DIY: Studded White Shorts

Hiya lovelies,

Today I have another little DIY post for you. How many of you have been craving for studded shorts this Spring? I know I have. And I found the perfect-looking pair from Gina Tricot, but paying 40 euros for a pair every other girl on the street will wear wasn't really an option for me. So, what's a girl to do?

Make her own, kinda unique pair, of course. ;)

White Studded Shorts

You'll need:
A pair of white jeans (or shorts)
Scissors
Studs
Tweezers
(Sandpaper and/or crafting knife - anything that can be used for "destroying") 

Start off by cutting the jeans short. You can (and should) figure out the perfect length by putting them on and drawing a line to where you want to cut it off.

Look at the fun little detail the back pockets have! So cute! :)

Time to start the detailing. I started off with cuts and holes and whatever, but you can start from the studs if you like that better.

I created one slightly more clear and bigger cut than the others, as I needed that for a detail. Others are just "worn out" looking.

Add the studs the way you see fit...

...I made a pattern that looks like this.

And this is what the bigger slit is for. Cut a piece from the leftover fabric, that's slightly bigger than the slit you made. Then, add some studs to it the way you like. (I mimicked the design of the Gina Tricot shorts)

Pin it on it's place, and sew.

It should look like this. 

Now, just make the finishing touches to the legs (I worn mine out with the help of tweezers).

In the end, your creation could look something like this. I'm eager to get on wearing them. ;)

I'm actually upgrading another pair as we speak, don't know if I'm posting them here much, but I think I can at least show a picture on the next post. ;) 

Stay creative!

xoxo 

Johanna

DIY: Cut Out Shirt

Hey lovelies,

Today I'll bring you a post about a little project I had a couple of weeks ago. If you don't know already, I really love the make my own clothing as much as possible, because that's the only way to really have unique clothing, and therefore, unique style. I've maybe mentioned it on the style blog, but I hate to pay big prices for items that every other girl on the street will wear that season. That's why I've learned to sew in early age, and try to learn new things every year.

Unfortunately the past year has been very busy and all, so I haven't got to do as many projects I would've loved to. I have, however, stored loads of fabrics in our closet for the time I can actually just focus on the stuff I really love. And within a week, I can start doing projects one by one, and hopefully get to post here more often as well. ;)

But anyway, back to the post itself.

You know the cut out trend that seems still to be around? Well, I've looked in one store after another, looking for the perfect shirt, but never quite found one. Not that there weren't beautiful ones, but I don't want to wear the same piece everyone else has.

So one day, I was going through my enormous pile of fabrics, and found the same neon green fabric I had used for my lace skirt (seen here and here). I saw there was easily enough fabric for a shirt, and realized it would make a nice cut out shirt.

So I dug out my Burda patterns and started out the fun.

How to create your own cut out shirt?

If you like to sew, like I do, start from the beginning. If you don't, scroll down to step 4. (Then you'll need a long-sleeved shirt you dare to cut.)

1. Start out by choosing a pattern you want to use for the shirt. I used 7742 from Burda Young, which is my go-to pattern for nearly any shirts. Cut the necessary pieces from the fabric as instructed.

2. Follow the instructions included with your pattern. It probably goes the way I've done it, though. So start out by taking the back and front pieces of the shirt, and place the pieces outsides against each other. Pin the shoulders together, and make the shoulder seams. Turn the edges of the neckline to make a neat finished look.

It should look somewhat like this.

2. Take the sleeves, and fit them to the correct places. The easiest way to have neat seams is to start the pinning from the edges, and work your way towards the center. You may have to create folds to make the sleeve fit in nicely. Make the seams, and remove the pins.

At this point, your shirt should look like this.

3. Sew the side seams, and tidy up the ends of the sleeves and the hem by turning the edges and sewing them neatly.

4. Decide the size of the cut outs. They don't have to be similar on each side, so you can just be as creative as you may. Cut them out a little smaller than you want them to be, then turn the edges as you did with the sleeves, and sew them in place.

It should look like this when you're done. Now you can put it on and wear it. (You may notice my shirt doesn't have finished hem in the picture, that's because I realized it only after taking the photo... Oops.) I think I'll be editing the ends of the sleeves later on, but when I do, I try to remember to update this post. :)

This was super easy to do, and I strongly encourage anyone with a little patience to try this out. Maybe you have an old shirt in your closet that needs a little something? Well, this might actually be the easiest thing to do with it. ;)

If I can do this, so can you. :) Just be creative ♥

xoxo 

Johanna

Recent sewing projects

Hey you all,

It's been a while I've written anything here (I mean, I've had things to write about, but it has just been so hectic or something). But now I thought it's time to fix it. The other day I finally decided to take photos of many things I've sewn recently (meaning, within six months). I also have a kind of DIY post coming up (a cut-out shirt), and I wanted to ask if there's any DIY you'd want me to cover here?

Of course, there's a lot of projects I'll get to when my vacation starts after a couple of weeks. Then I will only have my job, no school for many blessed weeks, so it's perfect for the blog. (Or, well, for all 4 of them... :D)

Anyway, to the point. Here's some creations by me:

An old shirt I got bored of. So I gave it a fringe. ;) Not much of a project, just something I cut while watching TV.

I've shown this one before on the style blog, but here we go again. A chiffon tunic with a floral pattern, perfect for days on the beach.

Also something I've posted before, a light green (not mint, though) lace dress with a little detail in the back. The neckline looks more asymmetric here than it actually is, lol. :D

More lace... This one is an old dress of my cousin's, which I took in a little and started to cover with lace. I ran out of white lace while doing it, so this one is waiting for me to have the time to run to a fabric store and grab some cute white lace. (and possibly something colorful for the waistline... Suggestions?)

A metallic tunic, which is an old, old project that I dug up because it's so adorable. It's missing buttons, and needs a belt and slimming, but we're getting there. ;)

Thrifted military style jacket, which was desperately needing an edge from something black. So I added some satin and lace. (And yes, it's missing lace from other sleeve. Apparently some of my fabric boxes has swallowed it... I wish I knew which one!)

And then, my newest addition (sorry for the terrible light!): A green - yes, green, not yellow! - lace skirt with some tricot fabric underneath. I made the waistline adjustable, so it can be worn as high waist or super high waist....

 

...and it doesn't stop there because it's also the cutest short dress this Summer. ;) 

So, what do you all think? And what's the recent DIY project you've had?

I'm really sorry for the light in the photos, it doesn't compliment the clothes too much. But you can see all these later on styled in different outfits, and in much better light, so don't worry. ;)

Later this week - or at the beginning of the next, the latest, I'll be showing you how I sew a cut-out shirt from scratch. I'll be also making studded denim shorts, headbands, and some other pieces before June. And I really want to know: Is there a DIY project you'd want to see here?

Now, I'm off to bed - lots of studying to do tomorrow...

Be creative! ♥

xoxo

Johanna

DIY: Neon accessories

Hey lovelies,

I'm finally back on track with the posting, and I'm also bringing you my latest DIY project. I do a lot of these really, so I might not document every single one, but as this was trendy as well, I thought you'd like to see ;)

What was I doing? I transformed my ordinary-looking accessory pieces into neon goodies.

And here's a couple of pictures to tell the tale. ;)

I started off with three gorgeous shades of nail polish, and a bracelet I got from my mom.

First, I used the yellow to make a zigzag pattern across the bracelet.

Then switched to pink, continuing the same thing.

And finally I used the orange to fill the "gaps" left in the pattern. Kinda cute, huh? :)

While I was at it, I decided to do a little makeover to a pair of earrings I haven't used in months - or maybe years, but really, who's counting? :D

They used to look like this, not ugly, but really plain.

So I added a little colour...

...and a bit more...

...until I was happy with how they looked! 

So, now I have brand new accessories in my collection, and it didn't cost a dime for me. Now, how cool is that? ;) I hope this was inspiring, and as the Summer comes, I'll have more time to do and photograph DIY projects, so stay tuned! ;)

Have an inspirational day!

xoxo

Johanna

DIY Inspiration: Glamming Up Your Boxes

Hey sweeties,

Here's something I got done this week, after buying a hot glue gun and noticing that the way I was storaging items didn't reflect me enough. (a.k.a. my boxes etc. are made by Ikea. Very original, right?)

So, being a handy woman as I am, and after seeing amazing DIY posts from other bloggers (Laura, Emily, I'm looking at you two...) I decided to do a little makeover for two of my storage boxes.

Here's what happened:

I was doing a manicure, and I realized my nail polish box wasn't big enough. What to do?

But of course, I would take a shoe box I don't need, and glam it up to a neat, girly box! All I needed was some craft paper, scissors, hot glue gun and red satin ribbon, and I was set to craft. :)

The result:

It has a sort of Tilda feeling to it, super girly and sweet, and I love it. Now, I would like to know, what do you think? ♥

I also got carried away, and decorated another box. This one was a perfectly good Kassett box from Ikea, but I kinda thought that it's a good item to experiment with:

Some heart-shaped bling to the top - which I glued there one-by-one.

Black tullé to the sides, and pink silk paper to add boutique feeling to it.

Final touch: Pink "diamonds" to frame beautifully what's inside the box.

This one, too, I love to bits, can't help it :)

Do you like these, and would you like to have a step-by-step guide on how to do this at home? Leave me comments and let me know ;)

xoxo

Johanna