DIY - How to make belt loops for trousers/pants

I recently bought some great tailored shorts from Ebay, but they were  little loose, so instead of making them smaller I added some belt loops. This saves on resewing if my size changes in the future. Here I used some spare velvet ribbon I had lying around, you can use anything you want providing it's washable and can be sewn.

Stuff you need:

• Item of clothing you want to sew
• Pen/chalk - something to mark your clothing with
• Pins
• Material you want to use for the loops
• Thread
• Needles
• Sewing machine (optional, you can hand sew instead)
• Ruler/measuring tape to measure where you want to mark your clothing

How to:

Measure out  on your clothing where you want the loops to go. I didn't have any chalk so I used a whiteboard pen to mark out where I needed the loops to go.

Here, you can see where I've marked out the line, and I did this 5 times - 2 on the front, 3 on the back. The pen is noticeable, but not too bright. You can use any colour that you like, just make sure it comes off in the wash.

 I then cut out 5 strips (one for each line) each 6cm long (you made need longer/shorter) and I folded over each end and hand sewed them. Make sure to start and finish at the back, so the knots don't show.

Here's what they should look like on the front and back.

Now pin each strip onto each line you made, and make sure to adjust when necessary, as the lines are only guidance and may not be 100% accurate. I spent a good few minutes adjusting the placement of each strip.

Use a sewing machine to sew each strip on accurately. (If you don't know how to use a sewing machine there are some great YouTube videos out there or you can just hand sew.)

Final product:

Thanks for reading guys!

Read More

DIY - How to dye suede shoes black

I bought some  booties a while ago, but the shade of blue/dark teal was lighter than I thought so I couldn't really combine it with anything.  I decided to dye them black, because black goes with ANYTHING.

So for anyone interested, here's how to do it!


HOW TO DYE SUEDE SHOES:

Stuff you need:

 Tons of newspaper/ plastic mat/ something to cover the floor
Or you could do it outside.

The shoes
Brush out any bits with a suede brush/hard tooth brush. Make sure shoes are clean/dry.

Suede spray/dye 
I used spray "suede restorer" but it worked.

Gloves 
                                              
Masking tape

For clean up/ removing dye stains:
My shoes had plastic and metal studs on them, so this if for cleaning those areas which accidentally got stained.

Nail polish remover

tissue

cotton swabs

How to:

•  Masking tape off any areas of the shoes you don't want dyed. 

• Make sure to use many small pieces to cover up any curved areas of the shoe.This takes a lot of time, but trust me it's worth taking extra care when doing this.

•  Place the shoes on the flat surface you have heavily covered as the spray may drip/splatter.    I actually stained my carpet doing this, so be careful.

• Spray the shoes in quick strokes, spray about 15cm away from the shoe. 

• The spray I used recommended to wait one hour after each application. Once I covered both shoes, I left them to dry for about an hour and came back later to do a another layer and waited another hour e.t.c. Do as many layers as you want. 

•  Leave the shoes to dry for a couple of hours, better yet, a day. 

I ended up using the whole can on one pair of shoes - I'm sure if the shoes were a lighter colour I could have used less layers of spray. 

All the things I ended up using.

Timpson Suede & Nubuck Restorer

As you can see, I used loads small pieces of tape to layer up.

The zip is still blue, but it's dark enough so it doesn't stick out.

Final product! 

Without flash
(You can see how I cleaned the stained buttons underneath)

With flash

Weirdly, when I used flash I found that the shoes looked as if they hadn't been dyed at all! 

How to remove dye stains:

Using some nail varnish remover I managed to clean off the stains of the dye.

Cotton swab dipped in nail varnish remover. Do this step very gently! I did it too rough and  I ended up removing a layer of the plastic. It's better to surround the area as I ended up removing a layer and tiny flecks of plastic were going onto the shoe.

 Change cotton swabs whenever you need to!

They were a little bit patchy but it wasn't too noticeable until you got really close to the shoe. 

Without flash

 Slightly patchy

 With flash

Make sure the wipe the studs/buttons with a damp tissue afterwards to wipe off any excess remover!

Thanks for reading guys! 

:D

Read More

REVIEW: SKINOLOGY TEA TREE FACE WASH

You know you sometimes find really cheap, wonderful things?

Well, for me, I think I've found a new face wash that actually makes my spots smaller and skin smooth.

And I bought 2 bottles of it for £1.50, compared to the other name brand washes that cost about £3+

SKINOLOGY TEA TREE FACE WASH from...Wilkinson's.

REVIEW:

I've got combo skin - oily and dry in different places, and after one use of this (just after a bath) my skin felt smooth and didn't feel oily. Big white heads on my nose that had been buried for months were visibly smaller too! While I was using it to wash my face I could feel a slight tingly/minty sensation and you can actually smell the Tea Tree!  Smooth, non oily skin with visible spot shrinkage is probably the best anyone could want :D

I definitely think the person who wrote the description on the packaging deserves merit, here's a quote:

"If you scrub, your spots will bring their friends and ruin your life."

Refreshingly honest right? Like the angry teenager in all of us.

NOTE: I'm describing the effects on MY skin, it may be different for you if you use this! But in general, Tea tree and Peppermint are looked at favorably when it comes to skin.

***UPDATE*** : 17/10/12 - I've been using this face wash for a while now - since I'm in university I've been a little stressed so my skin hasn't been great. The wash isn't strong enough to cure my breakouts, so this wash won't be curing anyone's intense spot problem since my breakouts are probably quite mild. Also note that if you leave the wash on your face (say if you were to try leaving some on problem areas on your face before washing it off) your skin will DRY OUT. I tried this method and found that the patches I covered were a good deal dryer, so I don't recommend doing this unless you really wanna dry out an oily patch.

Read More

Welcome!

Hey guys, just a beginner in blogging here! I thought it would be fun to document the next best years of my life (or so they say.)

In other words, I'm going to university! (Can't believe I got in but I'll take what I can get) 

I'll blog about anything fun or interesting I see or do, along with things I buy or really funny things I need to share. 

So, welcome and I'll talk again soon! :D 

And to give you a taste of my sense of humour, I found this picture recently and I couldn't stop laughing. 

Read More