Lace up trousers DIY - inspired by Isabel Marant pour H&M

One of my favorite pieces from  Isabel Marant pour H&M collection were the lace up leather trousers so I added that eye-catching detail to a plain pair of black trousers. I added a leather strip from the knee down because in my opinion trousers are more wearable this way. See how I made it below.

DIY parrot shoes tutorial

The inspiration: Isabel Marant pour H&M         

  lace up trousers                           

Isabel Marant for H&M lace up trousers pic via WDUGT

You'll need:

• a pair of trousers
• grommets
• grommet setter
• faux leather
• sewing machine
• scissors

Wear your trousers. Fasten a pin at the knee level.
Rip the inside-leg seam till the knee.

Draw a pattern like the one above. Measures in inches are rounded off for ease. Red edges are seam allowance and they will be hemmed. Circles indicate where grommets will be placed. Extend the pattern for the lenght of the trousers. Place each grommet at 1.4" (3,5 cm) of distance from each other.
My pattern has 12 grommets.

Draw the pattern on the back of your faux leather fabric. You need two strips of faux leather for each leg.   Draw two right sides, then put the pattern on its back and draw two left sides.
Underline the spots where grommets will be placed.

Hem the 0.2"  (0,5 cm) edge and top and bottom of the strips.

Cut a tiny X with scissors. Place a grommet in place and then use the presser.

Place the leather strip at 1" (2,5 cm) of distance from the lateral seam of trousers. Sew it. Do the same with the other side.
Put the trousers inside out and hem the inside-leg seam.

How to make the leather lace:

Cut a strip of faux leather 0,6" wide and 32" long  (1,5x 80 cm), fold it in half and sew it.

Insert the lace into the grommets as shown.  Knot it at the beginning and the the end.
I made a second shorter 14" (35 cm) lace for the bow at the bottom  for comfort.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Happy Weekend!

More DIY trousers - More Isabel Marant for H&M inspired DIY - other 150 DIY tutorials

3 quick and easy DIY blush recipes

pic via Maybelline

Who knew that would be so easy to make our own makeup products at home?
Lately two of my blog friends shared their recipes to make cheek tint at home. I shared with you an easy blush recipe some time ago and since the three recipes are all easy, quick, clever and different from each other I've rounded them up in this post. What's your favorite texture? Cream, liquid or powder, you've got 3 different ways to make your diy blush at home below. Tasha added anti-age ingredients in her recipe and Auna packed her cheek tint in a professional box, I've provided tips to make blush in any color.
Pick your favorite recipe and transform your kitchen into a beauty laboratory for an afternoon.

Cream blush recipe by Tasha Delrae

Organic cheek stain by La vie en rose

Homemade blush recipe by Matter of Style: DIY fashion

DIY fringe scarf inspired by Isabel Marant for H&M

diy fringe scarf

Did you shop Isabel Marant for H&M? I didn't join this year but I shopped a few past collections. It's a kind of surreal experience that has a little to do with reason, but with muscles, sweat and adhrenaline. It's not a football match, it's serious shopping. Women queueing outside the store aren't girls,  they are soldiers with a mission, athletes waiting at the starting blocks and when the shop opens, when the scared H&M employees open the doors, no one can stop those girls from having what they want. The queue is still manageble while controlled by bodyguards. Some girls have the right to shop, others don't and have to watch them shopping outside the fence, how cruel! It's the tough rule of the bracelets. Mystical objects conquered by the bravest camping outside H&M. As the prophecy says " One bracelet to shop them all". The competition to grab these bracelets is fierce. Many girls are serial campers, staying among them you will listen to their stories. Someone camped outside apple stores for the launch of the ipad and waited seven hours standing, others camped for a spot front row to a concert, if you're a novice you cannot beat these early risers, but don't give up.When all the owners of the bracelet stop showing off their trophies, their freshly filled shopping bags, everyone can finally shop. It's a fight for the leftovers, a tank or a belt, whatever is it. You can feel it in the air,  no one wants to go home without buying anything. If you waited for long keep calm. Many girls filled their hands with everything they could possibly grab, but they rarely buy everything. Slowly, but steadily even that iconic piece will be back on display. You may now notice some gals lose their savoire-faire and fight tooth and nail to grab that designer piece. Be careful when you put your hands on the prize, the feeling of accomplishment may overwhelm you and you may hear the crowd clap hands in your head as you walk your way to the cashier. A swipe of the credit card seals your victory.  You overcome cold, competition, you rushed, but got a designer piece for free. Well not for free, but it must have been 70% off. Wait, the credit card statement says you spent $299 at H&M for a jacket...

It's shopping, sometimes we get carried away. Words like "limited edition" and "designer" are music to our ears of  fashionistas and H&M knows it well. It's because shopping is also an emotional experience.
One of my favorite pieces from the Isabel Marant collection is the fringed scarf. I had some fun crafting an inspired version in red  that is one of my favorite color of the season.
Are you always rational when shopping? Did you ever regret a purchase?

the inspiration: Isabel Marant for H&M silk fringe scarf

You'll need:

• 70 x 70 cm  or 30x30 inches piece of fabric (I used jersey fabric) 
• 280 cm or 120 inches of fringe trim
• 4 big glue on studs
• 32 small glue on studs

Cut a 70x 70 cm or 30x30 inches square of fabric. 
The size of the scarf can be varied to your needs. You can get a nicely big scarf with these measures that can be wrapped around the neck.

Decide where you want to place the studs and draw your pattern on a piece of paper. You will able to place all the studs exactly where you want and in the same place in the four angles.

Cut the paper and place the studs into the holes. Iron the studs in place.

Remove the pattern and repeat the steps above on the other angles.

Stitch the fringe on the edge of the scarf all around. I used a zig zag stich.

5 minutes metal wire spider rings DIY

diy spider rings

You can make several of these metallic wire spider rings in 10 minutes. Make them in different sizes and wear them as mid finger rings too. They're perfect as halloween last minute accessories, all you need is metal wire.

Make a loop. Try it on to be sure it fits. Make an x with the second loop.

Make another loop. Put the wire on the front.

Knot the wire around to fasten the "spider legs" in place. Curl the wire to make the "spider head".

Curl the wire to make the "spider body", then cut the excess wire.

Halloween recipe: "Black soul" licorice liqueur

Today I would like to share with you the recipe of the licorice liqueur. This is not strictly a Halloween recipe, but can be a good idea for the occasion. This liqueur has a mysterious appearance, it's black and tasty. And did you read its name? "Black soul" is pretty dark. It's an appreciated Italian liqueur usually served after meals. This is the recipe of my good friend Domenica. If you like licorice, you'll love this recipe. The good thing is that unlike some other liqueurs, you can drink this one straight after bottling, so it will be ready in time for Halloween and the recipe is easy. Keep it in the fridge and serve it cold to your guests.

from left  licorice pic via  sugar pic via

Ingredients:

• 1 and half liter of water
• 1 kg of sugar
• 150 g of pure licorice pieces
• 1/2 liter of neutral grain alcohol

Directions
 
Put water, sugar and licorice in a pot on the flame at low heat, keep mixing until licorice melts (it takes around half an hour). Let the mixture cool down, then add grain alcohol, mix well and bottle. Choose quality licorice because it makes the difference.

DIY painted plastic earrings inspired by Burberry

Being able to watch the fashion trends of next spring is inspiring and exciting. The only downside of fashion weeks is waiting six months to wear those clothes. Don't worry if you're impatient,  there's nothing you can't do with the help of your hands. Get inspiration from the runways, bring your personal touch to the design to get your own brand new accessory to wear.
Today I got inspiration from the Burberry Prorsum collection. Christopher Bailey makes modern, young clothes enriched with beautiful details that any girl just want to wear. Spring 2014 collection makes no exception. It's all played around pastel colors and big jewel decorations. It's girly and delicate as much as the fall collection is rock and strong.  Bags have a simple shape and some of them are embellished with tiny 3D plastic flowers, a detail that in my opinion can make beautiful earrings. I used a plastic bottle, nail polish and a blow dryer to make them. See how.

Burberry Prorsum spring 2014

You'll need:

• a plastic bottle
• a blow dryer
• two half beads
• nails and earrings backs
• glue
• transparent thread
• nail polish

Fold in half a piece of paper and draw half of a flower on it.
Use the pattern to cut two flowers out of the plastic bottle.

Sew the half bead at the center of the flower with the transparent thread.
Hold the flower in your hand and shape the petals with the blow dryer. Heat the plastic and fold each petal with your fingers.

Glue the earring nails at the back.

Earrings are ready. You can leave them crystal clear or you can add a touch of colour with nail polish.

Mix clear nail polish with a drop of colored one and paint the petals with the brush.

Patent crocodile leather DIY mani

1. Paint the base coat with black or another color of your choice.
2. Mix the black nail polish with a hint of silver one. The silver nail polish makes the black one a little bit lighter and shiny. It's perfect to imitate the crocodile embossing.
3. Draw irregular horizontal lines 
4. Draw slightly rounded vertical lines
5. Finish with toap coat.

Paint your sunglasses if you dare!

Do you need a little help to look forward autumn with optimism? Look at the world with different eyes.
 It will instantly be a better place through the lenses of these sunglasses.
In the past years we decorated our sunglasses with roses, with jewels, glitters and so on, but have you ever dared to paint the lenses? If the answer is no is probably because you're afraid that you won't see a thing in front of you after the treatment, but that isn't necessarily true. You can have fun painting your sunglasses and they can still be used if you don't paint directly in front of your eyes. Dare to go where decorators haven't been yet, dare to paint your lenses. Don't be scared, it's just nail polish, it can be removed if you want!

The inspiration: Burberry fall 2013 heart pattern pic via Simone Ruess

You'll need:

• sunglasses
• nail polish
• nail brush
• checked paper

Use a pencil to get the shape of the frame

Draw some dots at the intersection of the grid to get a regular pattern. Try the sunglasses on and be sure to leave blank the area directly in front of your eyes.

Put the paper shape behind the lens and fasten it in place with scotch tape. Draw little hearts with nail polish over the dots. See how to draw hearts easily in my heart manicure tutorial.

Fill the space and do the same on the other side.

Wait until the nail polish dries, then wear your unique pair of sunglasses and...

Have fun!