DIY Chanel inspired ruffle scarf

Chanel inspired DIY ruffle scarf, tutorial here. By the wonderful Love Maegan, who else.. :)

Preen Summer 2010

Preen is also doing some cord-works in their Summer 2010 collection, with some ruffles and lace and a hint of neon pinks. In this collection the cords are thicker and they are mostly covered with fabric or lace. Is this the new bondage fashion trend? Photos via Fashionologie.

Garbage Dress wing harnesses

I´ve been admiring the Zana Bayne harnesses on her blog for a while now and she has finally opened and Garbage Dress Etsy shop yesterday. Yey!

If you want to have a go yourself, wing harnesses are just the kind of project to make when you have some leather pieces laying around that are too thick to use in clothing otherwise. And if you don´t have any but need some, most 70´s secondhand (tooled) leather bags have just the kind of leather in them. The bag can be cut to bits if the shoulder strap or zipper is broken and it cannot be fixed anymore. And don´t worry about the color. If it is real leather, it can be dyed with basic shoe colors. Note that you´ll need a few leather tools though, like a heavy duty carpet knife and hole puncher. Some shoemakers can also make the holes for you if you ask them. Attach the wings to vintage suspenders with spikes and you´re all set!







Trashion version: use broken, secondhand tooled bags with thick leather, spikes (with screws) and suspenders to make this.

More Martin Curba´s cord fashions

If the previous Tramando works were too colorful for your taste, here are some more photos of designer Martin Churba´s cord fashions (which seems to be a trend in SS10 catwalks) that I found from Flickr. The cord bound shoulder pieces are quite fabulous, especially when dyed all black. One could use all sorts and different widths of interior decoration cords for making them and then paint (fabric paints) or dye the whole thing in one color.





Magazine: Cosas Moda
Photos: Soto
Styling: Luigi
Art Direction: Nagisa
Makeup and Hair: Orana
Model: Mailen

Trashion rules

Trashion rules:
1. Make something out of nothing.
2. Every piece is one of a kind.
3. Don´t play it safe.
Hear hear!

Photo via Childhood Flames.

Collar awsomenesssssss

I cannot comprehend exactly what is going on here. It scares me a little and I like it. Rachel Freire shot by David Alxandre modelled by Nell. Via Bitching And Junkfood blog.

Tramando by Martin Churba Summer 2010

I always try to find you guys the best possible quality photos I can dig up. I´d love to show high res images from this amazing Argentinian design house Tramando, but their website contact field is busted.. (Tramando people, if you´re reading this, you might want to have a look at it. It says server error..). So I´ve been sourcing photos all over the web and it hasn´t been easy as I don´t speak Spanish and not many western bloggers have written about this designer. Two hours later I had found a couple of photos.

Anyways, I came across Matrin Churba's works a couple of years ago but his Summer 2010 collection, presented this collection at Buenos Aires Fashion (BAF) Week back in August, just blows me away though. This year's X collection was an exploration into the strong and vibrant roots of African culture. Handcrafted basket weave style by bounding cord with cotton and wool threads Churba pulled his inspiration from Jamaican rastas and Afro-Brazilian musicians to the spectacular ornamentation of East Africa's Maasai people. "We found the inspiration for this collection in cultures where the handwork and craftsmanship are the protagonists and where this craftsmanship is translated into a unique, unparalleled work," says Churba.

Seamstresses and tailors worked with print and sewing machines on the catwalk as the collection premiered on the the runway. The icing on the Tramando cake arrived when top Argentine model Cecilia Mendez strutted down the catwalk in the mini rope dress created by Churba's team during the runway show(!). That´s true talent in my book, to have your team create the garment LIVE right there on the runway and then to have it finale the show...

Rainy, you are a winner!!

This is my 1000th post. I´m astound by the amount of entries in my giveaway competition. 177 comments! And thank you so much for all your compliments, comments and questions! The winner of my giveway competition is... (drumroll).. RAINY!! Since I´m in super good mood today, I decided to also give away surprise prizes, my lego earrings, to three runnerups. They will go to: Laura Lic, Susannatee and Amy (A Whim Of Mine) aka This Girl. Please send me mail guys. I need to know your adresses to send the prizes. The winners were picked up by using Random.org. And on to the questions. This is going to be a looong post. Some of you commented on the large images I use in my blog, that they slow down the blog page. I know this and for that I´m truly sorry. But I looove big pics. I use them so you´re able to see all the details better. I apologise for the slowness but will continue keeping them in my blog. I hope you understand.

If you could have a dinner party and only invite 5 guests who would they be? Alive or dead. (this was my fav question) Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Anna Piaggi, Vivienne Westwood and my dad. We´d be all smoking cigarettes at the table and it would be a night to remember. What tips and advice would you give to beginners? Have patience and percistance! The creative career (weather it is just your home DIY projects or a pro career) comes slowly. Failures and prototypes are an important part of it as they are the ones that really teach you. Test different materials and work methods until you find the one that best suits your talent. You would not believe how many materials are out there! Especially if you´re working with recycled materials. Good things come slowly and ideas will grow in your mind with time. Any idea how many hits you get a day on your blog? An averige of 2500. About 75000 a month. It feels unreal. Do you always create something inspired to your posts? Unfortunately not. I just don´t have the time. But I try to write as much as I can, because sharing the inspiration and ideas is really important for me. Maybe one of my readers will find something they like and make it. That is the best reward. What is your most favorite DIY you have done so far? My zipper rose fascinator. I made it in just one evening and I just feel such a lady when ever I wear it. You can find the photo tutorial from Flickr and Cut Out And Keep. How much time you use daily to search new DIYs? Where do you find inspiration? I read about 50 different blogs (just have a look at my BlogLovin list in the sidebanners). I spend about 3-5 hours daily in search of new projects and ideas to post about. Madness. What's your inspiration process? It´s a visual and mental game of tetris. Recycled materials being the different shapes blocks and high street fashion and design being the gameboard. When I see an intresting material I think of it not as an object but more of its attributes (form, surface, shapebility, availability, possible working techniques..) and then try to find something with similar features in high street fashions. My inspiration image folders have about 15000 pics total. I can get lost there for hours looking up new stuff to make. I would like to buy one of your creations.. Is it possible? Do you have an etsy store? Yes I have an Etsy shop, but it is empty.. I´m concentrating mostly in custom works. I´m going to put up the Etsy store when I can affort a decent digtal camera so I´m able to take good pics of the stuff I´ve made. Being a Virgo perfectionist sucks sometimes. If you want me to make you something, send me mail! How do you manage with time shortage? I don´t! I rely complitely on the creative force of last minute panic fueled with too much caffeine. Do you ever have a lack of inspiration? All the time. I´m so lazy sometimes and I hate deadlines. I never work my projects when I´m angry as the result is never good then. Good music helps and if I have a party to go to. Wanting to make an unforgetable impression helps me to find the energy to create stuff! Sound superficial? It propably is. Can you share whith us some online DIY resources for instructions and source materials available in Europe? My blog roll is my resource for ideas. The material I recommed buying local, preferably secondhand and thrifted because I try to support sustainability and ecological values also in crafting. What are your career goals? Fashion- and DIY-related? I want to do a book on DIY and trashion. It has to have a killer visual image and presentation. So far I have not found a publicist that would have similar intrests. Until them I will keep my day job as a sales assistant in a fashion company. Of course having my creations being featured in Vogue or Elle editorial would be a dream come true.. What is your favourite 'material/medium' to work with? Zippers :D Have you come across a band tee or any other sort of merch that you have cherished too dearly to create it into something other than it already is? I could never sell or cut up my tacky 90´s Spice Girls band tee. It just rocks and amuses me at the same time. Chick chic. I also have a small collection of vintage hats, jewelry and bags that I could never refashion. They are perfect the way they are now. Do you have any of your sketchbooks on line for us to see? Scetch books no, but my inspiration scrap books are online for anyone to see. I'm 15, and I used to love drawing.. And I still do, but for a year or 2 now I'm more into fashion and diy. I'm wondering how that was for you? Yes. I used to draw loads when I was your age. Mostly my own fashion designs. I still have many of them stored somewhere.. Now it´s more about the actual making of fashion and bloggin about it. Could you do more how-to posts? I should.. I want to post stuff daily, so I have to rely on tutorials I find made by others when I have too little time to make them all myself. If I win the lottery and don´t have to go to work anymore I promise to do new tutorial every day. I make at least one tutorial in a month when I do my DIY column to MissMix magazine. Where do you buy your zippers? I buy the new from buttonshops and secondhand from fleamarkets. Some I get from my friends. Ebay is also a good place to look for them. Look for many pcs of similar length and metal color. YKK also sponsored me a box ful of zips a while back. I cannot thank them enough for doing so as new zippers are really expencive. If you need zippers make sure your friends and blog readers know about it. They can help you look for them. Have you considered moving ahead into designing your own collections? I love being an amaterur DIYer! I fear that being an 100% pro would take all the fun out od creation. But never say never. Do you like all the stuff you make? Do you refashion some of them later? I´m very critical and analytic about my own works. So no, I don´t like them all. If I feel a project has not turned out well I put it aside for a while and continue working on it later. But I never think of them as failures or throw them away just because I don´t like them just then and there. They are always a work in progress as I´m trying to keep it positive. They will look better in a week or month and I´ll get back to them when the time is right :) What did u major in university, fashion design or the artistic pattern making? I studied sewing and pattern making for four years in Heinola. But the flair for recycled, fleamarkets and handmade came originally from my grandmother who used to take us thrift hunting when I was 5 years old. They were small adventures in discarded-material-land. The women in my family have always been crafters. What music do you like? As I´ve been writing this, my iPod sings Jamiroquai, Depeche Mode, The Pet Shop Boys, Röyksop, 80´s movie soundrack music, Phoenix, Cut Copy, Moby, Incubus, Massive Attack, Fat Boy Slim, 20´s jazz, The Chemical Bothers, Seal, Tori Amos, Roisin Murphy, Foo Fighters... Some songs have been listened more than 700 times according to the counter. Where do you hunt your materials? Fleamarkets. It has to be recycled and used. Will you ever do an online contest for a diy challenge? Good idea! I´ll have to think about this.. On bad days, what is the activity that ALWAYS makes you feel better? Dancing and dressing up for a party. What is your favourite place of all times in Helsinki? The Finnish Museum of Natural History. Especially the bones exibition. A true cabinet of curiosities. My dream date would be an overnight picnic by the dinosaur skeletons with sandwiches and hot chocolate. But they won´t let you in with food! So wrong. How are you so awesome? Hahaha. I´m so happy if you feel that way! I would not feel awsome in most days unless there are people who believe in me and liked my works and blog. So I owe all the thanks to my customers and you, dear readers. It also helps to have fiancé who does not mind the house being always a mess because my craft supplies are all over the place. I love you my dear.

Last here´s my favorite songs at the moment. By Chemical Brothers, Galvanize and Elvis mixed by JXL. Listen to the lyrics and double your mojo and creativity.

Have a good weekend folks!!

Ripped paper fabric printing

Homage To Life dress by Cecile Belmont, inspiration from Hinku & Vinku the animated tv-series made from ripped paper that I grew up watching.

See more Hinku & Vinku animations at Youtube:

Inspiration from Elie Saab Summer 2010

Inspiration from Elie Saab Summer 2010 collection. Pearl, bead and stud covered shoulder pads and padded shoulder pieces. When stocking up for a project like this, think big. 200 beads sounds a lot but does not cover as much as you´d think.. Go for 1000 or 2000. Takes forever to handsew but it is so worth the trouble. If you´re lazy, test if a gluegun will do the job faster. One trashion material that I´ve wanted to test (since high school!) in eveningwear is broken, crumbled up safetyglass.. Found most commonly at buss stops on a Sunday morning. Glued to an evening dress it would look like diamante frost.. The Photos via Firstview.









Broken safety glass.

WANTED styrofoam head

I´ve been thingking of doing some zipper headpieces. But I need a styrofoam mannequin head to do them.. So If you know someone selling one, let me know. Photo by Grael.

DIY tutorial - tank top totes

Secondhand tank tops into tote bags, tutorial. One can never have enough of them. I usually carry about three of them in my handbag, so I never have to buy plastic bags in grocery shops. As studies show, the most ecological and sustainable shopping bag is the reusable totebag made from recycled materials. Via Crafty Nest.

DIY sportswear for guys

This is what mens DIY sportswear looks like on Paris Fashion Week... Hahaha! Amazing. Lovely to see shoulder pieces are not just for women. After all men have been wearing them since the beginning of time while playing american football. Photo via Style from TOKYO.

Project Runway Finland - recycled sweater challenge

In todays episode of Muodin Huipulle (Project Runway Finland) the challenge was to create an outfit for "a woman that stands out from the crowd" by using a box of recycled sweaters. I´m telling you people, sweaters make exellent material for refashioning! Even the ugly ones. They don´t fray easily, but they can be unravelled if you want. Sewing can be done all with a sewing machine. Serging is not the only option. Here are my favorites from tonights show. I do apologise the poor quality of all the photos. You´d think these could have been photographed in a studio. If you want to see the looks on the runway, they look so much better there, you can find the Muodin Huipulle 22.10. episode here.

By Mert, the winner of this challenge. Loving the bolero top and zippers in the edges. The whole dress is destroyed by hand.





By Olga. Simple. Chic. Black. This could have also won.






By Mirkka. This is what recycled sweaters can look like when constructed straight on the dummy. Color harmony and basket weave pattern handpinned on the pieces. Unfinished bits look finished. The judges thought the hem needed a bit more thought as it looked a bit like a diaper..




By Jarno. Another dummy cosntructed look. This dress I´d love to wear!!





By Katri. Black & white works always. I love the way she used the black sweater as fringes. They move very pretty when walking. The bum-rose detail was a bit too much for some judges.





Detail from Mari's dress.