Vintage-Style Leather Cuff

Over the past few days I've brought you leather cuffs of several different styles. Leather & chain, painted leather, and even leather using spacer bars as decoration.

This is the final post of the set (for now) and can once again make use of upcycled materials!

If you've got an old brooch knocking about that you never wear, this is the craft for using it!

Painted Leather Cuffs (Plus a Paint-Free Bonus DIY!)

Yesterday, I posted a tutorial for a leather & chain cuff, and said I'd post more ideas.

Today I'm bringing you painted leather cuffs, in two styles--plus a bonus, paint-free style, for those who don't trust themselves with a paintbrush!

These can look a little daintier, and you can go wild with colour combinations--your only limit is the colours of leather/paint you can get your hands on!

As I mentioned yesterday, this is a good upcycling project for bags/garments no longer usable, and you can use faux leather too.

Leather & Chain Cuff DIY

I started making leather and suede cuffs when I was a kid. Mum bought some suede scraps and some eyelets, and showed me an old choker one of her old work colleagues had made. Then we made our own!

This is an updated version of our DIYs. I made it back in April along with some others, after finding some leather scraps at a local market (and then I forgot to post about them...oops!)

Leather cuffs - or suede ones! - would make a great upcycling project if you have an old and knackered leather/suede handbag or garment that's outlived its original use.
Of course, you can also use faux leather for this!

These are relatively simple to make. In fact, this one is the most complicated of the bunch I ended up making. Which isn't really that complicated at all.

Here comes the tutorial!

DIY Striped Shoes

Summer is coming, and you're probably breaking out the spring/summer footwear, which is what I did recently--only to discover that all my lovely canvas shoes were totally beaten up and in need of replacement!

The frustrating part of shoe shopping for me has always been finding shoes that were a) Nice b) In my size (UK8.5-9) c) Affordable. Having big feet severely limits what I can get my hands on, and so far I have bought...men's shoes.

Men's shoes are boring.

So I jazzed up my navy canvas slip-ons with some gold paint to give myself something a little more interesting!

This is an easy little DIY that I did sitting on the floor one evening.

Beach Pouch DIY

Remember how, back in November, I posted about destashing?

That I claimed to have a list of project ideas to work on?

Well, my friends, I finally used some of that fabric, and made this cute stripy pouch with an embroidered nautical design. 

Summer might be months away, but dreaming of those warm and dry days is a nice way to forget about the grey skies and damp air, don't you think?!

There are a zillion and one zipper pouch tutorials out there, but here's another. ;)

You'll need:

Stripy fabric

Neutral fabric*

Fabric for lining (I used thin polycotton)

5"-6" Zip (mine was old and a weird size)

Embroidery thread

Sewing thread

Optional: thin ribbon

Tools:

Sewing needles

Sewing machine

Zipper foot

Ruler

Scissors/rotary cutter

Dressmaking pins

Optional: pinking shears

*I used some loose-woven neutral fabric, but it was a total pain in the butt to sew. I could have done with some interfacing on it! Lesson: take care in your fabric choices!

Okay, on with the tutorial!

Crystal & Thread Choker DIY

 

Today I want to share this crystal and thread choker, which I made recently.

Most of the crystal pieces I make use bold colours, but this time I wanted to go for something a that incorporated cool tones, for more of a wintry look.

This is a really simple DIY and you don't need any jewellery-making skills to do it!

DIY Vintage Buckle Pendants

Today I want to share this really straightforward DIY for making pendants from buckles!

You could incorporate these into a great gift for any vintage fan or family history nut--see below for how I used mine!

DIY Boot Covers

Recently I've been sewing cosplays for a future event, and realised, "Hey, if I take photos whilst I make this, I can post a tutorial!" Radical idea, huh? ;)

So after a long (long long long) break, you lovely readers of Unfortunately Oh are getting a new DIY! Thanks to everyone who stuck with the blog (and doubly thanks to everyone who followed me over to Doing A Thing, where I post about books, chocolate, cafes and...doing things!)

Without further ado, here it is: How To Make Boot Covers (or spats. Or even gaiters. I don't know. I'm going to keep calling them 'boot covers').

This is a great method for fancy dress or cosplay, to make existing footwear more appropriate to the costume. Plus, it doesn't damage your boots :) It's especially good if modifying cheap footwear isn't an option due to your shoe size or medical conditions that restrict the sorts of footwear you're able to wear.

You'll need:

For the pattern:

• Your boots/shoes
• (If applicable) the trousers you'll wear the boots over
• Cling film (plastic wrap!)
• Sticky tape or packing tape
• Marker pen
• Scissors
• A friend to help (optional)

For the boot covers:

• Pattern (see above!)
• Fabric
• Zip for each cover*
• Scissors
• Matching thread
• Elastic (approx 1/2" wide)
• Dressmakers pen/pencil/chalk
• Dressmaking pins
• Sewing machine (or a needle for hand-sewing and lots of patience)

* Either open or closed-ended zips, dependent on how long you intend the boot covers to be. In the past I've used open-ended ones the length of the covers, but this time I used shorter ones as I was making over-the-knee covers and didn't think I'd find zips that long!
Edit: Seriously use long zips. Zips that let you unzip the cover entirely, if possible. It makes these so much easier to get on/off!

Note: This is a LONG tutorial, though it's relatively easy to make these. So I've put in headings:

• Making the Pattern
• Making the Boot Covers
• Putting Them On
• Other Examples

You can click these to skip to the necessary section :)

Cord & Chain Necklace

Though I had some hassle getting cord ends that would fit my reams of leather cord, I finally settled for some coil end springs (which are slightly too big, but close enough).

So, armed with my shiny new pack of cord ends, I began experimenting and now I have this cord & chain necklace tutorial to share with you!

This project will take 1-2 hours; it took me a while because I made a couple of mistakes during the process.

Here comes the how to!

Ivy & Pine Cone Wreath

With Christmas in just a couple of weeks, Channel 4 have gifted us with more Kirstie's Handmade Christmas. One of the features on this week's episode was an ivy wreath. It was made to be hung up horizontally, and was adorned with candles and little paper stars in true Scandinavian style.

I was inspired to make one myself, but opted for one to hang vertically on the door. I ended up with the wreath in the picture above, which I decorated with some ribbon, baubles, and good old pine cones.

Hopefully this will hold together during Christmas--the ivy is remarkably easy to manipulate and holds itself in shape, but last night we had really strong winds (luckily I'd seen the forecast and brought the wreath indoors!) For a first attempt, I'm pleased with how this turned out!

Upcycled Festive Heart Decorations

Yesterday I made these Scandinavian-inspired heart decorations for our Christmas tree. They're very simple to make, and almost completely upcycled!

The method is so easy it's guessable, so I didn't make a proper tutorial, but here's a quick run down.

I used:
Template (from junk mail)
Fabric (old pillowcase)
Filling (from knackered old pillow)
Embroidery thread (from charity shop)

Using the template, I cut out hearts and sewed them right sides together, leaving a gap for turning.

Then I turned them so the right side of the fabric was facing outwards, and stuffed them with filling.

After sewing up the gap, I threaded a darning needle with 5-6 inch lengths of embroidery thread and pushed it through the top of the hearts, tying the ends in a knot to make a loop.

Here they are on our tree! Also seen here are several homemade items I've posted about in the past:
Recycled Magazine Garland
Tin Can Tea Light Holders
Felt Doves and Peace, Hope & Joy Stars Decorations

Pearl & Leather Wrap Bracelet

In my attempt to use up some more from my leather cord stash, I made this pearl and leather wrap bracelet!

With this DIY you can make use of any small beads you have lying around; I went for faux pearls as I had lots of small ones left over from some broken vintage necklaces.

You'll need:

Leather cord (I used 4mm cord)

Small beads

Beading wire

Jewellery wire (I used approx. 1mm wire)

Clasp

Jump rings

Crimps

Tools:

Scissors

Wire cutters

Round nosed pliers

Flat nosed pliers

Crimping pliers (optional--use flat nosed pliers if you don't have crimpers)

Wire-Wrapped Beaded Leather Bracelets

Today I want to share a how-to for these wire-wrapped, beaded leather bracelets.

As I posted previously, I have a ridiculous amount of leather cord, so I used a little of it in this tutorial!

These bracelets would make a nice little gift for anyone, as you can pick colours and beads according to their personal tastes.

Easiest Christmas Pine Cone Ornaments

Alright, so I haven't updated here for ages, and it's been even longer since I shared a DIY!
So here I am, with a shiny new tutorial for pine cone baubles!

This how to is ridiculously easy and obvious, and there's a no-sew version, yay!

You'll need:
Pine cones
Ribbon
Drawing pins
Needle and thread to match ribbon (skip this if going for the no-sew option)
Fray stopper/clear nailpolish/glue to stop ribbon fraying
Scissors or pinking shears

Elasticated Jabot

Previously I shared a tutorial for a jabot with neckband. Today’s tutorial is for a simple elastic-neck jabot, perfect for wearing with a collared shirt! Mine is messy-looking because I didn't hem ;)

You can also make this without the elastic, and attach the jabot with pins (I’ve done this before too, due to laziness!)

Once again this is easy to make and can be put together using a small off-cut of fabric.

You’ll need:

Fabric

Elastic

Thread

Note: Thin cotton works best for this. The fabric I used in this tutorial has the black stripes printed onto it so it wasn’t completely ideal.

Jabot with Neck Band

With Halloween at the end of October, I’m sure some of you are already thinking of spooky décor and fancy dress costumes (whether that’s for yourself or someone else!)

Today I’d like to share this tutorial for a jabot, or ‘frilly neck thingy’, attached to a simple neck band. The fastening is a press stud.

I'll be posting other jabot variations in future, so if this isn't quite for you, come back again :)

I figured this out by trial and error when I made the one in the picture (hence why the top frill is slightly wonky).

The Curtain Skirt: DIY

Do you keep a list of all the projects you’d like to do?

Something from my project-in-waiting list was this ‘curtain skirt’, made from what I think is a curtain fabric sample, found at a charity shop!

Swishy Maxi Skirt DIY

Lately I’ve been having a bit of a ‘crafters block’ and the UK’s heat wave hasn’t helped. Hence why tutorials and crafty posts have been a bit thin here!

Despite the hot weather frying my brains, I knuckled down yesterday and knocked together this swishy maxi skirt (remember the bargain fabric?)

It took me around 2 hours, with a tea break. The method is fairly easy and uses just one seam, with gathers at the waistline.

Here’s a tutorial. You can use this method to make shorter skirts, too :) This works best with thinner fabrics such as cottons.

Refashioned Wrestling Tee

Last weekend, my middle sister returned from a business trip to New York. Of course, she came home with lots of lovely things which in turn this meant she turned out some old clothes from her wardrobe...from which I, our youngest sister, and the charity shop reaped the benefits! Yay!

One of the things I snaffled from her pile of cast-offs was a slightly outsized, cropped t-shirt that my sister had picked up at a retro shop a while back. I liked the design on the front, but cropped tops do not have a place in my wardrobe!

So I gave it a little refashion:

Not too bad, eh?

It’s a really simple and obvious refashion but I stumbled a few times along the way so I’m sharing this how-to in the hope that you don’t have to!

Note: My sewing method is seriously ‘gung-ho’ and this will probably have accomplished dressmakers groaning and crying. I cut corners and muddle my way through!

Decorated Cuff

I’ve been totally lax at posting DIYs as of late, and I’m sorry for that. Altogether I’m feeling unmotivated in all aspects of creativity! (Haven’t even got around to photographing new stock for my Etsy store. Naughty me!)

Anyway, here’s a quick, easy, no-brainer of a DIY!