Monday 29 February 2016

Caught in the cactus - a quick Kenzo clutch


With the (quintessentially 90s) trend of the logo-as-statement-feature reborn in 2016, its latest incarnation has left plenty of inspiration for DIY projects in the quirky new label designs. Kenzo's cactus clutch was no exception, so, with my appetite for craft well and truly whetted, I found myself reaching for my fabric paint drawer.

Inspiration



Kenzo Leather clutch with Cactus print


You will need...


Metallic clutch

Black 3D fabric paint

Pink and white fabric paint

Wide-tipped paint brush

Masking tape

 Difficulty




Hard to gauge; it depends on what it is you're painting (mine was quite fiddly) and how dexterous you are with fabric paint. One thing I will say is that this is a straightforward project without any challenging surprises.

Time


Doable in an hour.

Blooming genius



Decide where you want to paint your design and stick strips of masking tape around the designated area, ensuring they are parallel by aligning them with the edges.

In my logo design, I painted the white lettering by pinching the brush, so the bristles were flattened and could paint a petal-like shape. I painted the pink blossoms normally.

The black parts were done with 3D fabric paint, using thin slivers of paint and spreading them as sparingly as possible with the tip of the nozzle.



Thursday 11 February 2016

Thunder boots - How to customise ankle boots with glitter designs

Inspiration



glitter platform boots




After fashion recently took a golden leaf out of the David Bowie book of fabulous footwear with the glitter ankle boot trend, I thought it only right to follow suit with a DIY tribute of my own.


You will need...



Not Pictured


Ankle boots. Don't forget them, they're pretty important.


Difficulty



Quite easy


As long as you're reasonably careful and dexterous with stencils and spray glue, there's no real challenge here - except for keeping your work area clean, expect things to get messy!


Time


1-2 hours.


Get some glamour to boot




Clip a sheet of adhesive paper to the side of a boot and cut it away along the centre back, across the top and along the sole. Draw out a design and cut it out, discarding the bit of adhesive paper inside the design and keeping the bit outside the design - you need to use this to mask the area where you don't want the craft mount and glitter to go. Don't peel the back of the adhesive paper yet.


Lay the templates of each of your designs flat (and adhesive-side-up), on top of the 'wrong' side of another piece of adhesive paper (adhesive-side-down), trace the design and cut it out as before. Repeat this process for designs you want to copy four times, i.e. those that go along both sides of each boot.



Once you have cut out all your templates peel away the backing, stick them in place, spray the stencilled area with craft mount and sprinkle glitter all over it. Wait briefly for the craft mount to dry and then remove  the adhesive paper.

I used face wipes and a dash of white spirit to clean stray glitter off the boots, before applying a thin layer of clear lacquer to hold the glitter in place and keep it from dropping everywhere.



Thursday 4 February 2016

Fur real - How to DIY a Fur logo Fendi sweater

You will need...


A black sweatshirt

Assorted faux fur in different colours

Craft mount

Fabric scissors

Printer (unless you're an ace at tracing and copying templates)

Patternmaster or graded setsquare

A4 paper or magazine (hear me out on this one)

Pins


Difficulty



Very easy


An easy and therapeutic case of cut, stick 'n' colour (if you don't mind things getting a little messy!).


Time


About an hour, if that.


Get your fur on!






Print the above template across a sheet of A4, cut the letters out and place each one on the flat 'wrong' side of a differently coloured piece of faux fur.




Pin the letters down and cut the fabric around them.






The next step is to decide where to stick the lettering - and make sure it's straight! I did this by placing a magazine (you can also use an A4 sheet of paper) along the top of the ribbing and directly above the hem. I also used a patternmaster to make up the extra distance because I felt that the lettering didn't sit high enough.

Once you're happy with the placing of the letters, keep something in place to mark the line out and stick them down with craft mount.