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Category: Fun With DIY

Finished The Back Of The Spooky Jacket!

I have finally conquered the back of the spooky jacket and it is now done. I could fit another patch below Vampira but I like it as is for now. Next I have the front of the jacket to figure out, and that is always the most difficult side to deal with when it comes to these kind of DIY projects. Per usual I found all of these patches on Etsy.

Did Some Patch Placement And It Looks Nice And Spooky!

Sometimes it takes a while to choose a really good patch placement and sometimes you get lucky. For whatever reason the patch gods have looked down upon me today and guided my hands. I like things to be in balance when I do patch work because I feel that a jacket is more put together when this is done. Others like to do the opposite and that is okay. You’ll find that the more you do DIY projects the more you will get into your own creative flow.

These are all sew on patches. I have never ironed on a patch in my life because it is more easy to remove them if you want to use them again. Plus, my days of going into pits are long gone so I don’t have to worry about them being ripped off.

I bought all of these patches off of Etsy. There are tons of artists on there making very cool spooky patches. Shipping is very expensive right now unless you are buying from sellers in your own country; then it is usually cheaper.

This is a themed spooky jacket that is going to be mainly black and white. Tim Burton’s films and the colour green are not allowed on it because I’m not really a huge fan. I like Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands but I wouldn’t ever base my identity on them. It’s just not for me. I love Hammer Films and gothic horror in general. Christopher Lee will always be my favourite Dracula because he can be quite feral at times; he forgets his manners and will sip on his guests. No colour green because green with stripes is a very overplayed look and people associate that with Beettlejuice and Burton. I will be using purple thread because I think that will make a nice contrast. I will share more news on this project as I go along.

Patch Update

Yes, I am a patch addict.

A bunch of patches have come in since the last post. My favourite being the large Boris Karloff as the Mummy patch. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Mummy; he isn’t given the same respect or attention as Dracula or Frankenstein’s monster. If the Mummy were a child going to a monster type academy they would probably be picked last all of the time during games. He is going on the back of the striped jacket for all of those reasons and more. I’m not sure which others are going on yet because I am waiting for more to arrive.

Where did I get these patches? Etsy. There are so many patch sellers that you will more than likely find the exact kind you want on there. I have noticed that there are a few unscrupulous sellers right now overcharging for their spooky patches because of ‘goth’ being a current fashion trend. So, if some seem too expensive to you it’s probably because they are overpriced. I will update further on this once more arrive.

Starting Work On A New Jacket

Yes, yet another jacket.

I’m back from the dead! I just needed some away from the internet time and I am doing much better. Hooray! I was going to finish this post a week ago but I caught a head cold and had absolutely no energy. I’m just about over it and feel, much, much better. Off we go!

As the title of this post states I am starting work on yet another jacket. When I go onto the ‘high street’ of my town I always browse the New Look store’s clearance section. I always come out with something because I live in a very conservative area. Anything too ‘out there’ for the local normies goes on clearance, and the prices are cheaper than the local thrift stores. It’s a win win for me because it means I don’t have to pay a lot of money to find a piece of clothing to do some fun DIY type work on. I would say that the quality of their stock is better than Shein, so if you are a weirdo with a budget in the UK you ought to head over there.

Since it is a black and white striped jacket people will assume that I am going to ‘Beetlejuice’ it. I think that type of look is very overplayed and I am not a big Tim Burton fan. Because of all of this I am not allowing any green on this jacket. The patches that I will be using will be mostly black & white. There will be some purple, red, blue,etc…but no green. When it comes to DIY battle jackets you should always put what YOU love on it; not what others tell you that you should have on it.

The purple really sets it off.

So far the only work I have done to it is place some purple studs right beneath the pocket openings. Since it is an unlined summer type blazer I might not place any more studs on it. When you stud a piece of clothing you make it heavier so that would go against the purpose of this blazer; a lighter summer type garment. I may feel differently down the road but that is my headspace right now.

I am waiting for a bunch of patches to arrive. This is going to be a ‘spooky’ jacket: horror films, TV shows, sayings and maybe some bands. When more get here I will show them to you all because they are peachy-keen! Okay, I’m going to cheat and share one below that is defitely going on it. It is a thing of beauty!

Nadja is my spirit animal.

I Have Finally Started Working On The Glenn Danzig Themed Jacket!

The patch placement on the back I am more than likely going to run with.

You have read that correctly, I have finally started working on the Glenn Danzig themed jacket! This will entail including patches from the Misfits, Samhain, Danzig and other related spooky stuff. The funny thing is that all of this is happening around the same time that I finally got my eyes tested and found out that I need reading glasses. It was getting difficult to thread a needle so that really needed to happen.

We own a cat, can you tell?

Without glasses I managed to sew on the Samhain death dealer patch. I used red thread to make it pop a little. I have decided not to tire the hell out of my eyes any further and just wait for my glasses to arrive before I start on another patch. So, I will be back at it next week. While I was waiting for the last patches to arrive I started yet another project.

Love this hoodie so much!

I bought the above Misfits hoodie from Hot Topic’s website about a month ago. I only order from the site once a year because they charge way too much money for shipping. I’m just going to slowly sew more patches to it and perhaps add some spikes.

All of the patches shown in this post I bought from Etsy.

DIY Project That I Will Be Starting Soon

A glass pumpkin cookie jar that has become my new spooky hair clips container.

I haven’t made a music themed jacket in a little over thirty years, Seriously, it has been that long. Why? Because I am a fangirl of so many different kinds of things that it makes it difficult for me to just focus on one aspect as to who I am.

I have been massively listening to the Misfits, Samhain and Danzig lately, if you haven’t noticed, and an idea popped into my head a few weeks ago; make a Glenn Danzig themed jacket! Originally I was going to use a New Look striped jacket that I got on clearance, but after some thinking I am going to use the one below instead. It’s another New Look clearance jacket that I got about five years ago.

Love the 50’s vibe of this jacket.

If you are a fan of Glenn you know that the number 138 is a Misfits reference. I had sewn those numbers onto the jacket a few years back so in reality it was already started. Over the last few weeks I have been scouring Etsy for cool Misfits, Samhain and Danzig patches and I have found some really unusual ones. Also, I will be putting some spooky little patches on it as filler because to do otherwise would be blasphemous. On top of that I have bought a bunch of cone studs. I just have to be patient for all of the goods to trickle in. I don’t want to start until they are all here. If I have some that I won’t use I will just save them for a future project.

I really hope that this inspires you to create something of your own. I believe in you and if you ever have any questions about how to proceed with a DIY project please feel free to contact me because I would love to help if I can.

Fun With DIY: Applying Studs To Your Clothing, Bags And Anything You Want.

I added black and purple round studs to this cool Blade Runner bag that I bought off of Etsy.

A very easy way to change the look of your clothes, and to make them more your own, is to stud them up. This is something that is way easier to do than it looks. I actually taught myself how to do it over thirty years ago by using the tip of a sharp knife to create the holes in a leather jacket for the stud tines to go through. I’m lucky I didn’t stab myself.

These days it is so much easier to get the tools and studs that you will need for such a project than it was way back when. Etsy is an excellent place to find studs, and my favourite stud shop StudsAndSpikescom even sells a kit that includes an awl and a tool to push down the tines so that you don’t hurt your fingers. The only thing that I will tell you to watch out for when searching for studs on Etsy are the drop shippers that send studs directly from China. I would choose a UK, European or US shop that ships directly to you so that you don’t have to wait weeks for a package that may or may not show up.

I added some purple round, black pyramid and skull studs to these straps of my Angry Itch boots.

The photo above is what I did very recently. The leather was quite thick so it warped a bit when I did the stud work. This happens less when the material you are working with is more thin, such as fabric. The warping never bothers me because it looks DIY and not manufactured.

I’m so proud of how well this turned out.

The above is a Punk Rave dress, whose high collar I removed. The top of the dress is made of two layers of cloth so I used some studs to attach them back together at the now lower neck. I also added some random studs around the bottom to give the dress more depth. I think adding touches of neon green really makes this dress stand out more and not look so plain. Since my whole style is Blade Runner meets Mad Max nothing needs to look perfect, and that actually gives me a lot of creative freedom.

I hope this has given you some ideas and some encouragement to start your own projects. Doing DIY studding is seriously a lot of fun!

Fun With DIY: Cutting Patterns Out Of A Skirt

These skulls are pretty awesome I must say.

Sometimes you order clearance items off of a site and they don’t fit. What do you do with them? Send them back, sell them, or better yet would you keep them for a future project just in case?

You guessed it, I am a bit of a pack rat. However, saving such pieces of clothing can come in handy. Such is the case with this Hell Bunny skirt. It’s a winter themed skirt but the skulls themselves look both spooky and cute at the same time. Which means they would be a perfect addition as a patch on a jacket or as a trim on a skirt.

I took a pair of fabric scissors and cut out a strip of the skulls, and then I cut out some of the skulls individually. They can be used as patches on a jacket or a hoodie, and the long strip of them could possibly become a trim for something else. You can do this sort of thing with any patterned type material. See a pattern that you love on a piece of sale clothing that you would otherwise never wear? Buy it, and then Frankenstein it to piece of clothing that you would wear.

Never feel discouraged if things don’t go your way at first because every single person who does DIY type projects has been through the same things. Nobody starts out knowing everything and that is okay. You will go through a bit of trial and error but in the end you will have something that is unique to you and that is very peachy-keen.

FUN WITH DIY: Colourful Boot Laces Are Awesome!

Just got these in the mail! My preciousssssss………

I’m creating a new segment on this blog entitled Fun With DIY. I do quite a bit of DIY work and I thought it would be fun to share my projects and tips with all of you. This blog is not sponsored at all and will only contain products that I have spent my own money on. Let’s begin!

I am a total boot whore, but I have an excuse: multiple sclerosis makes my ankles weak. Wearing boots stabilizes my ankles. So, needless to say, I own a lot of boots. I have mainly New Rocks and Grinders and they all have10-20 holes.

When I bought my first pair of Docs in late 1989 a friend taught me how to ladder lace them. When you ladder lace boots they stay tighter on you so that you don’t have to mess with them while out and about. To this day I still ladder lace because it works that well. Back then it was way more difficult to find colourful laces than it is today. Plus, the lace code was still in full force so you had to avoid both white and red laces since those colours were both claimed by neo-nazi skinheads, To this day I will not wear either colour on my boots.

My 20 hole steel toe Grinders look more spirited now.

You can alter the look of your boots simply by changing the laces. You and your friends all wear similar boots and you want to stand out from the crowd? Take out the black laces and put in some colourful ones. Wearing some colour and want to take your outfit to the next level? Put in some matching laces. This is perhaps the most easy DIY thing that you can do and it really doesn’t take that much time or effort.

Well, I hope this has helped you and given you some ideas. Go forth and partake of some lace goodness over on eBay, Amazon, or even your local cobbler. Have fun!

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