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DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

Aug 312010

DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

As promised, here’s the easy-peasy DIY tutorial on how to make your very own batik chic scarf using inexpensive materials from around the house.

Batik is a printing technique and type of textile popular in Asia and African countries. Different shapes are painted onto the fabric using liquid wax then dipped into dye. The wax is removed and you end up with some great handmade textiles.

Dries Van Noten Men Spring-Summer 2010

If you draw repeating shapes like circles, squares and zig-zags, you can end up with some very contemporary fabric, like the patterns in the 2010 spring/summer collections of Dries Van Noten (especially the men’s accessories: pocket squares and bracelets) and the 2011 Max Azria women’s resort collection. Other inspirations include instructions found in a thrifted McCall’s craft magazine, the and posts around the web. We’ll list the web resources in another post this week.

The photos were taken at the Spins & Needles Pop-Up Batik Chic Picnic we held this past Sunday at park in downtown Ottawa. More photos can be found on the Spin Off Stuff Flickr page.

DIY Tutorial: How to Make a Batik Chic Scarf

Materials

* Wax paper or craft paper
* Cotton fabric (for scarf – we used 40″x10″ pieces of fabric)
* Pencil and paper
* Paintbrushes (varying sizes)
* Tealight candles (paraffin wax)
* Lighter/matches/firestarter
* Small aluminum pie tins
* Small fondue stand with candle base (optional)
* Paper towel
* Plastic tubs or buckets
* Water
* Salt/vinegar
* Dye (RIT-dye, Dylon or Procion MX)
* Rubber gloves
* Wooden spoons or barbecue tongs
* Iron
* Beeswax (optional)
* Apron (optional)
* Picnic lunch + picnic mat (optional!)

DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

1. Prepare your pattern, working surface and fabric: Sketch your pattern on a piece of paper. Then place wax paper or craft paper on your working surface so wax doesn’t seep through. Place your scarf right side up on your wax paper.

Tip: Use natural materials (e.g. cotton, silk, burlap). Man made materials (e.g. polyester, rayon) are harder to dye.

DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

2. To make your liquid wax: Remove the candle wick from several tealights. Then take one of the small aluminum pie tins and poke a couple holes on the side of the tin with a pencil. Next, light three tealight candles with a wick and place it into another aluminum pie tin. Place the tin with holes on top to cover the flames, then place another aluminium pie tin on top with the wick-less tealight. (In all you’ve used three aluminium pie tins). The wax should be completely liquid within 5-7 mins. Do not leave unattended or inhale the smoke!

Tips:

If you’re going to batik outdoors and its a bit windy, better alternatives to the three aaluminum pie tin setup include placing an aluminium pie tin on top of a tealight candle holder or a larger fondue base/camp stove powered by fuel. (Here’s a video on how to DIY a camp stove.)
Use beeswax for crisper, discrete lines. Use paraffin wax for wavier, less discrete lines. (Professional batik artists use a mix of the two.)
Alternative to wax: white glue (or even glitter/coloured glue) Great for kids and washes out.

DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

3. Start drawing: Dip your paintbrush into the melted liquid and draw directly onto your fabric. You can use varying brush sizes. Make sure wax line is thick so it will block the dye. After you’ve finished painting, look over and do touch-ups. Let wax harden.

Tips:

Use shapes like end of spool, cookie cutter, etc.
For a batik with more than one clour, paint more wax on top of the first colour and dye the piece again using a different colored dye. Or you can paint directly with the different colour dye instead of submerging the entire piece.

4. Prepare your dye: Prepare your dye in the plastic tub/bucket according to instructions. We used Rit-Dye which usually calls for hot water, but, because of the wax, we used regular room temperature water. You can also use Proxion or Dylon cold water dyes. For colorfastness, add a 1/2 cup salt or vinegar to the dye bath. Use a wooden spoon or barbecue tongs to mix the dye with the water and salt/vinegar.

DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

5. Start dyeing your fabric: With rubber gloves on (required or you’ll dye your hands) and an apron (optional if you don’t want the clothes you’re wearing a different colour), place your piece of fabric in the dye bath. Use the spoon or tongs to move fabric around and try not to splash yourself. Leave the fabric in depending on how intense you want the colour to be: shorter for less intense, longer for more intense. Note that some of the dye will wash out after washing.

DIY Project: Batik Chic Scarf

7. Letting the fabric dry: Take your piece out, wringing out any dye. Place on your wax or craft paper and let the piece dry.

Tip:

Try not to leave it in the sun to avoid fading.

8. Setting the fabric: When your fabric is dry, place a fresh piece of wax or craft paper on top. Iron on top of the paper to heat wax, then let cool. The wax should adhere to the paper and off of the fabric. Repeat on areas where you still see wax. Put in washer or run under sink to wash out excess dye then put in dryer to set print.

Now wear in style for cool fall nights!

DIY Project: Miu Miu Brooches and Keychains Using Shrinky Dinks

Jul 212010

I know I’m late jumping on the Miu Miu 2010 Spring/Summer DIY bandwagon but I still love this line! The cat, dog, swallow and nude women prints are so iconic. So last Thursday we held a Pop-Up summer fashion accessories workshop on how to make your own Miu Miu summer brooches (read the workshop recap here).

There are already tons of great tutorials on this amazing spring/summer line including tights (via The Haute Pursuit), Mary Janes (via Lions, Tigers and Fashion Oh My), collars (via fieldguided) and brooches (via Miss at la Playa).

Inspired by all these tutorials I used a different material for creating Miu Miu brooches and keychains: Shrinky Dinks! If you’re not familiar with SDs, it is plastic material that shrinks after you bake it. A must have for every crafter – there are so many uses for it. It was perfect for the brooches/keychains because the end result is really durable. You can find it at a big box craft store and occassionally in dollar stores (although usually these ones have images already printed on them).

Above are the Quick Fix photo instructions. Photos can be found on my Flickr page.

Below is the tutorial for creating your own DIY Miu Miu brooch or keychain:

DIY Project: Spring/Summer 2010 Miu Miu Brooches and Keychains

Materials

Shrinky Dinks
Permanent marker
Pencil crayons
Scissors
Toaster oven
Large paper bag/cardboard
Glue gun
Plastic string (for cat whiskers)
Brooch backing or keychain hoop
Hole punch (if making a keychain)

1. Take a Shrinky Dink sheet (8×10″) and using a permanent marker trace out one of the images on the smooth side of the sheet. I used Miss at La Playa’s templates of a cat, swallow and nude woman and enlarged them. You can find those enlarged versions on my Flickr page.

2. You can colour in your image with pencil crayons on the rough side of the sheet (I decided not to to leave the brooch white). Then cut out the image, leaving the black outline intact.

3. Pre-heat your oven to 325F. Cut out a piece of brown paper bag or cardboard that will fit in your toaster oven. Place your cut-out pieces on to the bag and put in the oven. You will see your pieces start to shrink curl up onto themselves – not to worry because that is the magic of shrinky dinks! They are ready to take out of the oven when the pieces lie flat.

The photo above shows how much they shrink – to about 1/3 of its original size and much thicker. Plus the paper is hot – use an oven mitt to remove the paper.

4. Using a glue gun, attach the cat’s head to the body. Then add whiskers: I cut out plastic string and glued them to the front of the cat’s face.

5. Then attach the brooch backing to the back of the cat.

6. Your brooch is done!!

Here’s a blue cat keychain I made: before you pop the pieces in the oven, hole punch a hole at the top of the piece. Also if you colour the image, you can use clear nail polish to seal the back of your piece so that the colour doesn’t get on your clothing.

More samples – enjoy!!

Posted by spins & needles on July 21, 2010 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff 4 Responses »

DIY: Knotted Ribbon Necklace with Baubles

Apr 182010

I spotted the necklace below a couple months ago at The Bay (a large Canadian department store similar to Macy’s in the U.S.) on display as well as at a couple stores in London when I was visiting in March. I loved the look of the knotted necklace part and thought it would go well with lots of pieces in my wardrobe.

Definitely looked like a DIY and I finally got around to it this month. It takes less than a couple hours if you’ve got all your materials.

Materials
Wide transparent ribbon (or fabric)
Jump rings
Eyepins
Baubles (I used silver ones – on the mannequin they are gold. You could also use pearls)
Pliers
Scissors

1. Cut a piece of ribbon about 10′ long.

2. Twist the ribbon and add jump rings every 1.5″ or so. Leave about 2-3″ at each end (to be used to tie necklace together).

3. Attach a silver bauble to each jump ring using the eyepin and pliers.

4. Tie the ribbon into a knot between each jump ring.

THE END!

For a similar project using leather, check out this DIY project featured on P.S. I Love You.

Posted by spins & needles on April 18, 2010 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff 4 Responses »

DIY Project: Dazzle Camouflage Stencil T-Shirt

Apr 122010

Spins & Needles 5-year anniversary party was awesome! I’ll be writing up a post about the party later this week when we get all our fun photos back, including those from our makeshift “travelling” photobooth.

The most popular project at the party was definitely the dazzle camouflage stencil t-shirt, which fit in so well with the exhibition we linked up with for the party at the War Museum: Camouflage: From Battlefield to Catwalk, which looked at the influence of camouflage in war, art and fashion.

If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you’ll know one of the things I loved about the exhibition was its coverage of a non-traditional form of camouflage: dazzle camouflage, which consists of bright colours and contrasting diagonal lines (influenced by modern art and Cubism). Its such a great twist on the traditional green, brown and black motif.

And with military being “in” this spring, here’s one way you add a different sort of pattern to your wardrobe and still stay true to the trooper in you.

Here we go:

MATERIALS
Masking tape/painter’s tape (different widths)
Scissors
Sponge brush
Fabric paint (black, but any colour will do)
Thrifted plain white t-shirt
Cardboard

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Slide the piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt to keep paint from bleeding from the front side to the back side.

2. Add pieces of tape to create diagonal lines. Use different widths and different angles. Trim the ends of the tape to get straight lines.

3. Dip your sponge brush in the fabric paint. Dab at the spaces where the fabric is exposed. Make sure you get in all the nooks and crannies. Add a second coat if you need to.

4. After the paint is completely dry, pull the tape off the shirt. (If you pull the tape off before it dries, you risk lifting the paint, too). Use a hair dryer if you want to speed up the drying process.

THE END! Before washing, don’t forget to heat set your fabric paint (i.e. throw in the dryer on high heat for 5-10 minutes, depending on the instructions on your paint container).

BTW you don’t necessarily need to use black ink – try mixing it up with purple or dark pink. And the great thing about the pattern is that you can create so many variations of it – all you need to do is change up how you position the masking tape. I’m working on applying this pattern to a thrifted plain yellow cotton summer dress I picked up at Sally Ann this weekend.

This photo from Bernice Joy R from lookbook.nu is one great way of styling it.

Posted by spins & needles on April 12, 2010 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff 3 Responses »

DIY: How to Make Your Own Marni-Inspired Bib Necklace

Nov 042009

1. Marni-Inspired Necklace – Materials, 2. Cutting out the Felt Bib, 3. Sewing the Bib, 4. Adding the Jewels, 5. Adding the Chains, 6. Ready to Wear

Some of you at the Handmade Nation screening on Tuesday asked me where I got the necklace that I was wearing.

Two weekends ago I needed a glam necklace to go with my dark jeans and black blazer outfit. The 2009 Fall-Winter bib necklaces from Marni have always been faves of mine and a few months ago I had been eyeing making one of my own, with inspiration from this post by The Glamourai.

So, with a couple hours to spare before heading out, I dove into my vintage jewellery stash and came up with a Marni-inspired necklace. Here’s the tutorial:

Materials

Vintage jewellery
Black felt
Gold/silver chain + clasp
Gold/silver circles
Jewellery glue
Needle-nose pliers
Scissors
Black needle + thread
Sewing machine

1. Double your black felt and pin in place. Cut a bib shape from it. You’ll have two shapes after cutting.

2. Sew the two pieces of black felt together, but leaves the top two edges unsewed.

3. Start adding your jewels to the bib, either by handsewing or with jewellery glue.

4. Add the two gold/silver circles to unsewn ends of the necklace. Stitch together closed. Then attach one end of each gold/silver chain to either circle, and clasp piece to the other end.

5. Your piece of jewellery is ready to wear for a night on the town!

Posted by spins & needles on November 4, 2009 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff 2 Responses »

How To Make Your Own Bjork Swan Dress: Tutorial

Oct 282009

1: Bjork Swan Dress – Materials , 2: Bjork Swan Dress – Making The Back, 3: Bjork Swan Dress – Making the Front, 4: Bjork Swan Dress – Making the Neck, 5: Bjork Swan Dress – Making the Head, 6 – Love It: Bjork Swan Dress

Who doesn’t love the infamous Bjork Swan Dress? I whipped up this dress a couple years ago and decided to take it out of the vault again for Halloween 2009. Since there were a few things I had to mend on the dress, I thought recreating how I made it in a photo tutorial might be handy for those who were interested in making it themselves.

You can also view the photos and instructions on my Flickr page.

So here we go…

Materials
Thrifted white skirt
Thrifted sheer curtains or light cotton
White feather boa x 2
White cotton fabric
Needle + White thread
Sewing machine (optional)
Polyester filling
Hot glue gun
Two black buttons
Black felt
Orange felt/fabric
Glue gun
Safety pins
Skin-coloured bodysuit
-

1. The skirt/bottom: Take your thrifted white skirt and cut away any excess fabric so that it ends above the knee.
2. Cut long strips of sheer curtain material and sew it in layers horizontally on to the back fo your skirt. (I handsewed mine but you can also machine sew it.)
3. Cut the strips vertically to create small squares and to create a “feathered” or tiered effect. Sew on more small squares if you want to add more volume.

4. On the front of your skirt, handsew one end of the feather boa to bottom of your skirt.
5. Place your boa horizontally and wind it up the skirt, handsewing it in place to your skirt. Use a second boa if you need to.

6. The swan neck/head: Cut a 8″ x 35″ piece of white cotton fabric.
7. Line up the fabric so the long edges meet. Leave one end open and start sewing up the fabric. Round off the other end for the head.
8. If you have any sheer fabric left, cut up some squares and sew up the neck in a tiered effect.

9. Cut two black triangles from the black felt for the shadows around the eyes. Hot glue gun each piece on either side of the head. Attach the button eyes by hot glue gun or handsewing.
10. Create a cone out of the orange fabric. Hot glue gun or sew it to the tip of the head for the beak.
11. Stuff the neck/head area with polyester filling. Leave about 6″ from the bottom unstuffed. Sew across at this point. (You will tuck the remaining 6″ into your skirt later).

When you are ready to put wear your costume:
1. Put on your skin-coloured bodysuit.
2. Then put your skirt on: feathers in the front, sheer curtain material in the back. (There are no feathers in the back in case you want to sit down – the sheer curtain material won’t get crushed).
3. Wrap the swan neck around your neck and tuck in the unstuffed end of the neck into your skirt. With safety pins, secure the neck to the top of your skirt and to your jumpsuit. If you have the end of your feather boa still hanging, wrap it around and up the neck of your swan neck.
4. Put on your white (or in my case, black and comfortable) shoes.

You’re done and ready to go out in style!

p.s. You’ll notice in the photo my swan head is on my left side (Bjork’s had her swan head on her right side). Keeping it different I guess!

Posted by spins & needles on October 28, 2009 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff 5 Responses »

The Infinity Dress and Beyond

Jul 212009

Complex Geometries’ Split Square dress features a slight cowl that can be worn as a sleeve or neckline and a polished silk chiffon lining that can be worn on the outside

Today’s Globe and Mail featured an article today on the popularity of the convertible dress this summer - the dress you can wear in numerous different ways depending on how you tie it around your body.

Complex Geometries and American Apparel versions offer fresh new takes on the dresses. It’s also worth mentioning that the idea and patterns of the convertible dresses were available in the 1970s (and some would argue even before then e.g. the sarong).

If you like the convertible green dress by Nadia Tarr, those who have trolled the Craftster forums have probably seen the super popular DIY tutorial on the Infinity dress by Rowena of the Rostitchery blog posted a few years ago (which was based on a Lydia Sylvestry dress).

This was my introduction (and probably for many others!) to the convertible dress, took me only three hours (+ fabric buying time) to make, was so versatile and because it was jersey fabric, fit super well and was less than $20. So, depending on the type of jersey fabric you use, you could pretty much whip one up for any type of occassion!

Check out the Crafstter post mentioned above or Burda Style creations to see the different types of material used and variations of tying the dress!

Posted by spins & needles on July 21, 2009 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff, Project Inspiration 2 Responses »

Mad About Aprons

Jul 152009

Are aprons back? Check out my take in last Saturday’s Ottawa Citizen (and other Canadian city newspapers).

I have a full-length Milk (does a body good) apron picked up at a garage sale that I use to bake and cook (and layered over this solid purple dress looks kind of neat!).

A little context around the garment: Aprons were initially worn in the days of Louis XIII, by Queen Anne and her subjects during royal happenings such as music lessons, tea parties, etc. and were symbols of artistry and status rather than servitude.

Apron-wearing died down after the 1960s, but with the recession and the DIY movement, that might be changing: could the apron be regaining its status and moving beyond a symbol of servitude to becoming a status or fashion symbol, in and outside the home? What do you think? Do you use an apron in any of your work during the day (e.g. cooking, baking, crafting, woodworking). Or in any other non-traditional ways?

To make apron-related projects:

Check out this easy Craftstylish tutoriall on how to make your own aprons using vintage tea towels
How to make an apron from a pillowcase from Craftchi (via Curbly)

Instructions for sewing an apron from various scrap fabrics from the Discovery network.
How to turn an apron that you tie at the waist into a purse.
Angry Chicken’s spin off blog Tie One On showcases an awesome collection of vintage and handmade apron photos and patterns, which are also shown in blog’s Flickr group – a monthly selection of handmade aprons.

Tips for making your own apron include looking through old sewing books and magazines for inspiration, add elements of hand sewing: hemming, embroidering and appliquéing to make it a true “vintage” apron, and search thrift, garage and estate sales for leftover buttons, thread, snaps, ric rac, binding, braid, lace and ribbon to add to your apron.

Posted by spins & needles on July 15, 2009 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff, Media, Project Inspiration No Responses »

Tom Binns Get Real DIY Laminated Necklace Tutorial

May 262009

Is this the new recession chic? This Tom Binns necklace, on the Colette website (via FashionMagazine and Pipeline and StyleFile), is part of latest tongue-in-cheek collection, “Get Real,” which consists of magazine clippings of necklaces, earrings, and rings, laminated in plastic, closed off with a safety pin, and retailing at $125. As the designer says: “Now you can get your diamonds, emeralds, and shit.”

Here’s a quick tutorial to create your own Tom Binn’s necklace using items around the house. The instructions may vary depending on what type of necklace you select. For example, my necklace had a “ruffled” chain. I decided to add this texture to the necklace instead of having it all laminated.

Tom Binns “Get Real” DIY Necklace Tutorial

Materials
Fashion magazines (with lots of pictures of jewellery)
Thin cardboard (I used a file folder)
White glue or glue stick
Masking tape
Scissors
Thread and needle
Safety pins x 2
Scrap fabric
Thin elastic/thick string

Instructions
1. Go through fashion magazines and cut out pictures of necklaces.

tombinns_diy11

2. Pick your best necklace. Glue the necklace down to the file folder. Trim file folder material around jewels.

tombinns_diy21

3. “Laminate” your pictures by sticking clear masking tape on top of your picture. Cover both sides. Trim masking tape around jewels.

tombinns_diy5
4. To create the ruffled chain, I sewed three 10″x3.5″ fabric pieces into tunnels of strips of fabric. I then took a piece of elastic about 5 inches longer than the diameter of my neck and weaved it through each strip, which, because it was longer than the elastic, created a bunched together or ruffled effect.

tombinns_diy31

5. Centre and sew the main part or “jeweled” part of the necklace to the ruffled chain. Tie each of your elastic ends to a safety pin – these are your clasps.

tombinns_diy41
6. Place around neck and be proud of your new jewels!

Variation: You could also cut out random jewels from your magazines and attach them by punching holes into the jewels and using jump rings to connect them to a larger necklace.

Happy laminated jewellery making!

Posted by spins & needles on May 26, 2009 DIY Tutorials, Fashion, Fashion DIY, Making Stuff 1 Response »