What's Craft Doc?: necklace

Showing posts with label necklace. Show all posts

Sunday, 16 June 2013

DIY - Shirt collar necklace

When I was really into the collar necklace trend, I also discovered the shirt collar necklace, which I thought was an amazing idea!! Still, I did not want to ruin one of my shirts or buy a shirt just to cut the collar off. The idea I had instead was to make the collar from scratch using an old pair of jeans I was not using anymore. Because I thought the project involved much more sewing than I was up for, I waited until I got the sewing machine to do it :)

The first thing I did was to find a video showing how to make the collar from scratch. I will detail the steps below, but the video that helped me a lot (and describes the steps faster and easier) is this:

Materials:

- fabric
- a shirt to measure the collar
- sewing machine or neddle and thread; I also had invisible thread for some parts
- scissors
- chalk
- lace for embellishment
- snap fastener
- pins

Steps:

1. Using your favourite shirt, mark the contour of the collar on the fabric. Don't forget to leave about 2cm allowance.There's the pointed part and the base part. Mark these separately, on the back (inside) part of the fabric. I did this on the leg of the jeans, so I cut 2 pieces each from the beginning.

Step 1.

Step 2.

2. Pin the 2 pieces (top and bottom) together as the pic shows, and cut along-side the pattern you marked.
3. Once you've cut it, you have to sew the 2 pieces together as:
- for the pointed pieces, sew along-side the outer part (the one that will be folded outwards) and on the side parts.
- for the base part, sew on the sides and the bottom part of it as it will sit on your neck.
The pictures say more than 1000 words :)

Step 3.

Step 4.

4. Turn both of the parts your are left with inside out.
5. Place the pointed side inside the base part, and sew along-side the part that overlaps. I used invisible thread for this :)

Step 5.

Step 6.

6. Using pins arrange the decorative lace as you think you want it. Before sewing mock try the collar on, to see how everything looks when you fold it on the neck ;) when you are happy with the design, sew on the lace. If you feel inspired add other embellishments. I added a bit of pink lace as well, for contrast. You can add rhinestones, buttons, pearls or whatever else floats your boat :)

Step 6.

Step 7.

7. Try it on again to see where you need to place the snap fasteners, and sew them in. Take extra care at this last step ;) You don't want to place them misaligned and ruin everything at the end!!

Step 7.

And voila! You have a beautiful shirt collar!! Tip: this goes amazing with an androgynous outfit, but with very girly hairstyle, make-up, jewellery and shoes! Have fun with it, I know it did! :)

If you like this, would like to hear it :)

Friday, 17 May 2013

Diy - woven studded necklace

I found out about these type of necklaces about a month ago, and they might not be everyone's cup of tea, but they do make a statement. They are quite powerful by themselves, so they are not really a daytime choice in my opinion. What I really like about this style is that it combines thread and chain, so, although it is a statement piece, it is youthful as well.

Materials:
- chain: I did mine double and quite close up to the neck, so you'd need at least double the size you want it
- 4 colours of thread - the one I used is thick one (embroidery thread I think); of course you can make your own design by using different colours and numbers of threads
- studs
- nail polish of the same colour as your chain, if the studs are not already matching
- scissors
- sewing thread
- clear fabric glue
- necklace closure

Steps:

1. Start braiding the thread on the chain by passing one colour through one chain ring from underneath upwards and then pulling it underneath the second colour. Continue the process using the second colour, and so on.. I used red and dark blue as my first 2 colours.
2. Do the exact same thing as step 1, but using the second piece of chain and the second set of colours, which for me were light blue and coral.

Step 1

Step 2

3. At this point, I wanted to join the 2 chains together, and had a few ideas on how to do this, including sequins and studs. I decided to go with the studs, as to me they make more of a statement.

Step 3

Step 4

4. Optional - paint the studs to be the same colour as the chain by using nail polish ;) you will have to leave them dry for a safe time interval, just to make sure the necklace won't be ruined.
5. Place the studs alongside the chain, kind of like mock joining the chains, to arrange and position them. Make sure you arrange the necklace in a circular shape before placing the studs. This will ensure that the necklace will be bendable, and not stiff.

Step 5

Step 6

6. On the back of each stud, attach thread to its legs and bend them to hold the thread in place.
7. Pass the thread coming from each leg of the stud through the rings of each chain, in the position established at step 6. Tie at the back.

8. Using fabric glue make sure the thread is glued to the back of the necklace. This will help ensure that the studs won't come off and also that the back is neat and no loose thread will show on the front.

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

9. Wait for the glue to dry and turn transparent.
10. Put on the necklace closure.

11. Rock it!!!

As always, I would really like to hear opinions and read comments! :)

Saturday, 13 April 2013

DIY - Party or casual detachable collars

The Peter Pan collars are really big right now, and I really like them. They are lady like and there are loads of very fresh designs out there. And the materials and embellishments options are endless (well..). The prices on them start from somewhere around £7 and can go up to £30 on the high-street shops. The price is not of importance, but I thought it would be really cool to make my own one :) Quite an interesting project to take on.
Now for how I did it. The materials I used are:

- paper for the patterns.
- 2 pieces of approximately A4 size material - your desired colour and material for the top part, and a scrap piece of material you may have for the under-layer.
- button and a piece of string (leather) for back closure.
- needle, thread, iron, hemming tape, pins, scissors.
- embellishments.

The steps:

1. The first thing is to find or make yourself a paper pattern for it. You can download a pattern from:

http://matterofstyle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/peter-pan-collar-diy-free-pattern.html

I made my own paper pattern using a headband as a circle guide for the neck opening. My pattern looks like this (the date on my camera played tricks :) ):

2. Take your base material and cut the exact shape of the collar pattern on the fabric. For more precision you can fold the patter and the fabric in half and cut both sides at the same time.
3. Take your cover material and cut the pattern leaving an allowance of about 2-3cm. This will help you cover the base material safely.
4. Pin the cover cut out on top of your base cut out.
5. Bend the cover material so that it covers all the base material and looks pretty, and using an iron on a medium to low setting iron it so it retains the shape you created.
6.1 Collar 1 - Sew the shape in place (sew the back edges of the cover material on the base material so the stitching doesn't show on the front of the collar). I did the stitching by hand.
6.2 Collar 2 - Using hemming tape (iron on glueing tape), I secured the edges of the cover material on the base material.
7. Sew at the edges a button and a fastening system - I used a small leather string I had lying around ;) You can also sew ribbon on each end and tie it at the back to secure.
8. Embellish at will!! I used sequins, pearl like beads and a bow I made from contrasting colour material.

This type of collar is so pretty and so much fun to do, that I ended making one for myself and also one for a friend! Mine is more party style, and hers is more sophisticated and elegant. And...now...for...the results :)

Collar 1 - smart sophisticated