in the pot for about 5 minutes (or longer if you want more colours to seep into the twisted bits). Sing a song while the stockings simmer in the pot. Alternatively, you can chant "Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

6. Remove the stockings from the pot. Let it cool off for a bit, unravel it, then rinse it with water until the water runs clear.

Drying out our products

7. Lay it out to dry.

8. Wear it with pride.

Like a zombie

That's how simple it is! Honestly, I can't guarantee the same results, but do let me know how your stockings turn out if you do end up trying this.

x g

Tips: DIY Dolce & Gabanna inspired floral sunglasses

Dolce & Gabbana inspired DIY floral embellished sunglasses

It is a well-known fact that tutorials for the Dolce & Gabbana inspired DIY floral sunglasses have been done to death all over the Internet. So, instead of doing re-inventing the wheel, I thought of sharing some tips and some of the ideas that I have for this DIY project.

Tip #1: Pick a pair of sunglasses with thicker frame so that there is ample area for you to glue the flowers. A cat-eye frame is a plus because placing the flowers on the top tips of a cat-eye frame gives emphasis on the flowers.

Tip #2: Play around with placement of the flowers on the sunglasses using Blu-Tack to have a good idea of what the end-product will look like. This also allows you to wear the sunnies and decide if you actually like the look!

Tip #3: Use flowers of different sizes.

Tip #4: Try using metallic roses for a different look! 

Tip#5: Don't stop at flowers/roses. Think big, think fruits and animals. Think Anna Dello Russo's gold crocodile sunglasses. Now that's another DIY idea!

Half-frame floral look. Not a fan.

Tried a full floral look and decided it was too much for me

Gold roses

So there you go, my tips for creating your very own DIY embellished sunglasses. To be honest, I haven't glued the flowers to my sunnies. Those flowers are stuck to the sunnies with Blu-Tack. It's so hard to decide on the one that I really want! But I have to say that I have deviating towards the one with the gold roses! 

Have fun! xx

DIY: Bejewelled clutch

Bejewelled Clutch

No secrets inside

This is the perfect type of DIY-with-your-TV project. I promise that you will not even notice the hours fly by. Just make sure that you don't get too close to the project because the smell of the superglue might get to you.

Materials:
1 x sunglasses case
1 x cosmetic bottle cap
Gold nail polish (or another colour of your choice)
Lots of tiny rhinestones
Superglue

The cap

I got the tiny rhinestones from eBay and if I remember correctly, they cost me less than $10 in total. And the sunglasses case was $2 from a dollar shop. The cap was literally free because it came from a beauty product sample.

Steps:
1. Glue the rhinestones all over.
2. Paint the cap with gold nail polish.

3. Glue the cap on the top of the clutch.
4. Put on red lipstick and your favourite pair of heels. Go out and party. Take this clutch with you.

Now all I need is an occasion to use take this clutch out. xx

Candy

// Pom Pom Cardigan, DIY / Arm party (see below for details) / Flashback Fuchsia nail polish, Ulta //

I have found that the way to feel good about my ombre hair is to dress in the right colours. I think green is one of them.

Also, let me use this opportunity to show some bracelets that I have made many months ago but haven't got around to blogging. Ok, I will write a post on the full range of bracelets I've made... soooooon. 

From left to right: Kid's watch from Kmart, bracelet from Rubi, DIY woven bracelet, DIY friendship bracelet

From left to right: DIY friendship bracelet, DIY bracelet made from wooden beads painted with neon yellow and white nail polish, thrifted bracelet that reads, 'GOODNESS'

Later. x

DIY: Ombre Hair (Like a ray of sunshine)

// Green woollen jumper, thrifted (and rather itchy) / Black dress with tiny polka dots, Valleygirl, $15 //

I have mixed feelings about my DIY ombre hair. I am not sure if I actually like it or not. To make matters worse, I have received quite a bit of negative comments from my friends. Honestly, I do not care about what they think. Well, I did, initially. But then I decided that it didn't matter because this is what I have been wanting to do and now that I have done it, I am glad that I did. Have I just made this sound awfully complicated?

Ok, to put it simply, there are times when I love my new ombre hair and there are times when I am unhappy about it. Mostly, I am unhappy when I see another Asian with the same hair on the streets. I wanted ombre hair because I wanted a different/unique look. But I guess that's silly of me because ombre hair is all the rage at the moment. I should have known better. So, rather than creating a signature look, my ombre hair has, to some extent, reinforced my status of a quintessential Asian in Sydney. 

The hair dye

Less than 5 minutes after washing it out

Regardless, I just want to show everyone here my new hair. Oh, and today is one of the days that I am loving my new hair. xx

Happy - for now

New shoes, old shoes and DIY shoes

From left to right: New burgundy hi-top sneakers, old (and cheap) moccasins with a broken sole that ended up in the bin, DIY Chanel-inspired flats (as seen here) that got so very worn and also ended up in the bin, DIY Charlotte Olympia-inspired Kitty flats

Close-up of DIY Kitty flats

After creating my two-tone brogues, I still have a huge amount of the 3D fabric paint left. So, what better way to make good use of it than to make another shoe-related DIY? The DIY version of Charlotte Olympia's Kitty flats has been all the rage on the Internet for a while. I made mine using the 3D paint I have and a pair of $1 flats I bought during a sale. 


Come to think of it, I have actually been wearing this pair of kitty flats for almost 6 months! The back of the flats are very worn now because they are essentially cheap $1 flats and I walk with my heel down first. It will probably end up in the bin very soon.


xx

SEWN: Polka Dot Cape

Pattern: Simplicity 2030 (Sew Simple)

Fabric: Velour, navy polka dots on white background

This cape is made of velour, just like Zapp Brannigan's suit. But this cape is more awesome than Zapp Brannigan's suit. I think I bought this fabric earlier this year when it was on sale. The polka dots and the plush, shiny look of the fabric blew me away the very moment I laid eyes on it and I knew I had to get it. I don't know why, but for some reason, the fabric screamed, 'KATE SPADE!' to me. 

Wearing the cape with ASOS sunnies, DIY denim, and red lipstick

Within a minute of deciding that I was going to buy the fabric, I also decided that I was going to make a cape with the fabric, regardless of the suitability of velour as a material for making something that is meant to keep a person warm in winter. Oh, and also, the pattern does not recommend the use of velour at all. Sense 0 - Sensibility 1. 

But hey, the end product isn't too bad! I didn't make a muslin but simply made some alterations to the pattern based on my... intuition... and how the cape looks on the white silhouette on the front of the envelope. These are the changes that I made:


- Raised arm holes
- Shortened cape
- 3 hook and eye instead of the 4 prescribed by the pattern
- Additional topstitch all around the bottom which was not stated in the pattern. I did this to make the fabric stay in place since my fabric is quite light. Without the topstitch, the bottom of the cape looked puffy as the velour is not heavy enough.

The cape

Detail

I reckon the arm holes can still be raised a tad more. Regardless, I am still happy with how the cape turned out. Now, let me lay the cape to sleep into my wardrobe and I shall find an opportunity to wear it when I'm back from my clinical placement in Albury.

Let me know what you think of this polka dot cape! :)

DIY: Detachable Collar

DIY Detachable Collar

Finally, a DIY-related post. 

This detachable collar was inspired by a tutorial featured on Rookie here. If you're not reading Rookie then you are missing out on something good. Anyway, the collar is from the same XL chambray shirt that I thrifted eons ago. Oh yes, I used the shirt to make a skirt here and now I've made a fun collar from remains of the shirt. I'm very much like the hunter that utilises every single part of a kill - skin, meat, fats, bones and all. Waste not, want not.

The shirt-to-skirt DIY

So here's the skirt that I made from the same shirt. Ah, I looked so happy wearing it then. But just to let everyone know, I have a very fickle heart. I stopped loving the skirt a while ago and have given it to my friend. Perhaps it was partly due to the fact that it was part of the 30 X 30 wardrobe challenge I did last year. Wearing the same item repeatedly certainly has the tendency to make it fall out of favour.

The original shirt

I think I still have the sleeves and some other remnants of the shirt lying around... I can probably make a couple of bows and random stuff out of it. We'll see! :) 


xx

DIY: Polka Dot Nails

I was instantly inspired when I saw this tutorial here a few days ago. This DIY nail design is so easy to do! My polka dots are rather large as I used a plastic knitting needles... That was the nearest thing to me when I wanted to get the 'dotting' done. 


By the way, how lovely is that shade of robin egg blue? 


x

DIY: Turban Knot Headband

I made this red headband a while ago based on this item that I saw on ASOS. The ASOS website always provides me with endless inspirations for creating fashion-forward knitted projects. If I were crazy, I'd make one in every colour of yarn I have. 

DIY Inspiration: Very 70s 
(via)

***


Materials:
1 ball of 8ply yarn of your choice
A pair of 3.00mm knitting needles


Pattern:


Cast on 27 stitches
Row 1: k2, *p1, k1; rep from *, end k1
Row 2: k1, *k next st in the row below, k1; rep from *
Row 3: k1, *p1, k1; rep from *
Row 4: k2, *k next st in the row below; rep from *, end k1 



Repeat Rows 1 - 4 until the headband measures approximately 70cm long. 

Before casting off, tie a knot at the centre of the work and then wrap the headband around your head to check that it fits well. Once you're satisfied with the length, cast off.

Bind seams. 


***


Enjoy! 

DIY: Two-tone brogues

I'm totally in love with this pair of black & bronze brogues that I whipped up a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to create a two-tone look on a pair of brogues after seeing several similar DIY projects appearing throughout the internet for the past couple of months. My chance came when I saw a pair of black brogues on sale for just $5 at Rubi shoes! Sometimes I just can't believe how lucky I am! 

Before

After

I completed this project in 2 nights. I applied several coats (approx 6 - 7)  of the paint so that the black no longer shows and the paint starts to give an opaque metallic look. By the way, this is the perfect DIY project to do while watching TV shows. There's no concentration required at all. I love it when I can watch shows like I Love Lucy while creating stuff. 


Here's the how-to:

Materials:
Fabric paint
Paintbrush
A pair of brogues


Steps:

1. Paint in the areas that you want to paint.

2. Repeat with several layers of paint until the original colour of the shoes no longer shows!