Diy Megathread
 

Yeah. I'm surprised this doesn't exist yet.



Anyways, I guess I'll start the discussion.

I have 2 things I'm wondering about:

Pegging jeans and shaving my hawk in a strip.
It's currently not actually a line.

What's the best method for actually shaving it as a strip?


And the pegging, what's the best method?

there's other shit, but I forget. Hah.

For the jeans, you might want to ask a few friends for help. Put your jeans on, have someone pin the new seams (be careful so you can get your feet out again), sew the seams by hand with long stitches to make sure this looks just like you want it (and still can get your feet out again). When you're happy with the result, sew (use a needle suited for sewing jeans!) and cut off the excess fabric. There you go =)

I'd have thought thsat shaving your hawk into a strip you'll obviously need someone with a very steady hand and a keen eye. I wouldn't suggest trying it yourself. Or , before you shave the sides, you could cut the hair at the sides quite short with scissors leaving the desired amount of hawk in a strip, then you'll ( or whoever is doing the shaving ) know exactly the areas to shave, and will be less likely to make a mistake.

I made this a while back..
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...555/undead.jpg

I know nothing about hawks or jeans.. sorry..

Hawks
 

If you're not adverse to spending a little money, I would say just go to some cheap hair dresser's and get it done there. I shelled out $13 CAD and the woman did pretty much everything but take a ruler to it to make sure the strip was straight and even. Now that I have it, mostly I just shave what I can by myself, and get my mother/sister/friends to get the parts i can't see or reach. Some people suggest doing the sides with an actual shaving razor, but i wouldn't recommend it, most people I have seen do it cut the living shit out of themselves.

I already razor my head.
The problem most people have is they don't lubricate their scalp with a little water, I guess.

The only problem i have it I can't shave straight lines. xD

Hair dressers commonly fuck things up :P

I have no advice about your mohawk. However, for the jeans, I would suggest unpicking the seams (it's not very hard to do) then drawing a chalk line down where you want to put them back together. Make sure to pin them down and try them first. I would suggest just loosely stitching at the beginning to see if your new seams are at the right place, right tightness etc. and then firmly stitching. Something I've seen that looked pretty cool was red stitching on black jeans.

On another note, has anyone made their own corset before?

May I request DIY advice?

I have a wedding to go to.

The groom is planning on wearing a red dress or skirt/corset and the bride will wear a lacy jacket, somewhat in a Louis XIV style. We all plan on wearing Renaissance or Medieval themed dress.

The wedding will take place during a SF convention and I have already blown my budget on costumes, so I would like to alter something I already have.

I have a big black hoop skirt and corset top (black with silver cherry blossoms). I thought i could add silk or taffeta draping to the skirt and drape a shawl as well. The idea is to look a bit like this:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...isequatorz.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ostumes/o6.jpg

So far, my DIY efforts have been limited to a bit of tshirt painting and (duh) making a fishnet shirt from pantyhose. But this looks like i could just tack a nice swag of material to the waistband of the skirt.

Opinions? Better ideas?

I know that this is off from the other post, I couldn't think of a good answer sorry. Though what I DO commit sometimes is going into Thrift Stores and buying woman's fishnets, tear them apart and cut a hole through the middle. Anyone think of this as a 'good' idea??? Or I am just sick?I'm sick :(

People do it ALLL the time - I do not tear them apart - just cut a VERY SMALL hole at the crotch - 2" will give you a hole large enough to pull over your head. Snip a thread at a time if you need more

Snip a thread at a time for fingers. However, i confess, i bought a pair of fishnet leggings (rather than pantyhose) so i have a nice neat edge around my fingers.



ummmm i really do mean small hole - i cut a 4" hole for these and they barely show above a conservative neckline

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC00079-1.jpg

I've never thought of cutting holes in the crotch of fishnets as a 'weird' thing... Perhaps because I learned it from my mother. I reckon spending the extra money on buying a ready-made fishnet top is weird (unless you want it to cover your whole torso, perhaps).

i use safety pins on EVERYTHING...

Whispertwist - make sure the edges look okay, roll up the edges and sew if they don't, then find a broad ribbon long enough to go around your waist, sew it on and get a pair of unobtrusive hooks to keep the ends of the ribbon together (you might want to roll up the ends and sew this, too) without knotting them. If you know how to tie a pretty bow, you can leave out the hooks.

You would have to fold the taffeta before sewing it onto the ribbon, of course. I forgot to mention. If you want to make this very simple, get a somewhat thick, long thread and a needle and pierce through the fabric at even intervals so that you have the thread kind of "holding together" the fabric (damn, I could've explained this a hundred times better in Norwegian...). It's kind of like making ruffles, only the fabric's bigger. Then arrange it so that it lies prettily before attatching the ribbon with needles and sewing (looks prettier if done by hand in small stitches; the seam will look near invisible).

I hate this time limit...

I have a question...

Because i'm a metal head, i do alot of head banging. But when i'm not head banging and i want my hair out of my face tying it in a pony tail doesnt always help. There are parts of my fringe that go whispy and fall out of the pony...pins annoy me and gel looks like spooge...Advice?

Can you tuck it behind your ears?

If not, you could let your hair get greasy, and just push it out of the way.


Without pins and stuff, that's the best I've got.

Hmmm...how very grunge!
Even if it was long enough to go behind my ears, it leave it away from there because I increased the gauge on my lower lobes and i dont want them infected... :(

OOOH! I have another question...Whats the best thing to shine my Jack boots with?

Headbands? Non-stick hairspray? I let my hair go everywhere, so I'm not very experienced at this.

Try a pomade. They make them for wet, dry or both hair. Just use a very little, about the size of a dime, rub it between both hands, run your hands thru your hair and style how ever you want. For your wispys from your ponytail use a little pomade and smooth them into place. A decent pomade will hold them down without feeling stiff or sticky.

As for your jack boots... I know my boyfriend spit shines them. Black polish, spit, a soft cotton cloth and a boot brush. He has the shinest boots I have ever seen. I can check my lipstick in them. I am sure some other people here would be better with an explanation than me.

I love that! Was it done with bleach?

For those of you that haven't seen them yet...
Here's my completely DiY jacket.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...o/100_1537.jpg

ribcage shirt
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...o/100_1509.jpg

Specimen band shirt
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...o/100_1473.jpg


Any ideas what my next project should be? I'm kind of tired out on band shirts for the moment.

I need some help. I already asked someone about this but I decided to take it here. I am planning on adding black or possibly dark red lace cuffs to the ends of the sleeves of a black dress shirt. Problem is, I've never worked with lace nor have I sewn much. I've sewn comforters back together and such. Any tips?

Add chainmail to one of your designs! I want a chainmail tunic.

Chainmail is sexy...
Draco was that you? Smexy...

ANYWAY! Another question...Its more like a decor question...How do i paint my furniture, to give it a bit of gothic flare, without making it totally trashy? I dress it up with alot of heavy, decadent fabric and layer over lighter fabric like organza and lace...i also use alot of very rich colours like magenta, burgany, wines and burnt oranges...i'm not a fan of the whole gold thing, makes it look a bit kitsche.

Instead of gold, use silver. Looks much better. A link you might like: http://www.trystancraft.com/martha/

I shine my boots by getting a bowl of hot water, dipping a rag in it, then putting the hot rag into black polish, and putting the liquid polish on in circles, like waxing a window, and then let it dry. Do this 5 or 6 times, and DO NOT SHINE until the last coat.

It's tedious, but it gives you an amazing shine.

Silver acrylic paint, actually. I should have used a fabric paint though, because a lot of the paint came out when I washed it. The bat was a stencil I drew myself, based on the Bacardi bat (kick ass little bastard).

Ok, how do you take in a tshirt/shirt or whatever that's too big at the waist?

I do this with almost every shirt I own...

With the shirt on inside out, hold the edges as far in as you want them to go and mark it right at the waist. Then once the shirt is off mark a line going down the side from the edge under the armpit, gradually moving into where you marked it earlier, and then gradually out again until you reach the bottom of the shirt. By hand or machine sew along the line, preferably with a similar stitch to the one the shirt was sewn in originally. Cut off any extra fabric, and you're done.

Wicked. ok. thanks!

But what happens with the sleeves?

Lace help anyone?

what about it?

I tried that fishnet pantyhose thing! It's so cool.. I never thought of that before..

I posted about it not too long ago. I want to make lace cuffs to put on a black dress shirt.

Does the shirt have button cuffs?

Yes, it does.

Well, it depends on whether you want the lace cuffs to be be flowy, gipsy sleeves or simply a lace extension of the sleeves.

If you want lace extensions, sort of like those new leggings that end in lace, turn the shirt in question inside out and stuff an empty toilet paper roll inside the sleeve. Take your piece of lace and pin it around the end of the sleeve. Then, take your needle (this is the slightly trickier bit) and bast (not too loosely or it'll pucker and be hard to sew) the lace to the sleeve with a different coloured thread. Then, actually sew the lace to the sleeve. I find that is done easier if you actually put the shirt on at this point (hence the basting) and sew the lace on firmly with a needle and thread whilst it is actually on your arm. Otherwise, a simpler version is to simply take a pair of old lacy tights or leggings and cut off a tube as long as you want and sew that on. Use the toilet paper roll technique to test it out first.

If you want flowy sleeves, put the sleeve around a toilet paper roll or around your arm and using a measuring tape, measure the circumference of the hole through which your arm goes. Then depending on how dense you want the lace to be, cut a length about three times the circumference. Now comes the slightly harder part. You need to ruffle the lace around the hole of your sleeve. Either put the shirt on or put a toilet paper roll in so that the sleeve's fabric is not slack. Pin the lace on so that it is ruffled. You may need to do this many times. I know I did when I made ruffles the first time.

I actually just found an entry in antimony and lace with a slightly more professional way to do this, so I've copy-pasted it below. Enjoy!



Ruffled Sleeves
There are several ways to do these. One is by using a self-ruffle, where you simply cut the sleeve long enough to cover your fingers and then make a track out of a strip of fabric 3-4 inches inside the sleeve (where your wrist should be) and ribbon or elastic is run through it. I don't really care for this method personally, but I see it alot on ren shirts.

Another way is to sew the elastic directly to the inside of the sleeve at wrist level. This is an easy way, but it's not the most durable method. If you decide to do this look for something that can be found in the elastic section and can really come in handy (this stuff is great for skirt waists too). It looks like a multi-lane highway and starts off not having any stretch to it at all. There are elastic cords running through it, that once the fabric band its self is sewn on, can be pulled as tight as necessary. It also makes very evenly spaced gathers.

My favorite way to put a ruffle on a shirt sleeve is to attach it to the cuff, you can either use the same fabric as the shirt or lace for the ruffle. In order to do this, instead of just folding the cuff fabric over make it with two pieces and sandwich the bottom of the ruffle between the two pieces. Each piece should be cut wider than just half of the folded over version and the edges should be folded under and finished before being attached.

The ruffle should be 2.5 times the length of the cuff. If you are using the shirt fabric, or lace that you will have to finish the edge of, cut the strip as a slight arc; the ruffles will come out better than if you just do a rectangle. I would then finish the outside curve, and ends by turning the very edge under and sewing. At this point you can start pleating the ruffle around the opening. Make the pleats as even as possible. You may have to do this more than once in order to get the hang of getting just the right amount of fabric in each pleat. Don't worry, everyone does.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j...er347/Shirt.jpg


I've been looking for this thread.

First freehanded tee. Please critique ^_^