Image: Marcio Madeira for Style.com

Your new Burberry-flavoured Chic Cheat tribute, as promised, in my last entry.  A few words I never thought I’d say, and much as I enjoy taking on styles and labels I wouldn’t normally think to choose (namely which don’t entail roses, snakes, studs, skulls, a black and red colour palette and motorbike imagery) Burberry’s new puff-sleeved coat was something of an awakening for me.   The label’s public image took something of a battering when the chavs adopted their trademark check and emblazoned it across their baseball caps - a look we all have Posh (I don’t think so) Spice to thank for!  Ah, cherished memories indeed, but it would appear that bygone era is well and truly over and the label has emerged victorious with a sumptuous line of puff-sleeved coats and macs - and a key look for this season.

Difficulty

I’d call this one medium, myself.  It’s straightforward and reasonably self-explanatory, but putting the various pieces together on the sleeve can be a little on the fiddly side.

Hours

About 1-2 days

Total Cost

Mine set me back about £33.  Veering into the territory of pricey by Chic Cheat standards, but not bad for a mac and…

Save It!

…better than forking out £2,395 for the original!  In fact, that’s more than 70 times the price of the Chic Cheat solution, so you’d be saving yourself a respectable £2,362!

You will Need…

• A coat or mac in beige, that mysterious (-ly sexy) colour also known as buff - or nude, as it’s described on the Burberry original…so  insert your own gag.  For my Chic cheat equivalent I used New Look’s Belted Roll-Sleeve Mac (product number 1812028) priced £30 … and she’s a belter!
• 1 Metre of matching  beige coated cotton. I was apprehensive about finding this one, but it was Barry’s Fabrics to the rescue (1 Moseley Street, Birmingham, B5 6JX tel: 0121 622 6102) Where I found some for £2.95 per metre.  Good times.
• Matching thread
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Pins
• Sewing machine
• Iron and ironing board

And now, for the ‘Berry thing…

Fold your fabric back and forth on itself, as shown in the diagram, pinning it in place as you go along, until you’ve got a crinkled area 15cm into your fabric.

Cut your crinkled fabric out and repeat this process again.

You should have two areas of crinkled fabric 1m x 15cm.

Tack stitch your crinkles in place several times along your strip of fabric and take the pins out.

Cut along your fabric strips at 33cm intervals, so that you have 6 strips of crinkled fabric, 33cm x 15 cm.

Cut out 6 rectangles of flat fabric, also 33cm by 15cm.

Stitch each of the 6 flat pieces to 6 of the crinkled pieces.  Stitch 1cm from three of the four edges and then trim back the edges.

Press the crinkles in place on your newly sewn rectangular pieces with an iron on maximum heat (unless your fabric is synthetic, in which case you should iron on a much lower heat or with a layer of calico over)

Take your tack stitching out.

Turn your strips inside out so that no raw edges are visible except the unstitched ones.  Don’t worry about these, they will be folded eventually when they are attached to the mac.  Press the edges flat.

Now to attach them to your mac.  I find it helps to put something under the tops of the sleeves, like a hanger, mannequin or a cushion, so that it is easier to construct a three-dimensional shape on top of them.

Look at the following sleeve detail on the original.

Notice the deeply folded strip underneath the two fabric bulges at the back and front. Do this one first.  Place your strip of fabric along the top of the sleeve, as shown in the diagram:

Bend your fabric slightly and pin it about 10cm down the mac sleeve.  Cut away the excess fabric and fold it back on itself at the bottom.  Pin the bottom in place.

Slip-stitch your fabric to the mac along the top and bottom of your strip.

Now for the back piece.  Attach another of your strips of fabric to the top side of your sleeve, again, along the folded edge of your strip of crinkled fabric.

Scrunch the piece of fabric down so that it only comes about 10cm down your sleeve, and bend it around the side of the sleeve as shown in the picture below.  The scrunching should cause it to bulge upwards at the top of the sleeve, too, like it does on the Burberry original.

Finally, the front piece.  Attach another of your strips of fabric to the top side of your sleeve at the front, again, along the folded edge of your strip of crinkled fabric.

Scrunch the piece of fabric down so that it only comes about 10cm down your sleeve, and bend it around the side of the sleeve as before.

Repeat these last three processes on the other side of the garment with the remaining three crinkled strips of fabric.

…And you should be left with something like this:

Who would know you were not stepping out in New Bond Street’s finest?  Only instead, you’ve saved your pennies - now all you need is a rainy day!

Spring fashion: What’s got my attention… and what’s got my goat

I’m 25, a quarter of a century, and I’ve only six weeks left before my next birthday which I’m not looking forward to. Quite aside from the pain of reminding myself that it’s a case of one more year wasted, I’m officially a year older and I’ve still made less progress in my worthless, paltry existence than a monkey sitting a driving test, my main issue is how out of my control it all is. Rather than the milestone or rite of passage people credit it to be, age just sort of becomes me, and there’s nothing I can do about it – I wasn’t ready to be a 16-year-old when I turned 16, I wasn’t ready to be a 21-year-old when I turned 21 and now the impending shock of hitting 26 is one that can only be equalled by immersing myself in a vat of freezing water as a 6”rusty nail is jammed into my head, coupled with an electric current of 5000 volts whilst enduring a drip-torturous soundtrack of UK Garage.

Further insult was added to injury when I came across an article called What not to Wear Beyond your Teens , which asserts that anyone aged 20 or older has no sartorial rights to skimpy shorts, midriff-baring tops, miniskirts, “loud” hair accessories, oversized handbags, neon or plastic jewellery, low-cut jeans, slogan t-shirts, high stiletto heels, cleavage on show, sequins and glitter or – my favourite sanction – “dramatic” patterns, lest they should look like mutton dressed as lamb. Yes, that’s right, kids – stop the press immediately, get Anna Wintour for me on line 1 and send out a red alert to the British Fashion Council. All these years they have, in fact, been quite mistaken in gearing celebrity-tinged directional trends towards the young professional woman… news reaches us that they’re meant only for those on a minimum wage of £3.60 an hour, who barely even qualify for a basic student debit card and only half of whom are over the age of consent… you heard here first.

With the tone of a pre-menstrual Victorian headmistress, and a choice of words like; “Enough is enough,” and “tone down the sparkle for more demure attire” this article really is a great read for anyone who wants to dress so far down they make Ann Widdecombe look like Lady Gaga! My personal howler of choice would be: “(Avoid) Message (and) Slogan T-shirts: Let the teens communicate their angst through slogans, phrases and coloured drawings on their t-shirts. Wearing ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ or ‘Blondes Have More Fun’ can err on the side of tacky in your twenties.” …Personally, I wouldn’t agree – I’ve seen guys knocking 40 at rock clubs in T-shirts reading “Dead Girls Don’t Say No” and I think it rather gives the place character! As regards the article, both narrow and contrived in the choice of examples, how I revel in the irony that the author neglected to mention my Tee slogan of choice: “I’m sorry. You must think I value your opinion!”

I love my wardrobe full of printed hearts, skulls, tattoos, roses and motorbikes, insane heels, studs, rhinestones, miniskirts, costume jewellery, half shirts, hipsters… and steel cap-toed New Rocks just in case I should have the misfortune of meeting that evil writer! (Honestly, I’m not violent *adjusts straitjacket*) I’ve still got one remaining issue with its content, though – my lack of winter clothes…

I’m not short of jeans, long-sleeved tops or jackets, yet I always find myself shivering to the point of convulsion from November through to March without fail, and feeling like the darkest, outer-most reaches of Antarctica are small game in comparison to the science-defying lows of my freezing body temperature! So I have to wear my coat indoors, to which my mum always says: “Put on something snug – like a fleece!” I hate fleeces with a passion. Fleeces are dull, shapeless and add about 3 stone to your shape. Fleeces are what ramblers wear with cagoules and wellies to trawl the Outer Hebrides in conditions mankind wasn’t evolved to withstand, or what your mum wears to do the gardening in because she doesn’t want to ruin anything nice! I wouldn’t de seen dead in one, let alone choose to own one…

…But I definitely would like to get my paws on Balmain’s military jacket and Burberry’s new trench coat (Below)

As if by magic, these hot hot houses have come up with designs which are not only suitable for all ages, but for all weather conditions. I’d even be prepared to compromise and wear a revolting fleece underneath, so I can brave the winter cold and yet still look spring fabulous. So, coming to an IP address near you, the Chic Cheat solutions for both. Stay tuned… and stay beautiful. Ciao, darlings!

Coming Up: A Mac Job - get the look of the new Burberry Trench Coat!

Accordion to my research, this chic piece of bling is still hot for banishing the winter blues…

Total Cost

About £8…

Save it!

… Which, compared to the £250 price tag of the original, pales into insignificance at less than a thirtieth of the price, or a saving of about £242.

You Will Need…

1.5m of black grosgrain ribbon. Hobbycraft do one which is just under an inch and a half wide, priced at 75p per metre.

Half a metre of sheer black ribbon, also available at Hobbycraft at 39p a metre.

Picture hooks to mimic the hinges on the original ( I haven’t been able to find appropriate hinges of the right size, but the look that the picture hooks method gives off is pretty authentic) priced at £1.32 a packet at Wickes. Also some wire to bind them together. I used copper wire I found at home.

Chunky golden chain, something my tongue falters while I say, as it’s not the sort of item you’d typically associate with fine taste. Furthermore, the chain I used for this entry came in the form of a 3-chain bracelet from Primark and cost £1. Just think of the black ribbon textures and gems which make this exercise all worthwhile!

A selection of round, diamond-shaped and teardrop-shaped rhinestones in white, green, yellow, red, purple and black if you can find one. I picked mine up from a haberdasher’s in Birmingham’s St Martin’s market and the total cost came to £1.11

Black leather fake leather will do.

2 gold eyelet holes they cost £2.99 a packet at Hobbycraft

2 pairs of long-nosed pliers

Needle and thread

Pritt stick or equivalent

Ruler, fabric scissors and metallic gel pen

Sewing machine with a leather needle the latter is available at all good haberdashers.

Hammer and scrap piece of wood or - if you have some -eyelet pliers

Something to punch a hole through leather - I used a scalpel, but if you have a leather hole puncher, so much the better.

Get your Lim beau rocks on…

Look at the way the ribbon on the original is folded. It’s concertina-folded, like a fan, in the way that it curves around.

Take your grosgrain ribbon and fold it concertina-style, but in such a way that the pleats overlap, causing the pleats to be about 1″ deep, but for them to appear to be about 1cm deep on the surface. Notice, on the original, that the pleats are also done at an angle to make it curve round, so you need to mimic that with the grosgrain in order to get the same effect. Pin each pleat in place after you’ve folded it. You should use up the entire ribbon to get the right length.

When the pleats are pinned in place, secure them by machine-stitching along the top.

When you pick your grosgrain ribbon up, you will probably find it curves round in a spiral. Don’t worry about this, as you can secure it in its original curves shape by stitching it by hand along the bottom. Just run your needle and thread through the pleats, keeping it beneath the surface so that it can’t be seen.

Cut four of each of the following pieces out of leather:

Fold back the flaps and use your glue stick to hold them in place. Using your sewing machine and leather needle, sew the hexagonal pieces one on top of the other so that no raw edges are showing.

Punch a hole in the narrow top end of each of the two new hexagonal pieces and insert the eyelet hole. The eyelets I suggested come with instructions as to how to use your hammer or eyelet pliers. Ensure that you follow instructions carefully and take care not to cause damage with your hammer, if you’re using one.

Cut your sheer black ribbon in half and thread each piece through the eyelet holes. Secure them by tying them in a knot around the leather piece.

With the flaps of your rectangular leather pieces glued back, sandwich your black grosgrain ribbon between each set of two, pin them together and sew them in place.

Time to create your “hinges” with your picture hooks. Use your pliers to bend the hook all the way back so that it forms an enclosed loop shape. Repeat this process with three more hooks.

Place each hook in the middle of the top of your rectangular leather pieces and the bottom of your hexagonal pieces, on the opposite side to where the eyelet hole is. Stitch them in place. You may need to stitch from a few different angles in order to secure your hooks properly.

Feed a small piece of wire through the enclosed hooks and twist them with your pliers to secure them in place.

Detach all three pieces of chain from your Primark bracelet using your pliers, you should be able to prise open the small connecting wire loop fairly easily.

Attach two full chains onto each other using your pliers and one of the connecting loops. Repeat this with a third chain. You will probably find it is too long to fit onto your necklace, so you can trim it down by using both sets of pliers to pull the strong chain links apart.

Stitch the chain, link-by-link along the top of your necklace.

Finally, stitch your gems on, using the original as inspiration as to where to stitch them.

A sprightly springtime look to blow away the winter cobwebs? How about……..YES

As we leave the ice-laden days of extreme winter freeze behind us for pastures green(-ish) and the dawn of the springtime warmth, you only have to walk into a shop to find that spring has definitely sprung on planet fashion. From the high street to the catwalk, attention has already turned to what’s hot for the approaching warmer months, and there’s not so many a cold sore on one’s lips as there is the topic of what to wear when it’s finally time to banish those jeans, boots and coats to the back of your wardrobe, once again, until the autumn.

Well, for inspiration, here’s a start: The floral printed dresses from Stella McCartney’s latest spring/summer collection, in upbeat hues of red, orange and blue, with pleats and cascading frills, straddled the catwalk at her show to the backdrop of a giant canvas with YES splayed across, in an equally bold colour scheme. This chirpy, optimistic theme resonated throughout the collection, particularly in the dresses, and will surely be a key look for the season ahead.

Difficulty

Hard

Much as it pains me to say so, this one’s likely to test you to the limit, as, indeed it did to me, owing to the processes involved, including DIY pleating (with thermoplastic fabrics. “Thermo-who, now?” I hear you ask - more on that enthralling saga later), frill-making and more fun with bias-binding. Confused? Fear not, all will be revealed, my friends…

Total Cost

Mine worked out at just over £15 (because the fabric I bought was on offer - yours might work out more expensive but not by much)

Hours

Mine took me about 4 days - but that included making mistakes, learning and re-doing. Luckily for you, yours should take less time, as long as you follow instructions closely, and shouldn’t be nearly as stressful.

You will need…

About 2 metres of red polyester, maybe more depending on the width of your fabric. Barry’s Fabrics in Birmingham -1 Moseley Street, Birmingham, B5 6JX, tel 0121 622 6102 (They also have a branch in Manchester called Leon’s Fabric Superstore -419 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton, Manchester, M19 1PL, tel 0161 861 7960 ) do an appropriate fabric with a floral print in brown, crimson and pink, like the one used for Stella’s dress.

A matching (or close enough) one-shoulder top or dress that’s reasonably well fitted around the bust. Unfortunately, these are currently harder to find than a straightedge at The Priory, but after much perseverance, I managed to track one down in Primark for £5 on the sale(product number 8159176) A word of warning - it’s actually pink, so I’d recommend you keep in the direction of crimson hues for your covering fabric.

2 reels of matching red thread and a roll of satin bias binding Available at Hobbycraft for £1.40 a reel and £1.79 respectively.

Metre ruler

Pins

Fabric scissors

Large sheet of paper

Drawing pin

Long strip of sturdy card

Scalpel (optional) and pencil

Needle and thread

Iron and ironing board

Piece of calico you don’t mind burning (honest to God, I’m a sane person!)

Sewing machine

Shall we begin…

Truth be known, this was the entry that wouldn’t die, and defeated me on a lot of counts, which had never happened in Chic Cheat history before. Traditionally, I’d always known what I was doing, would look at the garment in question and know instantly how to problem solve my way to a respectable replica without a hitch. This time around, I thought I did, but, instead, found myself redoing certain processes before getting them right, and living to regret my choice of fabric and base garment for customising the first time around. Fate hasn’t been kind to me over the past week. It was spent wrangling with the respective processes of this dress, whilst battling the common cold and tearing my hair out, debating whether to add a magnum shotgun to my list of ingredients so that I might be spared by blowing my brains out! At least going down with the proverbial lurgy gave me an excuse to spend more or less the entire week in my pyjamas and rarely leaving the confines of my bedroom - which still looks a cross between a bombsite and an eccentric’s laboratory where the sane fear to tread. There, I plugged away undisturbed at my new experiment, yet still managed to make even heavier weather of it than the freezing outdoor conditions most of us have seen this month! The hours I put in reverted me to a primal form I hadn’t assumed since my stroppier days of teenagehood, giving me the motivational skills of a lounge lizard and a ghastly temper. Still, talking of going back to school, I actually found myself referring to an old textiles project I did when I was about 17 to find out how best to pleat fabric. ‘Twas in a dusty, forgotten corner, in the bowels of our house, that I discovered the ancient tome, reading “The Advantages of Thermoplastic Fabrics” (okay, I tell a lie - it was saved on my Dad’s old Mac, but work with me here!) And so here, by this process, begins our first method…

Just pleat it! Noone wants to be defeated…

…And they don’t have to be, for I shall now reveal exactly what I meant when I was banging on about this whole thermoplastic malarkey. Quoth I, from said project I did back at school: “Thermoplastic fabrics are a type of man made fabric whose configuration can be changed when heated, if shaped, for example, to fit the shape of a mould, and retain this new configuration on cooling, until re-heated. The reason for this is that the fabric has become heat-set. This is what the name ‘thermoplastic’ means.” Basically, they are fabrics you can mould into shapes, textures and pleats by heating them, manipulating them into whichever shape you want, and cooling them down to set them in place.

The reason why all thermoplastic fabrics are synthetic, or part-synthetic, is because of their make up. Thermoplastic fabrics are made up of molecules which are held together in long chains. When they are heated, the chains lose their weak grip, making the material go soft, and rendering it pliable and easy to shape. When cooled down, the long chains attract each other again and the weak bonds reform, thus the material becomes rigid again. The fabric can only be moulded when it is soft, therefore, it needs to be heated to quite a high temperature for the heat-setting process to take place. As thermoplastic fabrics lose their shape on heating, they should be washed at very low temperatures. Bet you didn’t know that, did you? Okay, settle down, class, here’s how I’m going to apply it to the Stella McCartney dress…

Cut two rectangles from your fabric, both 80×70cm. Concertina-fold them into pleats about an inch deep, pin them in place. Tack-stitch them in place and take the pins out, otherwise you’ll get pin marks heat-set into your pleats - sooo not a good look, honey!

With your fabric stitched together into pleats, cover it with your sheet of calico and iron it on maximum heat for a few minutes.

When your pleats have been heat-set, you then have to attach your fabric to your garment.

Note: if you are using the Primark top I suggested, you will also need to cut the pink frills off. Try to cut as close to the garment - without damaging it - as possible.

You can attach it at the top, just under the armhole.

Place your fabric across your garment, upside down, with the wrong side facing upwards, 1cm below where the armholes come to.You’re likely to notice that the top of your rectangles of fabric are somewhat wider than the close fitting top of your garment where you need to attach them. I solved this problem by folding certain of the pleats back on themselves, so that the edge of your fabric diminishes in width and is able to fit exactly onto the front of your garment.

Repeat this process with the back of your garment.

Attach your fabric at the sides using your bias binding.

Finally, finish off your hem by folding the bottom of your fabric up by 1cm, machine-stitching over it as close to the edge as possible and cutting away the excess fabric. Then fold your fabric over again by a tiny amount and stitch next to the edge again, as before.

And now, for the big frill…

Draw a circle on paper 64cm in diameter, and a circle inside it 31cm in diameter. You can do this by making a giant compass, using card, a ruler, a pencil and a scalpel or scissors. Simply draw around your ruler and cut out your new rectangle of card.

Pierce your card near the edge with your drawing pin, and, keeping your pin in, mark 15.5 and 32cm from it. Pierce in the centre of the card at each of these measurements and make a hole large enough for the tip of a pencil to draw through. Your new compass should look something like this…

Draw your 2 circles and cut them out, so that you have a pattern piece that looks like a large paper Polo mint.

Draft and cut out a similar circular pattern piece of a circle 2cm wider in diameter, so that it is 66cm in diameter on the outside and 31cm in diameter on the inside.

Pin onto your fabric and cut out each circle piece twice. Cut out a line from the outside of the circle to the inside, so that instead of circles you now have four long, curved pieces of fabric.

Sew each of the two circles to one another.

Again, finish off the lower edge by folding the bottom of your fabric up by 1cm, machine-stitching over it as close to the edge as possible and cutting away the excess fabric. Then fold your fabric over again by a tiny amount and stitch next to the edge again, as before.

Pin your frills together with the wider one underneath the narrower one, and sew your bias binding along the top.

Pin your frills, now attached to the bias binding along the top, folding the binding back and forth on itself continually around the garment so that the fabric attached to it forms billowing ripples like the ones on the original dress. Machine stitch it down, making sure the line of bias binding is straight.

…And after that rigorous procedure, you may feel like you’ve really been put through your paces, but the good news is you should be left with something that looks like this…

Christmas might be over… But as the new year approaches, and the party season rolls on, who needs stockings when you can have fabulous shoes!

Along with Michael Jackson tributes and the great Tiger Woods debacle, there was just no getting away from Christian Louboutin’s trademark wanton red soles, strutting their way among the fashionable and the famous. If indeed, all of the last sentence was news to you, then I do hope you enjoyed your stay on Mars, but speaking of good news, ’twas an all-familiar feeling when I spied the coveted shoes and thought “six hundred quid!!? They’re ‘avin a larf!… Especially when I can make my own for as little as £16!”

Difficulty

Easy
Technique-wise, this one’s far from taxing, but, now that you’ve had the good news, the bad news is, it’s just as easy to make a mess, both on your surroundings and your precious New-boutins, so the logistics are a challenge - to say the least - and the relevant precautions mandatory.

Hours

Couple of hours’ preparation, covering your shoes and preparing your work area (I’d recommend doing your shoes outdoors, even in this weather, or in a garage, shed or studio where making a mess and living with suffocating fumes aren’t an issue) intermittent sets of 20 minutes or so for painting and lacquering and anything up to a few days’ drying/ lacquering time between coats.

Total cost

If you buy the cheapest black stiletto heels, currently on sale, enamel paint and lacquer, it should come to about £16. Add on another few pounds if you find yourself buying black shoe paint, should you have any spillages you’d need to correct.

Save it!

That’s a saving of almost £550, however, if you’re not careful with paint-related damage limitation, you might find yourself paying that difference in home repairs as you’re dealing with permanent paint!

You will need…

Black stiletto shoes, ideally patent black if it is the real McCoy you’re going for. Said shoes start at £6 at Primark.

Red enamel paint, ideally spray paint to get an even finish - however it is messier than brush-on paint, harder to control and - for the environmentally-aware among us - the less saintly option for the environment, being in an aerosol can. I used Plastikote fast-dry enamel paint (colour: Insignia Red 1065) priced at £4.25 from Hobbycraft.

Clear lacquer spray, 300ml will do, priced at £5.99 a can at Halfords.

Black shoe paint for correcting errors is an advantage: I got mine for £4 but prices may vary.

Parcel tape.

2 plastic carrier bags.

Scissors.

White spirit for getting the paint off your hands.

The worst clothes you own -that you don’t mind ruining!

Newspaper and an appropriate working space.

Patience!!!

Method

In a nutshell…

Protect your working area with newspaper to avoid messing it up.

Put parcel tape around the edges of your shoes near the sole, so that the surfaces are covered at least 3 quaters of an inch from the edge. Pay particularly good attention around the heels.

Spread your carrier bags across your shoes, so that they cover the rest of the surfaces, and tape them down. You may need to cut them in places in order to manipulate them better. Your shoes should be completely covered and water-tight, except for the soles.

Time to spray your enamel paint. Follow instructions carefully, spray paint from a distance no closer than about 25cm, try to apply as thinly as possible so that it dries more quickly and doesn’t run or seep through. If you’re using the Plastikote spray like I did, then it should take around 3 hours (!) to dry.

Now for the lacquer to protect the paint. Read instructions carefully and ensure that you take all necessary precautions. The one I used required spraying in 2 thin coats, leaving 15 minutes for each layer to dry, and then about a day for the shoes to dry completely… Simple as… Job’s a good ‘un… Good times!

In Practice…

Logistically this project was a challenge and a half! I’d had the raw ingredients since Christmas eve and was hoping to get the entry in before the end of the month, and before the party season was officially over. It would surely be a race against the clock to get the Louboutin look in before it went out of season, and I suppose the words “more haste, less speed” weren’t at the forefront of my agenda for a process so seemingly simple. “Cover your shoes, point and shoot, leave to dry, uncover… Bob’s your blood relative - sweet as a diamond,” I thought. I did the painting on the lawn outside my house, and it proved a nightmare to get enough hours of daylight, since I’d had to work for the next few days since getting the right things, including Christmas day (hitherto an alien experience, but this year I had no choice in the matter - yay Credit Crunch!) My parents might have quetioned my haste in the creation of this entry, and I suppose new year’s eve’s a bit 11th hour anyway, but I’m still trying to keep this blog to 2 entries a month, so, as I believe they say in the old country - this year would be nice!

I made some mistakes, which I learnt from before writing this entry. I initially used masking tape, but that proved too weak and too permeable, so my paint and lacquer ran. I even caused some minor damage to soft furnishings with wet paint which I thought was dry, which is why I can’t stress enough the importance of reading and sticking to instructions. In fact, patronising as this may sound, I’d recommend parental supervision to any younger readers of this entry. However, I got there in the end, the results are definitely worth it and I’m gonna wear it to my friend’s new year’s eve shindig tonight. Have fun with this one, dear audience… till then, ciao - I’ve got a party to go to!

Fashion takes a walk on the Wylde side…

Image: net-a-porter

Christmas is coming, some geese are getting fat - even if noone’s wallet is - and the festive rituals are in full swing. To be fair, they have been for a month, already, so nothing hot off the press there, as such. In my opinion, it’s a mixed blessing. The freezing outside weather conditions add to the sense of coziness indoors and, with my home town being in the heart of historic England, the atmospheric darkness turns the scenery into an otherworldly fairyland bathed in incandescent flecks of light. I don’t mind that it’s the festival of mindless consumerism, for most of us, or that it entails weeks of trawling the manic shops to buy people things they don’t need (That said, for a real Nightmare Before Christmas, beyond anything Jack Skellington and pals could have dreamt up, look no further than the bedlam of Oxford Street!) However, when it comes to Christmas music - I’m talking music of the post-modern, non-religious persuasion, here - I remain of the bah humbug school of thought. Completely.

I have to say, this nation’s a funny lot when it comes to odd yearly traditions. “Awww, it’s so Christmassy…” they coo over the same novelty Christmas records, that were far from bearable to begin with, played year in and year out, ” it really gets you in the festive mood!” I’m still congratulating myself on getting this far and being able to avoid hearing Slade’s “Merry Christmas” so far this year, and all the other trite and embarrassing songs of the season (”Fairytale of New York” excepted) I mean, every time I’ve had to hear these bouts of jangling noise pollution, and the equally naff justification thereof, I’m moved to ask, “well, what about getting up and coming home from school/uni/work in pitch darkness and plying yourself with vitamin C lest you come down with virulent influenza - is that festive and Christmassy, too?” A silly question, some may think. Well, I tend to keep an open mind before writing any question off as such, with the possible exception of “what’s the national religion of Antarctica?” Egyptian writer, Naguib Mahfouz even said “you can tell whether a man is clever by his answers, you can tell whether a man is wise by his questions”…so there!

I was always one to laugh in the face of conformity, when it came to things I didn’t see the point of. I’m going to take a similar angle of self-indulgence for this entry. My blog has, thus far, been predominantly mainstream and trend-led , but rather than covering what’s hot right now, I chose to copy something just ’cause I love it, and, I would say that it’s quite the perfect gift, but, be warned, there’s a serious risk of it turning out so fabulous, you’ll want to keep it for yourself! Hanging onto all that remains of the tough chic trend of this past year, I give you…. Thomas Wylde’s serpent boots - a Chic Cheat tribute:

Image: net-a-porter

Difficulty

Medium

Ummmm… hard to gauge, this one, because, it’s all basically straightforward apart from putting the zip in, which comes fairly easily to me, but may be hard for the inexperienced.

Hours

The beadwork, itself, took about 10 hours per boot, and you’d need a couple of extra hours to put the zips in, and the buckles if you want to.

Total Cost

About £42 without the buckles - still, not bad for knee-highs and…

Save It!

…it’s for less than a sixtieth (!) of the price tag for the originals, which will set you back £2,460!

You will need…

Knee-high black boots. Primark do a pair I’d recommend for £18.60 (prod. no 7005616)

750 gold 5mm ovular beads (Item ref 80-518-01 Cat ref. 114N)
200 oxidised silver 5mm beads (item ref 80-517-04 Cat ref. 114M)
Both from The Bead Shop, 21A Tower Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9NS, tel: 02072400931 , order online from www.beadworks.co.uk tel: 02085533240 - TOTAL SHOULD COME TO £17.22

About 40 silver 2mm beads, which should set you back £1-£1.50

2 black zips, 30cm in length, priced £2.19 from Athena Crafts, http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Athena-Crafts , 0871 288 5779

Computer with printer

Sewing machine with zipper foot and metal needle (available at all good haberdashers)

Contact/ all purpose adhesive

Paper

Scalpel

Metallic gel pen

Pins

Needle and black thread

Black kilt straps (optional)

Make-up removal wipes (believe it or not!)

Let’s Rock…

If your boots are too wide, you may want to pin them togather at the back so that they fit more tightly. Mark the points out with your gel pen.

Slash your boots down the back with your scalpel, down to about 11cm from the heel (and no further down, unless you fancy breaking your sewing machine by trying to sew over the hard spine of the boot!)

Cut a diagonal line 1cm long from either side of the line, so that you can fold the leather back on itself where your demarcations from your gel pen are.

Pin it in place and pin the zip to it. Glue the zip in place at the bottom and sew in the rest of the zip with the zip open.

Remove pins. If your zip is too long and you need to cut it, make sure you bend it, fold it over and glue it in place at the top of your boots.

Print out 2 copies of the shape, above, so that it covers the length of an A4 - or, you can sketch out your own design, if you like. Cut out the serpent shapes with your scalpel and pin them to the front of your boots about 2cm from the top.

Draw around them with your gel pen. Take the paper stencils off.

Stitch your silver beads sparingly in a dotted line around the edge of the snake’s head. Then stitch on your gold beads in a dotted line around the outside and in “scale” patterns like the ones on the original. You might want to print out an image of the TW boots to get some inspiration and authenticity.

Sew your oxidised silver beads on, dot them around sparingly so that they don’t clash with the gold and so as to give the boots a quirky, individual twist.

Finally, if you want to add your kilt straps, pin them so that the buckle crosses the zip, 11cm down from and parallel to the top of the boots. Sew in place with a regular sewing machine foot.

Wipe off the gel pen marks with make-up removal wipes, which, I find, work best.

It’s a funny old world. Okay a bleak one, for the most part, at least in this climate, yet still not failing to spring interesting new surprises on us now and again. With today’s society facing barrage after barrage of bad news about the economic climate, and those of us lucky enough to be in employment holding onto our jobs like grim death, you’d think there was no way on God’s green - and sometimes grey - earth that there would be room for extravagant perks, would you? Well, according to Tonic.com, maybe you shouldn’t. Referencing Fortune’s list of the 100 Best Companies To Work For, the article maintains that, even now, there are companies granting their employees free lunches, onsite massage therapists (if you don’t mind) and even thousands of dollars towards down payments on houses.

And what of my vocation, being but the struggling writer that I am? Well, I haven’t made a bean from this blog, as yet, so any perks to the tune of free private healthcare, gym membership or company car for my staff (i.e. me) might be out of reach……. but at least I get to watch Gossip Girl and call it research.

GG is worth watching for the costumes alone, but, truth be told, I’ve had a love (to) hate relationship with the programme’s content from the word go. Adapted from the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar of the same name (and perhaps because “Tales from the More-Money-Than-Sense Demographic” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it) I was recommended to look to it for blog inspiration by my cousin who, needless to say, doesn’t quite share my views on the matter. I won’t bore you with the rest of my thoughts on the show’s shameless bias towards elitism and nepotism over meritocracy (it claiming the latter to be the reserve of sadcase wannabes) It’s irrelevant as far as this blog’s concerned. Much as I remain convinced that an angel dies every time Blair, the “complex and insecure” villain opens her mouth… you have to hand it to her, the bint can dress, as can all the rest of the characters. Come to think of it, I haven’t even seen an extra look anything short of ravishing!

And so, for my first Chic Cheat ode to this televisual fashion parade, I thought we’d kick it off with this be-sequinned top worn by Serena, aka. the lovely Blake Lively…

I saw the Lively one sporting this top a few weeks ago, and in recapturing that glorious moment online, again may I thank the Lord above for the gift of the Print Screen function! I mean, sequins, especially metallic ones, are everywhere this party season, and…….

The good news:

Difficulty

Mark out your design, sew your sequins on in neat little rows - all there is to it, so job’s a good ‘un! That’s why this one’s EASY - easy like a Sunday morning!

Total Cost

With a top costing £6 and sequins coming to about £10 (6-8 packets of 1000 required, plus postage) you should be looking within the region of £16-17, I’m guessing that’s just a little bit less than the GG stylist’s expenditure on the original.

The bad news:

Hours

Brace yourselves: You will be looking at about 40 hours for this one. I should know having tried, tested and timed my method, it worked out at about 20 hours for each side. Still, look upon it as a worthy investment of evenings and weekends for a versatile look that’ll see you through the springtime as well as the winter party season.

You will need…

A top in baby pink or peach like the one sported by Ms Lively. If you can get your hands on one with a scoop neck and/or 3/4 length sleeves, then bonus. I’d recommend Select’s turn-back sleeve top in baby pink (Product Code: S030 14 0202 ) The one I used was New Look’s hanky hem top ( Product Code: 1827468) but I had to doctor it.

About 6-8 pots of 4mm metallic gold cup sequins. Find packs of 1000 at www.creativebeadcraft.co.uk (code: CS4 - nice easy one to remember for all you Photoshop fans out there!) or buy them at their London shop, Ells & Farrier at 1 Marshall Street, London W1F 9BA Tel: 020 7734 1982

Copious thread - you shouldn’t need more than one reel but make it a generous one.

Needle.

Pencil or tailor’s chalk.

Hair gel or wax - optional.

Okay, my dears, look Lively, now…

First of all, you’ve got to plan and mark out your pattern, using your pencil or tailor’s chalk. Notice how the sequins on the original are in a pattern resembling that of the ripples found in wood. I’ve drawn an example in the diagram below in case you need inspiration:

Stitch your sequins along the lines. The sequins on the original have a lovely, clustered texture to them,

and, I find, the best way to imitate it is to stitch your sequins in a line, one on top of the other, as shown in the diagram.

Stitch from the centre of your sequin outwards, to the back and then the front. Stitch your next sequin 1mm or less from the last so that half of it covers the one before it, then repeat stitching from the insdie outwards, as before.

Tip: Don’t let your thread give you headaches by knotting all the time. I find coating your thread in hair wax helps both to avoid this and to make knots easier to untangle, but try to use it sparingly to avoid getting grease marks all over your top.

Repeat until all your lines are covered and spaces are filled in. Wear. Stun. Masquerade in a manner of effortless stylishness of which Gossip Girl herself would be envious. Until next time, xoxo

Apologies, dear readers, for the delay in blog entries. I thank you for your patience for waiting for my new blog entry inspired by the flower corsage craze, and this rather awesome new frock from Roksanda Ilincic’s collection for Whistles.

Image: whistles.co.uk

Factors culminating therein include me being too busy and too distracted by the respective festivities associated with this time of year…

First there was Halloween, the weekend of which I spent at a mate’s house. Fun, yes, but I still miss the old days. You see, this celebrated festival of fancy dress and tooth-rot, has so far been one of mixed experiences. Taking its inspiration from across the Atlantic, it might now be customary to spend it in risible garb, often inadequate for the harsh weather conditions, pestering the neighbours for confectionery donations, followed by appropriate homespun festivities, but here in my home town, it was only in childhood that I truly observed the momentous occasion with the latter choice of halloween parties, fancy dress, apple-bobbing etc. However, I was forbidden to trick-or-treat, lest it upset/harassed/traumatised the town’s resident grey vote – so my mum maintained anyway! That rule, it seems, has changed in recent years (as soon as I was considered too old – grrr!) So, I vowed that next year I would spend it trick-or-treating, somewhere, somehow and to hell with what anyone thinks, but then, maybe I’m jumping the gun there as well. Perhaps Halloween’s just doomed by sheer divine intervention to be anti-climactic for me, and, whatever I do, will be forever thus. Maybe it’s just because occasions always prove anti-climactic when there’s pressure on you to celebrate them and have fun, and everyone’s on the make, trying to get you to buy into it etc. That’s why my worst day of the entire year has to be New Year’s Eve - and don’t even get me started on Valentine’s Day!

The other nationally-observed knees-up to happen in the past week was bonfire night, aka. Guy Fawkes night, of course, in – ahem – loving memory of the insurgent and his unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, dating back from a time when it obviously must have been considered tasteful to celebrate attempted acts of terrorism. Come to think of it, next to the last few examples I’ve mentioned, does Halloween really seem so bad?

I initially thought my version of the Roksanda Ilincic dress would cut it as a dead garden costume, but with flower corsages in full bloom this season, why limit it to the one occasion when it can have you looking fabulous all winter long?

Difficulty

Medium

Okay, this particular verdict is more to cover my back. Both the two methods I’m about to teach have their moments when they get a bit fiddly, but are generally straightforward.

Hours

I worked one the Ilincic design for about 5 days, but only for a few hours each day, so I’d say it’s probably doable in the space of a weekend.

The second one took about two days, neither of which entailed working long hours, exactly, but some variations on the theme, which incorporate frills and drapery may take a day or so longer.

The other example in this blog entry, for a rose corsage, also took me a few days, but it may take you longer if you’re doing more than eight roses, which I did.

Total Cost

The Roksanda Ilincic replica should set you back about £16.50-£20. Maybe more if you need to get a leather needle and black thread for your sewing machine.

The rose example I’m leaving open as it depends on the garment you’re customising and the matching fabric you’re using. You shouldn’t find yourself spending more than £10 on wool or jersey, but silk, tweed or duchess satin might set you back more…

Save It!

…Having said that, it should still be less than £350, the cost of the Roksanda Ilincic dress, giving you a Chic Cheat saving of about £330!

You Will Need…

For the Roksanda Ilincic dress:

•Navy blue dress or tunic top. Peacocks do the former for £10, prod. no: 40876014.
•1-1.5 metres of black PVC, I got mine from Barry’s Fabrics in Birmingham.
•Black thread.
•Scalpel.
•Large tube of contact/ all-purpose adhesive.
•Metallic gel pen or marker
•Sewing machine (optional)

For the rose corsage design:

•Plain jumper/ dress/ top… come to think of it, any garment in need of perking up will do, and why not get down to your nearest charity shop for some inspiration – and bargains!
•A metre of matching fabric, I’d also recommend going for one the same colour as your garment to get the romantic, English rose look that’s hot this season, but since it’s a free country, the choice is up to you!
•Matching thread
•Ruler
•Scissors
•Sewing machine
•Iron, better still if you’ve got a steam iron.

Time to get your Roks on…

Image: whistles.co.uk

Look at Roksanda’s design and you’ll see that there are different types of flowers. I devised three methods of making PVC flowers to get this effect:

Flower #1:

Draw out a flower pattern about 15cm x 15cm on the wrong side of your PVC using your metallic pen. Cut it out with your scalpel, then stick it down – wrong side facing the wrong side- on your PVC with your contact adhesive and cut the whole shape out, again, with your scalpel.

Repeat with the same flower pattern only one about 10cm x 10 cm in size.

Pin your flowers, one on top of the other as shown in the diagram and secure by hand or machine-stitching the middle of the flower to the dress.

Flower #2

Draw out a flower pattern about 15cm x 15cm on the wrong side of your PVC using your metallic pen. Cut it out with your scalpel, then stick it down – wrong side facing the wrong side - on your PVC with your contact adhesive and cut the whole shape out, again, with your scalpel.

Cut out 4-5 ovals about 7cm long, and 4-5 ovals 5cm long in PVC, then stick them down, glue them and cut them out, as before.

Place the ovals on the flower as shown in the diagram below and stitch them to the centre of the flower. Affix the flower to the dress by hand or machine stitching around the edge.

Flower #3

To create a PVC rose shape, you need to cut out a splatter shape (15cm x 15cm) and a wiggly spiral (20cm x 20cm). Stick them down, glue them and cut them out, as before.

Wind your PVC spiral around its centre, occasionally folding it back on itself, and forth again, to give a three-dimensional hint of petals. Hand-stitch the folds in place and the spiral in place along the bottom.

Attach the new rose shape to the splatter shape by hand-stitching through the centre.

Attach the rose shape to your dress by stitching , either by hand or by machine, around the edge, as shown in the diagram above.

Repeat 2-4 times with each of the flower designs, placing the finished ones around the front of the dress and the back of the collar, as shown in my example.

And for those who’re in for a rosy winter season…

Image: Toby Hudson for Sunday Times Style Magazine

To make a rose you need a long strip of fabric 6cm wide, with no raw edges. To create this, you need to cut a piece 14cm wide which spans the entire length of the fabric. You need to make it as long as possible to get lots of petals and detailing.

Fold your strip of fabric over so that it is now 7cm wide and machine stitch 1cm from the edge.

Turn your fabric inside-out and press it with an iron. Fold the two loose ends, at either side, in on each other and hand-stitch them together so that no raw edges are showing.

Roll the end of your strip of fabric into a small, diagonal cone and secure with a couple of stitches at the bottom.

Fold your fabric back on itself and forth again, as shown in the diagram, below, to stop the cone from sticking out. Stitch in place at the bottom.

Wind your fabric round the cone (tell you what – if it weren’t winter, right now, all this mention of cones would have me seriously craving ice cream! Alas – I digress!) for about two full revolutions – these will be your rose petals. Stitch loosely around the bottom in the way shown in the diagram.

Pull the stitching at the bottom in to create a drawstring effect. Stitch at the bottom and knot to secure your fabric. Then stitch through the top of your rose, in and out of the tip of the cone, and pull, so that the cone goes back into the petals and looks like a small bud in the middle. Also, fold the sides of the petals down.

Finally, fold the rest of the strip around the bottom, as shown in the diagram and secure with some stitches.

Repeat with however many roses you want to add, maybe throw in some frills (See: A View to a Frill entry) or some fabric drapes. You can finish off the edges by folding the fabric back 1cm at the edge, cutting away the excess fabric up to the stitching, folding the fabric back on itself again and securing your fabric in place with top-stitching.

Tough chic fashion’s pretty in punk…

Images: Marcia Madeira for Style.com, Tobi Jenkins/ gorunway.com/ Rex, Net-a-porter.com, asos.com, David Giles, oasis-stores.com, bonadrag.com, Vincent Gapaillard for Wallpaper Magazine, Michael Baumgarten and Xavier Young for Style Magazine

What is it with rock music that it has to revolve around snobbery? How fondly I remember, back in my teens, when I leapt upon every opportunity to reel off a name of bands I worshipped, about whom I was prepared to go on ad nauseam, to anyone halfway bothered to listen.

Now, it seems, the hob-nailed Doc Marten is on the other foot, regarding conversations within the rock fan community. Boy, do they ever like to talk about music, but on one condition: That your music taste matches theirs to the letter. Drop a name they disapprove of, and you’re looking at something resembling a lobbyist political rally, or an aggressive debate, victory for which goes out to the most unhealthily stubborn.

Of course, as a humble outsider, I don’t know what goes on in the heads of these allegedly fat cat record industry moguls. What I do know is I’d easily equal them in the wealth stakes if I had a pound for every band name I dropped, only to face a barrage of: “They’re sellouts!”/”I liked them before they sold out!”, “Oh my god, they’ve totally lost it!”, “They’re too commercial!”, “They’re sooo derivative!” and even “They’re not that original, they just ripped off a load of prog rock bands before them, that you haven’t heard of, and took all the credit!” etcetera - plus a host of conspiracy theories that would awe and perturb George Orwell. Never one to take the smile-and-nod doormat stance on the matter, I can’t help thinking of the Soren Kierkegaard quote: “People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid!” Yes, I fully appreciate that this is a free country, and that everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but that just takes the proverbial!

As for where alleged “plagiarism” is concerned, surely everything’s a little bit derivative, and has been, especially since the latter half of the last century. It’s not for reasons regarding cash, conspiracies and men in suits, either, rather that creativity of any persuasion doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and that influence from what’s gone before is a perfectly natural, rational and inevitable process - certainly more so than some pretentious, half-arsed attempt to reinvent the wheel. Isn’t it how you use said influences and where you go from there that creative flair - or lack thereof - comes into play?

Funnily enough, the same can be said of fashion, especially given it’s knack for pillaging the past, from pre-Raphaelite through to punk. Yet, at the same time it needs to invent new trends worth us putting our hands in our pockets for, season upon season. Hence the birth of postmodernist pastiche, or, less poshly put, it ain’t what you do it’s what you intend to do with it – whether you want to mix your freshly ripped-off influence with another one, stylistically refine it or merely rehash it’s key pieces in expensive, fashion-friendly fabrics – that’s what gets results!

Here’s an example worth mentioning: Punk – subversion, offence, two-fingers backwards at “good taste,” oh and also at consumerism, before edging its way into consumerist spheres and (shock, horror!) selling out. 30 years on and studs and chains are doing the rounds again in fashionista circles, but, this time, looking a world away from punk’s perdition-bound protagonists of old. The studs are all glam and polished, and sit in neat little rows on frocks and accessories alike, cutting a figure that’s decidedly more New Bond Street than Camden High Street. It’s chic, it’s distinctive…and it’s easy-peasy to do.

Difficulty

Medium

…Okay, I know I said easy, it’s certainly simple and, I’d say, fairly self-explanatory just a word of warning, it proved a bit more on the fiddly side than I expected when I, in true Chic Cheat tradition, road-tested the method myself. Don’t let it put you off, though, because it also means I can say, from experience, that the results are definitely worth it.

Hours

Okay, the example I chose to do, which was a geometric pattern in small studs, worked in two stages, the mapping out and drawing of the design (which took about 6ish hours, if my memory serves me) and a few 6 or 7-hour days to put the studs in.

Total Cost

It just depends on what you want to customise and how many studs you want to use. Accessories such as gloves, shoes and bags are generally easy to get directional trends with, using an affordable amount of studs, whereas clothing, especially dresses, can prove a pricier venture, but I think I’ve found a solution which I’ll mention shortly in this entry…

You Will Need…

•A garment or accessory to customise – and, for once, I’m gonna leave this option open as the possibilities are endless.
• Studs – while trawling the boundless realms of Ebay, I found a jolly nice punk emporium, www.studsandpunks.co.uk, where studs retail at around 6p each when you buy them in packs of 100. Doesn’t sound like much, I know, but bearing in mind you might be looking within the region of 1000 to cover a whole dress, and that you still have to allow for postage and packing, believe me, it adds up!
BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT HOW MANY STUDS YOU NEED – if it’s less than 200 (say, for accessories, such as shoes, bags and gloves) go for studs, otherwise, try some metal beads. I found some online, at the following web addresses, which reminded me of metal studs and would be far less expensive to buy in bulk:

http://www.prettycreativeathawthornlane.com/details.asp?ID=1379

http://www.prettycreativeathawthornlane.com/details.asp?ID=3369

• Graph paper, before you put your hand in your pocket for a pad of graph paper, the good news is you can print some for free online at the following address:

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/square.html

• Long-nosed pliers
• Scalpel or unpicker
• Masking tape (optional, but recommended, in my humble opinion)
• Pencil, marker or ruler if you’re drawing your own geometric patterns.

And this is how it goes…

(…The method that is:)

•Choose and/or plan out your design on your graph paper, lay your garment out flat and attach your graph paper, going through one layer, to the right side of your garment.

Graph Paper – You do the Math!

The best bit about printing graph paper from the web is you can program how far apart you want your squares, and therefore studs on your final garment. Don’t put them too close together, even quarter-inch studs need only be a centimetre apart at the closest, otherwise they’ll be on top of each other, you’ll lose the geometric shape and you’ll find yourself using up more studs per area, so it’ll end up costing you a bomb!

You can either follow the grid patterns directly or use them to map out other types of geometric patterns that are hot right now:

Square Grid Style:

images: As before

Self-explanatory, this one, especially if you print out your grid paper in dot form. Plonk it onto your fabric and plant your studs on the dots/corners.

Alternative Grid Style:

Images: As before, also by Toby Hudson for Sunday Times Style Magazine

Same idea as the grid style above, but alternating the lines on which you put your studs, like so…

Clusters:

Images: as before, also Religion Jacket, wardrobemag.wordpress.com.2009/06/29

Tailor-made for pyramid studs, this one. Plan out your shape with some lines for your triangles or criss-cross shapes, pin on your paper and plonk in your studdies, as before.

Geometric patterns:

Images: As before, also by Toby Hudson for Sunday Times Style Magazine

…And last but not least, my personal favourite, a time-consuming but really fun and ultimately rewarding process, this one requires a little more planning, especially if you’re covering a whole garment, you need to print out your graph paper, draw out your pattern with lines, making sure it’s symmetrical.

Use a marker pen to dot out where to put your studs, on the corner of each of the squares your line pattern covers, pin onto your fabric, then put in and secure your studs.

Secure your studs in place on the inside of your garment by folding the two prongs on either side back on themselves, towards the centre of the stud, one on top of the other, with some long-nosed pliers.

…And, finally, pick your paper off with your unpicker or scalpel, taking extra special care not to damage your garment.

Are you ready, are you ready for the fall?

So it seems we’re seeing the first green shoots of economic recovery, in what feels like aeons of deprived despair, otherwise known as the recession. Surely that’ll be something to smile about this winter, which we can look to with more hope than a year ago, when the worst of the impending doom was ahead of us… right?

Well… maybe. But I have been privy to some repectable scaremongering from “experts” in various fiscal institutions, via articles on tinterweb. Don’t be so easily fooled, they proclaim, and don’t start writing out your champagne lifestyle Christmas list yet. Some fear that we’re only seeing profits and improvements from companies in recent quarters because they’re cutting corners on costs, while others state there’ll be (shudder) an even worse downturn in the not-so-distant future if regulatory measures aren’t taken to ensure that the wunch (of bankers), responsible the first time around, start to change their ways and behave themselves. The scariest couple of articles mentioned a load of statistics and institutions which I can’t for the life of me remember and which I managed to crash my computer trying to find again on the net today. Still, regarding the latter point about banks sticking to promises and taking precautions, well, it didn’t take a fiscal genius to figure that one out, did it?

Let’s hope everyone becomes - and stays - less cavalier about letting money run through their hands like water than they were a couple of years ago. It’s even done me the power of good not having money to burn, over the past year, causing me to replace my habit of shopaholism with the natural highs of my own creativity.

Cut your coat according to your cloth, as my mum likes to say. I still like to spoil myself now and again - on something sensible. I already own an obscene amount of clothes, most of them summer weight, dating back to my days as a fashion student when I spent 12 hours a day, for 9 months of the year in a studio resembling dante’s inferno, never to emerge until the summer months. I need a staple, stylish winter item in which I can really wrap up warm for the season - a wardrobe essential, if you will. Looking to Vogue for inspiration, I found this feminine, frippery-free flight of fancy, by Paul & Joe. It’s warm, it goes with everything and it will only set you back… (sigh) £285!

…A whole season’s worth of a budget on one garment- thereby defeating the whole purpose of economising. Out of reach? Thankfully worse things happen at sea (and on Hollyoaks, but that’s some several other stories!)

It’s easy to cut your coat when your cloth’s only half a metre of black lace from Barry’s in Birmingham, 3m of black bias binding and a white cardi from the charity shop, coming in at a total of £9.50, leaving the rest to put away for a rainy day - or the forthcoming heating bill!

Difficulty

Medium

Very straightforward, bit fiddly and thankfully not difficult to get your hands on the raw ingredients. I managed to buy them all in one day and still have time for a hair appointment - as I bet you all really wanted to know!

Total Cost

About £10-16 depending on whether you’re lucky with charity shops, so if, like me, you are, then…

Save it!

… You’d be saving yourself £275, paying just over a 30th of the original price!

You will need…

- A white cardigan. On this blog, I’d typically recommend a standard retail option, say from Peacocks or Primani, but this is the sort of essential, ultra-basic item you can often pick up in a charity shop for even less. I happen to be spoilt for choice on that front in my home town, making it the second-hand fashion capital of… ooh, easily the West Midlands - perhaps even the entire Midlands region, we can but hope. And the damage? Only 3 and a half of our British pounds, courtesy of Acorn’s Hospice.

- About 3 metres of black bias binding, maybe more for larger size cardies, at least 1″ wide.

- Half a metre of black lace.

- Sewing machine.

- Scalpel.

- Paper - lots of it.

- Pins.

- Compass.

- You might also want to use fray check on the raw egdes of your lace, that’ll whack on another fiver to your costs. Alternatively, you can stitch round your raw edges.

So, then, here we go…

- Fasten your cardigan and lay it flat, face down on your papaer and pin it in place.

- Trace around the top edge of your cardigan and in a line like the one where the lace ends in the original, with pinpricks.

- Unpin your cardigan and trace around your line of pinholes with a pen.

- Cut your new shape out. This will be your back panel. Cut one of these out of lace.

- Fold your new back panel pattern piece in half and trace around it. This will be your front panel and you need to cut two of these in your lace.

- Use your compass to draw a semicircle about 11cm in diameter. Cut it out, fold it and cut it in half. Stick a diamond shape about 12cm long in the middle, between the two pieces. This will be your sleeve pattern piece. Cut two of these out of your lace.

- With your sleeve pieces, put some long, loose stitches along the top, pull your thread tight so that it ruches and knot it so that it stays in place. This will help your sleeves to billow out to capture the authentic romance of Victoriana.

- Pin your lace to your cardigan. I find it helps to tack stitch them in place and to take the pins out before machine stitching them on, otherwise it’s almost impossible to stitch your pieces on neatly, especially if you’re working on a ribbed cardigan.

- When your pieces are stitched on, slip stitch (find out how to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i20WGQRlnIA ) the bias binding together at the seams to get rid of any nasty white gaps.

…And that should leave you with a reason to be looking fabulous this winter, which should look something like this: