Discarded To Devine Fashion Show 2008

The Discarded To Devine 2008 fashion show and auction was held in San Francisco last Sathurday, April 26nd. Show designs can be viewed at Discarded To Devine Flickr photostream. Here are my favorites.

Reconstructed knitwear:


Dress from recycled nylon stockings: (Photo by Calmenda)

More pictures: AHEIDEN PHOTOS and CONCHANG PHOTOS

I think this dress is just genious and bautiful. I had to look at the large image up-close until I figured out what this was made from. Maybe add a few sparkling crystals/silver sequins and this would kill on the prom dance floor.

The art of shortening jeans - Bootcut

Picture: www.diesel.com, Doozy 71J

How many times have you left a great looking, worn down pair of denim in to the shop because the legs are too long? I love denim and it kills me every time I see (an expensive) worn pair of denim shortened just by CUTTING them. I´ve been working with denim for years and shortened more jeans for my friends that I can remember. So far I have come up with about six dfferent ways to shorten them (depending on the fit, wash and style). Here´s the first tutorial for shortening abraded/washed bootcut jeans on Cut Out and Keep craft community. The basic idea is to be shortened with an "invisible seam".



Bootcut jeans cannot be shortened with a straight seam because the sewing lines are not the same length. In this tutorial you´ll see how to shorten jeans with a curved seam - no matter how flare legged your bootcut jeas are!

When you are done the jeans are about 3 cm (1/2 inches) shorter from the heel than in front, but they seem to be the same lentgh when you have the denims on. Except that the heel won´t slip under your foot all the time. :) Finally you have bootcut jeans that can be worn with flats and high heels. And nobody notices the extra seam in the bottom...

New tutorial on Cut Out and Keep community - Pressing neckties

Many have asked me how I did my tie-dress. Here is a tutorial on what happened to the secondhand neckties before I pinned into shape on the dummy and formed my dress top. It does not matter if the ties are of different widths or they are slightly dirty. You will not notice this after they have been scrunched and pressed.



Check out all my trashion tutorials on Cut Out and Keep crafts community. More pictures can be found from my Flickr "Tie feathers"-set.

Fida avaa oman Outlet-myymälän Roihupeltoon

Fida lähetystorien uusi Outlet-myymälä avautuu Helsingissä 29.4.!

Outlet-myymälässä kaikki vaatteet maksavat vain euron. Uusi Fida outlet-myymälä Itä-Helsingin Roihupellossa juhlii avajaisia vapputunnelmissa tiistaina 29.4. Myymälässä myydään Fida lähetystoreilta poistettuja hyväkuntoisia käytettyjä vaatteita. Fida lähetystorien lajittelukeskuksessa outlet-myymälän yhteydessä toimii myös tukkumyynti. Tukkumyynti palvelee ammattilaisostajia asiantuntevasti.
"Tukkumyynti eroaa outlet-myynnistä siten, että tukkupuolella myydään vaatteita kilohintaan ja suurissa erissä, kuvailee tukkumyynnistä vastaava Satu Koivisto. "Tukkumyynnistä voi löytää myymälätasoisia tekstiilejä ja kenkiä, erittäin edullista kakkoslaatua tai vaikkapa puoli-ilmaista materiaalia tuunaukseen energiajakeesta. Tukkumyyntiin Roihupeltoon ovat tervetulleita sekä yritykset että yhteisöt, kuten teatterit ja käsityöyrittäjät.(Teksti Fidan kotisivuilta.)

Fida outlet-myymälä
Tulppatie 14, Helsinki
Myymälä avoinna: ma-pe klo 10-14.00
Fida tukkumyynti, Tulppatie 14, Helsinki

Beyond Retro opening a store in Helsinki??

This is the best news gossip I´ve heard in a looong time! My favorite secondhand departmentstore chain Beyond Retro might be opening a store in Helsinki!! How cool would that be.

Beyond Retro has it all: tens of metres of stylish secondhand clothes accessories (all perfectly organized by style and color!), happy staff, groovy music playing and that lovely vintage smell when you step into the shop. Usually when I go thrift shopping I can just be happy if I find something similar to that I´m looking for (and that one is usually too small to fit me). But from Beyond Retro I have always found at least ten different choises. Plus a mathing leather bag and killer heels. All resonable priced.

I swear will give up normal clothing shops 100% if this store comes into town. It´s just that good.



And if you Beyond Retro happen to read this post: Add more shop-pics to your site so new customers can see how great your stores are!

Make Art not Trash (trashion links)

Art for housewifes has collected a huuuge list of artists that use trash and recycled materials for their works. The site itself is a bit confusing, but the links are great. This should keep you busy surfing the interweb for a few afternoons.

Shoe chair by Willie Cole "Made In The Philippines"

Martin Margiela Artisanal SS08 collection

Maison Martin Margiela has released their new SS08 Artisanal colection on their website. Once again I find myself gasping. And belive it or not, I have been playing with the idea of creating "pixelated" prints/images to clothing and home decor by combining different colored buttons for the past two years... I should have done it then. I´m just happy to see Margiela´s studio and I seem to share thoughts. As always I love that they tell how the garment has been made + the work hours put into it.

Scream-button-dress: Vintage buttons are embroidered on a silk chiffon to create a bit-mapped effect motif. Two rectangular pieces of silk muslin are assembled to form a dress. The front is embroidered with various buttons of mother-of-pearl, metal, plastic to draw a mouth. Dress : 25 hours

Pixelated prints from buttons:

The plastron of a vintage shirt is embroidered with various buttons in mother-of-pearl, metal and plastic, composing the drawing of an eye. T-shirt : 20 hours

Mirrorpiece jacket:

Small mirror squares are assembled as a top. These small tiles like those found on a facetted disco ball are glued on an open-back top lined in black leather. Top : 45 hours

Pleated top:

An extra large T-shirt is partially slashed in bands to create a circular motif. The new armhole is made with a series of hand-made knots. T-shirt : 19 hours

Elastic Band Jacket:

A plaiting of elastic bands creates a jacket. Various widths and qualities of elastics are plaited directly on the dummy to make a jacket. The different types of elastics brings a particular colour to each garment. T-shirt : 29 hours

Natalie "Alabama" Chanin interiors

Alabama Chanin is a sustainable label by designer Natalie Chanin. I adore her style in interior design and creating unique decor pieces. Her home textiles have some beautifull embroidery and the lamps are just pure trashion. She also has a sustainable eco-label that produces clothes and jewellry. Her "necktie-chair" is of course my favorite!



Now where could I find those gorgeous cow jaw-bones to make my own bonelamp....

Sohung Designs by Shohung Tong

Chinese Shohung Tong is a NY based designer makes reconstructed dresses from neckties and mens shirts. Love his work. Found him through Sewing with neckties. Thanks Barb!

Necktie dress by Post Decadent Trashionista

Post Decadent Trashionista made a beautifull dress and stole by using my tie-feather tutorial. Well done girl! I´d definately wear this to a party :)

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac

French fashion designer veteran Jean Charles De Castelbajac ("JC/DC" to friends) is known for his childlike basic-colored creations inspired by sports, pop-art, logos and animation caracters and other cultural icons. He loves wool, felt and sequins and a teddybear apphears in every collection - it´s his trademark. Castelbajac has a way to present humoristic details in his creations. One of his most known pieces is the teddybear-jacket and pants that Red Hot Chilli Peppers member Flea worn on one of their music videos in the mid 90´s.



For a few years he did not show any collections, but I´m happy to see he´s back! His olympic games inspired SS2008 collection had some amazing jewellry made from legos (check also collection details).





His collection images can be found from Elle.com Runway shows (search Castelbajac) and Firstview.com. Perfect inspiration if you´re into fabric printing, appliques, hats or making jewellry from toys. So get your legos and stuffed animals and go create some rad fashion pieces with smilies!!

The bunny ear hoodie by Meredith S.

Meredith S. has made a tutorial on how to pimp your hoodie with some bunny ears. Tutorial at Cut Out and Keep community, BUNNY EAR HOODIE.

Justina B T-shirt recon tutorial

Justina Blakeney (one of the brilliant Compai girls) has made a great tutorial on reconstructing t-shirts in Cut Out and Keep craft community. If you want to see how this shirt has been done, click to T-SHIRT RECON. Or visit Compai for more.

DIY entertainment with your own wardrobe

I recieved the pictures via e-mail last year. I had to save them onto my computer because this is propably the best (funniest) DIY styled photoshoot ever. Animal figures made from ordinary pieces of clothing... Some people just see the potential of everyday objects. Enjoy.

Unique shopper bags from plastic office file pockets and magazine clippings

These genious shopping bags made from clear plastic office file pockets. They are sewn together with a regular home sewing machine and you can decorate them with some magazine clippings. Etsy sellers note: This is the perfect (and fast!) stylish way to make bags for your DIY goods. Plastic file pockets are available propably from any recycling centre in your area. They will propably give some for free if you ask :) And if they have a company logo on them that you don´t want to be seen, just print a stickker with your details ext. and paste it over the logo. Simple as 1,2,3.

For more creative packing, visit Crafty Packages Group in Flickr.

I cannot remember anymore where on the net I first spotted these images. If you know who has originally made them, please let me know and I will credit you on this post.