Let's Wear America

It's been ages but it's finally time to reward my hard reading followers with a much deserved DIY/ MIB though it's a little after the national holiday....oh well, it can be a reflection of this festive occasion.  And what better way to celebrate than to wear the American national colors with pride all over the front and back of the lower torso?  I've noticed a trend in distressed and trash denim and decided it was time to follow the crowd.  

Supplies:

• Old shorts (Levi's, etc)
• American Flag bandana
• Sewing Supplies
• Studs/ Spikes if desired

Step 1: Outline and cut out a pattern for the front panels of your shorts.  Cut out one from the stars and one from the stripes.

Step 2: Sew on the front panels you cut out, check out my sloppy hand stitching...don't let it represent what I do in design school!

Step 3: Cut and sew on the back panel, I thought I would be creative and sew it on AROUND the pocket, what a stellar choice I must say.  On the right pocket I covered it with the star fabric for a little extra pizzaz :) I had also bought some studs to badass it up until I realized I didn't have any pliers to put them in with, the one problem I'm having without being at home...

And that should complete your fourth of July outfit! Looking pretty fine I must say...don't let the holiday be the only day to show off these babies!

My fireworks from an apartment rooftop!

Rebelling Against....No One In Particular.

If you haven't noticed, lately I've been going through a grunge phase.  It may potentially border on being irreversible, God save my soul.  We might as well endorse it for the time being, another Made It Better will soon be under our belt!  This one begins simply enough, just feel free to elaborate as much or little as you would like, show off your signature inner punk ;)

INSPO:

VINTAGE VIRGIN

Supplies:

• Denim jacket (Mine was from The Gap, $5 when thrifted)
• Bleach
• Pliers
• Studs (I used leftovers from a previous project, feels good to use up leftover stuff!)
• Miscellaneous decor to adorn your badass vest, Mine includes iron-on patches, painted vinyl, and stud trim

Step 1) Cut off the sleeves of the jacket

Step 2) Fill a bucket with an inch deep of bleach (about half of the bottle) and dip the bottom half of the vest into it.  Dilute the bleach a little bit with about 1/2 cup of water.  Let the fabric sit until it turns very light, about 3-5 minutes, it may still be actively bleaching until it is washed or rinsed out. (I learned this the hard way, the first time I decided to let the fabric sit in the bleach for an hour so it would get SUPER white...it turns out it just disintegrates...)  Then depending on the look you are going for, dip the very top of the vest including the collar in the bleach following the same methods.  

Step 3) Wash and dry the vest to stop the bleach from processing and further bleaching the denim.  Here's how mine turned out:

Step 4) I went ahead and put some studs in a had from a leftover project, They went in the front pockets and collar. 

Step 5) To add a little more pizazz, I cut two pieces of vinyl to fit the side panels of the vest.  I started with a paper pattern and traced along the seam lines to create it.  Trim the vinyl to fit inside the panel.

Step 6) By following the design in one of my INSPO pictures from above, I painted the vinyl to create my special punk effect.  Pretty special right?

And then did the same for the pockets...

Step 7) Hot glue the vinyl in place on the vest and then topstitch it to secure the placement, definitely learned just hot glue was not enough.

Step 8)  Now go crazy with it.  I ironed on some patched I had lying around (I make it sound like I'm a packrat from all the stuff I have "lying" around, well I probably am, at least its organized chaos!) and threw on a couple more studs, because well, you can never have too many.

And the final project!  Tell me what you think, how would you customize it? Feel free to add chains, animal print, you know anything that will make you feel like a rebel.

The Summary:

Supplies: 

Jacket $5

Patches $10

Studs $10

Total: $25

I'd say pretty good for such a badass vest, feel free to sell it for more ;)