DIY Beaded Belt & Side Split Maxi Skirt

 Wearing: DIY Beaded Belt, DIY side split maxi skirt, country road singlet, river island gladiator flats, M&S cat eye sunglasses.

So I found an amazing beaded umm something in the Sham Shui Po Fabric Markets - we weren't really sure what it was supposed to be - a big collar perhaps. I cut it in half and made a belt with it - each half was perfectly symmetrical which was a bonus. I hot glued velvet ribbon on the ends and kapow, really fun belt. I'm making another belt for my friend with the other half (so we can be twinnies). Also, this is the full length version of the side split skirt I made for the wedding I went to. Very versatile. Hope you like it! Shop my closet here.

DIY Beaded Grey Marl Sweatshirt

The addition of cute beading to a laid back grey marl sweatshirt really does it for me. Found this pic over at AfterDRK. Putting it on my list.

I've also recently become addicted to a blog called Brisbane Daily Photo. Brisbane is my home town in Australia, and lucky for me the photographer lives in the quirky but lovable suburb of West End that I grew up in. For those of you living away from your orginal home town, you probably know how nice it is to be reminded of your favourite old haunts. It makes me a little bit sentimental to say the least (this is the part where my parents say 'ohhh well then why wont you come hooommme???')  From what I understand there are daily photo blogs like this for almost every city around the world - I think there is a search function on Brisbane Daily Photo which allows you to find your city. Head over and check it out.

Bedazzler!

This would have made all my DIY dreams come true as a little girl... Does this take you back? Thanks to my best friend in Brisbane for bringing this to my attention, now where can I find one?

DIY AW11 Balmain Inspired Mini

So it goes without saying that I was incredibly inspired throughout the fashion weeks to DIY just about everything I saw on the Runway. So, in collaboration with the Jenni from I Spy DIY and Erica and Lauren from Honestly...Wtf, we set about recreating our favourite AW11 looks. I completely fell in love with the shimmering horizontally textured fabrics in the Balmain AW11 collection. Who didn't? What I wouldn't do to own one of those dresses or statement jackets! Knowing that's completely out of the realms of possibility, as part of the 3 Designers 3 DIYs challenge I decided to make my own textured skirt using lace, ribbons, twisted fabric, beads and sequins.

These skirts below were my inspiration from the Balmain Show AW11, as you can see mine turned out a bit a little bit more subtle than the Balmain version.

The skirt was incredibly easy to make. This is how you do it:
You need: a black mini skirt (I bought a long skirt from a thrift shop and cut it off and sewed a hem), black lace, beads, ribbons, strips of black chiffon fabric, square sequins and anything else you want! The more random the better!
1. Sew or glue (I used a combination of both) the different ribbons etc onto the front of the skirt - keeping in horizontally parallel lines.
2. Sew twisted black chiffon fabric onto the front.
3. Randomly sew the sequins on the front - I put mine in the middle of the twisted fabric.
4. Do this to the back of the skirt, following the pattern on the front. Easy!
I actually did all the beading on the train on the way up and back from Shenzen, looked a bit odd I am sure but it worked out well.

DIY Love Heart Back Top

Lovely to come across these two love heart back DIYs. So easy to do, simply cut a love heart shape out of the back of a top and then hem it - adding some beads along the way or ribbon. How cute! Both Paulinemma and Hannaliis have done amazing jobs! (If you haven't checked out their blogs I would do so quick smart).This DIY is definitely on my list.

DIY Lace Jewellery

Cut a cute shape out of some lace, and then add some beads or studs.

Image: All the pretty birds

DIY Weekly - Dries Van Noten Embellished Jacket

I'm absolutely loving the beautiful Dries Van Noten jackets I have been seeing on various blogs - amazing embellished sleeves with utility looking waistcoats, like the one below and the one I blogged about here. I decided to do a bit of DVN style layering a couple of days ago. I know this isn't strictly a DIY but its amazing how easy it is to create runway looks from what's already in your wardrobe. I basically layered a denim waistcoat over a full beaded black jacket, so that the sleeves showed. Easy! I would have preferred to do it with a khaki waistcoat but I don't have one so denim had to do. Why buy when you can DIY? Layer with jeans or skinny khaki pants for a more DVN utility/military look.
Dries Van Norten AW1:

 DIY Version:

I love this wool full mini skirt I bought in Rome (thanks dad!). Really wanted one after I saw Hanelli rocking them all over fashion week, and picked this one up for a steal. Its so pwetty!

DIY Doily Shoulders

I saw a few doilies on the LFW runway - and this DIY shoulder decoration from Dozen Dresses
is perfect - head down to your local charity /antique / pound shop and buy some doilies.

DIY at LFw - Embellished Collars

I am still madly curshing on embellished collars, and the LFW exhibition proved that they'll soon be heading to a store near you. Why not make your own? Buy an old shirt from a thrift shop, choosing one that has a nice collar. Cut off the collar (keeping the single top button) and then add embellishments. Love the sparkles, feathers, and also the spraypainted bells in the last photo.

DIY Beaded Collar

Was having a browse on the new zara website (I'm loving all these retailers going online... was sick of getting agorphobia from going to Oxford Street!)and found this cute beaded collar. TOTALLY DIYable. I posted about making your own glitter collar here, so thats an easy option. However, you can make a beaded collar just as easily- by taking some pearl-like beads and gluing them onto a collar(cut off a thrifted shirt obviously). Or you can use a needle and thread to sew/embroider them on - this would take a while but I think the look is worth it.

Image: Zara

DIY - Cut out Shoulders

More lovely cut out shoulder DIY's. The angle of the cuts running down the shoulder is perfect and very flattering. I am going to do this to one of my rarely worn silk long sleeved tops - and sew silver chains along the edges of the cut outs instead of beading.

Image: Vanessa Jackman