Renew

80´s sequin shirt made for colder weather - sleeves cut from a sweater and sewn on. And a leather jacket painted. And worn. Via Rack And Ruin. Photos by Beau Grealy for Twin III Fall/Winter 2010.

DIY Shirt bodysuit

Shirt bodysuits are genious. Tuck them in to your pants and it will stay there. Especially at winter time I hate it when I have to fix the shirt hem all the time and cold crawling up in my shirt. Shirt bodysuits are basically shirts with a panties-shaped jersey bottoms with snap crotch. DIY? Old shirt and a pair of panties with the crotch modified. If you don´t want to use panties for the bottom, use them to make a pattern and cut the pieces from an old t-shirt. Printed or plain.



If you have an extra long shirt, the shirt bottom can also be cut to form and some elastic band and snap on buttons added directly to it´s hem. Also a lerge mens shirt can be taken in from the sides to firt a woman. This picture is a babys bodysuit, but the sewing technique is the same for an adults shirt or t-shirt.

Knotted

This gorgeous jacket is by Martin Margiela. You might have seen this ribbon binding or cord knotting technique used in traditional crafts. This might be called "snake knot", but I´m not 100% sure.. When working with odd material like strips of leather ribbon for garments, use large quantities. The end result will look couture.

Title: Дворцовая интрига
Magazine: Vogue Russia December 2010
Model: Ashley Smith
Photographer: Sharif Hamza
Stylist: Simon Robins
Via Noir Facade.

Caravan Palace

I adore the gypsy violins and modern flapper jazz tunes by Caravan Palace, but this video of theirs is pure paper crafters porn.

Upholstery fashion

Martin Margiela used recycled sofa upholstery for his Fall 2006 runway collection. He made skirts, tops and dresses from the seat covers that had a picture of the original furniture hanging from it. Today also many other eco fashion labels use recycled upholstery as their main material.





Platinum Dirt
Oakland-based Platinum Dirt have just launched a line of road-ready leather jackets that get extra mileage out of reclaimed automotive upholstery. Made from vintage Caddys, Bimmers, and Benzes, every topper in the “VIN” line comes emblazoned with the seal and vehicle identification number of the defunct and junked auto. It also comes with a “pink slip” detailing the demise of the car, plus a cheeky zipper made from the departed vehicle’s hood ornament. Platinum Dirt was founded by fashion designer Dustin Page and his business partner, Aaron Parrish, to give old cars a second lease on life in fashion. The vehicles’ durable-yet-supple upholstery has been perfectly broken in over a lifetime of use, making every finished jacket a one-of-a-kind piece of wearable art. You’ll even find the logo of the original auto manufacturer stamped somewhere on the jacket’s chest or shoulder. And since these toppers are two to three times thicker than your average leather jacket, they’re sure to stay with you through your life. This is the only leather jacket you'll ever need.




Above+Below London fancy footworks
Central Saint Martin's college graduate Robert Taylor and music promoter/film maker Caroline Read aka Above+Below London make neat footwear from retro textiles reclaimed from seats on London’s Underground tube carriages and buses. Their original fashion concept was inspired (quite literally) by British design icon Dame Vivienne Westwood, who re-used the textile in a pair of her infamous elevated court shoes. London's first environment-conscious footwear range; Above+Below London, is the evolution of this innovative recycling project, begun by the duo over ten years ago. The beautifully crafted, comfortable, stylish, robust and contemporary trainers below are what followed. Available from their online shop at Urban Remade.

Materials: Restored London Underground or bus seat covers. Trim: 100% recycled or repurposed leather. Sole: 33% recycled tyre rubber. All 100% salvaged UK waste. Features: Retroflective safety strip on heel.

Trashion TV spotlight

Yey! Finnish MTV3 45 Minutes news program interviewd me a couple of weeks ago and the story came out today! In prime-time national TV.. I still cannot believe it. If you want to watch it my bit comes in at 46:40. The whole thing was shot in my apartment so here´s a chance also to see my home and where I work and blog. They also released a written story on 45 Minutes website. All of it is in Finnish unfortunately, but Í've been told it sounds funny to you non-Finns :D Thanks MTV3 so much for the interview!

As a small bonus, check out my Flickr gallery for a photo-tutorial on the denim covered jars that I use for craft supplies storage. You can see them on the video.

Trashion Christmas - Part 1

Using candy bags, the inside foil, for gift wrapping Christmas Bows. Foil is very durable and reflects light well so tassels and window snow flakes would be also something to make from this. Bow tutorial at Zakka Life. I always get by gift boxes from the local shoe store (many people buy their shoes with out boxes) and then cover them up or paint them. If you have more Christmas decor and crafts ideas from reused and recycled objects, send me mail!

Lounge knit pants

Snow and sub-zero temperatures has arrived to Helsinki and I find myself thingking about warm stuff, like hot cups of tea and woollen knit pants. Must keep warm. Already I'm wearing wollen socks 24-7. Until now, knitted pants have been a garment you might see your grandpa wearing at the cottage, but they can also be fashionable. I have not seen many brands do this yet so you can for example cut and sew a bunch of old sweaters into a new pair of knit pants. They are so it right now! You´ll need a pair of (low crotch) college sweat pants to draw patterns from. For the rest you can look up my Sweater Cape tutorial.

DIY thigh high leg warmers and garter shorts vol. 2

Just when I wrote about the thigh high leg warmers and garter shorts trend, Pixie Market releases more detailed and close up photos of the knit leg warmers you totally could DIY! The top attacement is suspender clips. These are by Spring and Clifton, via Pixie Market.

Winter details

Notice the felted sweater with old metal keys handsewn to the collar opening and the chunky cardigan with braided satin ribbons sewn into the knit. It's all about the details. DIY.

Photographer: Chadwick Tyler.
Styling: Valentina Ilardi Martin.
Grey Magazine Issue III Fall/Winter 2010.
Models: Kelsey Van Mook, Mathilde Frachon, Naomi Preizler.
Via RiotMode.

MMM

Martin Margiela, the original trashionista.. I never get tired of his Artisanal line. They take a bunch of anything and make it to something fabulous. In this Tush Magazine editorial you can see these extraordinary trashion creations:

• "CHAIN BIKER JACKET" A leather biker jacket is embroidered with chains and vintage jewelry creating a floral motif.
• Christmas garland jacket.
• Magazine scrap blazer
• Fur hat coat

To see more, check out my earlier posts on Margiela.

Photographer: Armin Morbach.
Styling: Ingo Nahrwold.
Tush Magazine
Model: Andrej Pejic.
Via RiotMode.

Pequeños Héroes by Cecilia Sörensen

Cecilia Sörensen knows eco fashion. After studying couture in her home town Helsinki, she went to Barcelona to continue her studies in fashion, graduating in 2001. Her “immaculate, sensual, romantic and pure” clothes bagged her the Young Designer of the Year award from ModaFAD of Barcelona. A meeting of light understated Scandinavian styles and the dynamic shapes of Mediterranean fashion inspire her designs. She also combines masculine and feminine styles. After the success of her solo mark, Cecilia went on to launch a second line, Pequeños Héroes (Little Heroes). It is a sustainable fashion collection made of recycled men’s shirts, blazers, waistcoats, antique sheets and other recycled materials coupled with new environmentally friendly materials and local production. My favorite is her way to design and form shirts. She really makes refashioning look good. Chic.






Her designs are now sold in Spain, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Finland and Japan. For more info go to Cecilia Sörensen or read her interview from Barcelona Reporter.

From you

I cannot say how much I enjoy it when you guys send me pics of your own DIY projects. This one came from Donatella from NYC.

"This is a result of having an old plain cashmere sweater, and some white silk. Some unravelling later, and total time of 3 hours including the hand stitching of the silk, this is the result... the original mcqueen retails for 2875$. Biggest difference is that the original is a boat neck, mine was originally a V neck, so now it's more rounded shape. Still, l like it a lot. ;)"

Awsome job, girl! I like it a lot too.

Crowned

Simple joys in life are free. I give you the paper crown. For you DIY queens and kings.

Via RiotMode.

DIY thigh high leg warmers and garter shorts

Knitted pants and long thigh high leg warmers have been a big catwalk trend this fall. Was it Jean Paul Gaultier that brought them back first in traditional knitting patterns (who else?) or Alexander Wang in one color. I think these could be made from a long second hand thigh length sweater. Cut the sides open and sleeves out. Pin them around your legs with the hem facing your ankles. Sew together with a straight stitch and cut away extras. The top edge can be finished with an elastic band sewn to the inside with a zig zag stitch. It helps to keep them up! Or you can combine these with denim shorts that have suspender ends sewn as garters and a cropped second hand army sweater. Your fall legwear look is complete. Smoking hot in cool weather.

Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2010 wool leg warmers:





Mara Hoffman thigh high wool knit leg warmers:




Denim shorts with suspender ends as garters. These are by Bitching & Junkfood via Urban Outfitters.








Photos via Pixie Market, Style.com, Urban Outfitters and Cantare.