DIY Ombré Denim Dip dyed ombré denim has been popping up here and there and not only do we love the look, it’s super easy to do yourself! We’ve combined Tory Burch‘s dip dyed jeans and Miss Unkon‘s ombré 501s as inspiration for a pink infused DIY that could be done in a jiffy. Start by rinsing your shorts with water. A bottle of RIT liquid dye amounts to 1 cup; you’ll dye your shorts with the lightest shade first and darkest shade last. Pour 1/3 of the cup of dye into 2 gallons of hot water and mix. When dyeing dark denim, you will want to use less water for a darker dye. Ring out the excess dye and add another 1/3 cup of dye to your bucket. It’s that easy: ombré dip dyed denim shorts! DIY Bleach Tie Dye Last summer, we were obsessed with shibori indigo tie dying. No, really . . . we just about dyed anything white in sight. So when Free People asked us to include a DIY in their guest blogger series, we knew a new tie dye project was absolutely in order. And as the weather is beginning to warm up, what better time than now to start experimenting with reverse tie dye using bleach! Black tees and tops: watch out! To make a grid-like pattern, fold the shirt like an accordion and bind it between two pieces of wood or other flat shaped objects. Before you start bleaching, make sure you are wearing gloves and working outdoors or in a well ventilated area. The rusty brown color will slowly fade into a beautiful lighter shade as it begins to set. Your reverse bleach tie dye shirt is ready to wear! (top image from here, rest of images by HonestlyWTF)
DIY Bell Bottoms Some say that the comeback of the flare & wide leg denim trend marks the death of the skinny jean. Although I’m not ready to retire all of my skinnies just yet, I’m more than happy to lend a couple of pairs for the sake of an HonestlyWTF DIY. With denim scrap I saved when making some denim cut-offs last summer, we’ll show you how to upcycle a pair of skinny jeans into a pair of bell bottoms! Start by opening up the outer seams of each leg with the seam ripper. Fold the the scrap denim or fabric in half lengthwise and draw a diagonal line measuring the length of the open seam plus 2 inches. Pin one side of the triangular panel to an open seam. Your bell bottoms are finished! (top image via Jak&Jil, rest of images by Honestly…WTF)
can anyone braid plait shirt?? with tute I didn't have any scrap fabric...so this is a plastic tablecloth...but it will do for this tutorial. Start by folding the fabric in half with the crease where you want your 'braid'. Then cut notches like this. (do some testing on some other fabric to see how far apart and how long you want these...it will determine how large your braid looks.) Open the fabric up...see all the notches? If you're going to do this on a shirt, do it all the way around the shirt. You have one loop on your hook after you pull the other one through. Now just keep going and grab the loop on the left of the loop you just pulled up (right for lefties) with your crochet hook and pull it under the first loop on your hook all the way around! Except it will look better because it will be made out of fabric and not plastic!!! Hope I have not thoroughly confused you! Later,RecycleMicol
DIY Découpage Floral Bag When H&M asked us to DIY a boho-inspired item for their summer issue, découpage was the first thing that came to mind. Honestly, does it get any better than customizing a simple handbag with a brilliant floral print? However you create it, it’ll be satisfying to know that you’ve designed yourself a one of a kind bag! You’ll need:a handbagcotton fabric with a large floral patternpainter’s tapeMod Podgecraft paint2 small plastic dishes2 brushesscissors Start by taping off the edges and hardware of the handbag. Squeeze a dollop of colored craft paint into a small disposable container. Allow the first layer to dry completely. While the paint dries, carefully cut out a handful of flowers from the fabric. Arrange them onto the painted section of the bag. Remove the painter’s tape when the Mod Podge has dried clear and your floral handbag is complete! (all images by HonestlyWTF)
DIY Elbow Patch While perusing Pinterest one evening, I came across an intriguing tutorial on the wonderful art of needle felting. I had to learn more – especially after realizing it entailed repeatedly stabbing a needle up and down into a piece of fabric or sweater. A satisfying stress reliever that results in something wearable? Sign me up. And now that I can officially call myself a needle felting maven (and nerd), trust me when I say that you’re going to have a blast with this technique. You’ll need: With the sweater on, place a piece of tape about half an inch below the elbow. Align and center the bottom of the cookie cutter along the top of the tape. Fill the cutter, spreading out the wool fibers evenly. At the base of all felting needles are tiny, sharp burrs, which grab and interlock the wool fibers. Continue stabbing away until the surface is flat and even. Remove the cutter and use the tip of the needle to reign in any stray fibers, if necessary. Carefully peel the sweater away from the foam.
Marie Grace Designs: Smocking by Hand... Okay... here we go... let’s smock! This is part 2 of my pleating and smocking tutorial. Part 1, which explains how to hand-pleat fabric, can be found here. Smocking is very simple once you get a few basic rules straight. I appreciate the fact that smocking is functional and that’s really the reason that smocking was developed in the first place but my fascination is in the fact that its beautiful and so versatile and easy! First of all, use a good needle. Let’s look at a basic back stitch. Back stitching is worked from right to left and is called back stitching because it is literally stitched by backing up a step and then moving forward again. and bring the needle tip back out to the front at B... Pull the needle through until the thread sits neatly on the surface of the fabric. The differences between this kind of flat back stitching and smocking are the direction of the work and the fact that smocking is 3 dimensional. Again, we'll use a flat piece of fabric to demonstrate.
DIY Shibori Today marks HonestlyWTF’s four year anniversary. Four years! To celebrate, we’re revisiting the very first tutorial we ever featured on the site: shibori tie dye. Lauren and I first discovered shibori after discovering an old photo on the web. You’ll need:an indigo dye kitnatural fiber clothing or fabric2 5 gallon bucketsrubber glovessmall wood squaresrubber bandstwinea PVC pipea long wooden sticka drop clothrubber glovesscissors When choosing fabric or clothing, it’s important that made of natural fibers. Itajime shibori is known as the shape-resist technique. Fold it again in the other direction – again, like an accordion. Arashi is the Japanese term for “storm” and it’s also known as the pole-wrapping technique. Wrap the twine around the fabric. Continue wrapping, scrunching and tightening until all the fabric is compacted. Kumo shibori is known as the pleat and bind technique. Do the same with the opposite side, in staggered sections. Keep binding until you can’t go any further.
DIY Embellished Denim Shirt In case you weren’t able to join us last week at Madewell‘s anniversary event, we’re giving you the breakdown on just one of the many ways we embellished our favorite chambray shirts that evening. So grab a handful of sparkle and let’s get gilding! You’ll need: For shank style buttons, start by cutting off the backs with a pair of flush cutters. Squeeze a dollop of Jewel-It washable glue onto a wooden spoon or small plastic container. Position the embellishment on the tip of the collar and work outwards. Note that the glue does not set right away and takes quite a while to dry so be careful not to nudge the pieces around too much. Repeat the same design on the other collar tip and that’s it, you’re done! Another option is to embellish the pocket of a denim shirt using the same technique. (Madewell Chambray Shirt, Bauble Bar Mini Nameplate Necklace, JCrew Crystal Necklace, Bauble Bar Monogram Necklace; all images by HonestlyWTF)
Lattice smocking « learningtofly – Katafalk So here comes a tutorial on how to do lattice smocking, the smock on the left in this picture. Just as in honeycomb smocking one have a net of dots on the fabric, this time we are marking them out on the backside of the fabric. To make it simple we also mark out how we are going to gather the dots this time. In this kind of smocking we are working from the back, so the result will not be visible unless you turn your work over. It is also hard to see how it looks until you have made a few rows. Like this. Here is a diagram that show you how to do it, but I’ll explain with pictures to. Stick the needle up the second dot on the second row. Pick up some fabric, just like three threads or so, and go to the first dot on the fist row and pick up some fabric there to. Gather, sew some stitches and secure the thread. Go to the dot directly under and secure the thread, all the threads that you do not gather should lie loose on the back. Gather, sew some stitches and secure the thread. Like this:
Welcome to Wrapped Rocks Jewelry - Kool Aid dyes * Wear rubber gloves. Purple fingers with blue fingernails may be appropriate for Halloween or something, but not necessarily for the office. * Tie your ties very loosely or you'll end up with tiny white stripes where your ties are. Just tie them enough to keep the hank roughly in place. * Soak the bare yarn for a long time before dyeing if you want a more consistent color. * Even if you're just winging it, write down exactly what you do. * When you add the yarn to the dye, mix it around and squish it with your hands or the dye won't penetrate to the middle strands. * Stir the yarn occasionally and carefully to even out the colors. * Wait until the dye bath is perfectly clear (or cloudy in some cases - just no color left) or you may leave behind an important color. * If you want predictable colors and even coloration, you might want to skip the Kool Aid and go with commercial dyes.
DIY Studded Sneakers Studding sneakers has been on our DIY to-do list for awhile now. But the idea of hand piercing hundreds of holes through thick canvas was daunting enough to allow such procrastination. Enter E6000, the crème de la crème of adhesives. As you probably know by now, it’s our secret weapon for quickly and effectively attaching metal to fabric. So after the recent release of Vans‘ brushed twill pastel Authentics, we thought it was the perfect summer shoe to adorn. So grab some glue and let’s get studding! You’ll need:a pair of sneakers150 – 200 brass cone spikesE6000 adhesivea disposable container or popsicle sticktoothpicks Start by squeezing a small amount of E6000 into a disposable container or onto a wooden popsicle stick. Press the spike into the sneaker, holding it in place for a few seconds. Continue adding spikes along the shoe’s baseline and working upwards in horizontal lines. Arrange the spikes, without glue, into awkward spaces before attaching them.
Charming Window Pillows Hi! I’m Angela from My Three Sons and I was a mechanical engineer in my life before kids. Really an engineer to the core, I’m all about optimized processes and well-utilized materials. I tried to figure out the best way to make the elusive cathedral window block. We’re going to make two pillows here – most efficient use of materials and all. 1 Just Wing It Charm Pack 1 3/4 Yards Bella Solid Snow 4 Just Wing It Fat Quarters Washable glue stick 2 Square pillow forms – 20″x20″ 2 18-20″ zippers (optional) Pink and Blue Matching thread (optional) Step One: In which you fold fabric and steam it into submission First, from the white yardage cut 5 strips the entire width of the fabric and each 10.5″ wide. Subcut each of those 5 strips into 10.5″ squares so that you end up with a total of 20 pieces. But you do need to make a perfect 9″ square out of poster board. Find a washable glue stick – or go out and grab a Sewline glue pen. Fold that edge over the poster board and hot steam iron it. Done!
Dorodango Japanese German by Kayo, Fumio ・・・・2002/3(Japanese version) 2003/12(English version) translated by MES mystery tomato miracle [Items you must have] 1.Nice weather of 2-3 days duration, completely dry soil, a small quantity of water, and your trustful hands. 2.Company with whom you can chat and work together. 3.A soft material such as a dry dust cloth (a safe place on which you can rest the ball) [Items you will find it convenient to have] 1.Plastic bags (cheep transparent bags for cooking) 2.Polishing cloth (Jersey or cheap stockings are the best) Wet the soil as shown in the picture, compress it hard with the hands, and make a ball that serves as the core. The principle is to forget about shining and to concentrate on making something round. During <the first 2-3 minutes> the surface of the ball is sufficiently wet, and occasional rough handling is permitted. <The next 30-40minutes> is the stage of making a smooth surface. a variety of roughness click to a smooth sphere ...