My Dystopian Life

welcome to the abyss

Tag: Goth DIY

Fun With DIY: Cutting Patterns Out Of A Skirt

May 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments
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.

The Back of The Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Themed Denim Jacket Is Done For Now

February 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Finally done!

After many months I can finally say that the back of this jacket is done!Will I ever add anything to it? Probably, but I am happy with it right now.

This jacket is originally from the clearance section of Killstar. I actually went around my town seeing what kind of denim jackets were on sale. All of them were more expensive than this one so I went for it. It came with the grommet lacing on the sleeves and with the ripped hole in the back. Everything else on the back I did myself.

Notice how I hung the chain from two safety pins on a seam. I was originally going to hang it from the bottom, but that top seam is very thick and can hold the weight way better. I also put a few safety pins on the bottom and hung some keychains from them. I got the patches and studs from Etsy. The most difficult thing for me was sewing the arm patches onto the upper sleeves, and placing small green and yellow pyramid studs below them.

The cool thing about this jacket is that if something falls off that’s okay because it is not meant to be perfect. For example, one of the upper safety pins I used on the Obey patch has come off and I am not worried about it. It’ll get replaced when I replace it. I used mainly green and yellow accents for this jacket because it goes well with the patches.

I hope this has inspired you to create some DIY projects of your own because it’s a lot of fun and in the end you get to wear something that is distinctly yours.

The DIY Saga Of Painting The Back Of My New Rock Boots Green

February 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments
The finished product with which I am very happy with.

Why was doing this a saga? Unbeknownst to a whole lot of people, including myself, New Rock have changed the way they make their boots. Seriously. These boots I got on sale and they are a newer style. Gone are the rubber soles, padded tongues and thick good quality leather. These boots have a PU sole, thinner plastic covered leather and no padded tongue. In other words they have gone down the same route as the bad quality Doc Martens made in China, but still want to sell them for an outrageous amount of money. I wouldn’t be shocked if they actually move most of their production to China, making the really fancy pairs in Spain.

Thirty years ago I painted the back of some 14 hole Docs I owned green and I wanted to do something similar again. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal and that I could do it the way I did it years ago with no issues. Oh by golly that wasn’t the case at all! I have painted both leather and pleather multiple times before and all I had to do was paint with acrylic leather paint and it would stay put. However, this time the paint slid off of the surface when dry. Seriously. I had even de-glazed the surface before painting and that did nothing at all. So, it was then that I figured out that the leather is actually coated with plastic. Again, not something I have ever encountered before in a DIY project.

To solve all of this I sanded the areas with some sandpaper over the space of two days until the plastic coating was gone. When I tested a spot with some white paint it actually stayed put! It was like a miracle; the DIY gods smiled down upon me! Over the space of a few days I painted the back white two times and then did the same with the green. It looks quite DIY which is the look I was going for since a dystopian/post-apocalyptic style is in no way about the perfection of your outfit.

What can we learn from this?

  1. Never pay full price for New Rock boots. They are frequently on sale so finding them for cheap is not too difficult.
  2. New Rock have changed the way they make their boots. Their newer models are made of plastic coated leather, unpadded tongues and PU soles. From what I understand they are starting to use these same materials for their older styled boots as well.
  3. Never give up on a DIY project, because there will always be a workaround. It may take you a little time to figure it out, but that’s okay!
  4. Doing DIY projects gives you a sense of accomplishment and it is something that gives you your own personal style. It’s a lot of fun and you end up with something that nobody else has or can easily copy. That in itself is very spiffy!

Here Are Some DIY Ideas That I Have Had Lately

November 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments
The denim post-apocalytic/dystopian jacket I’m working on. It came distressed.

I originally posted this over on Reddit, but I think it deserves a place on this blog.

Through the years I have worked on quite a few DIY clothing projects, but since the virus started I have come up with a lot of ideas. I wasn’t working before the virus started because I have MS, and that had me really depressed. However, since the world economy is crashing I decided to finally work on some projects that I have always wanted to do. Mainly, I have wanted to achieve a post-apocalyptic/dystopian meets goth look for ages that doesn’t look like a costume. Here are a few of the ideas I have had and I hope this post inspires some of you to create your own style.

  • I bought a spiderweb pattern pleather jacket and a distressed denim jacket on sale for fairly cheap on Killstar’s site. A regular pleather jacket and a regular denim jacket would have cost me more than these two did. Also, they have features, such as grommet work, that I don’t feel comfortable doing. Plus, if I mess up doing things to them I won’t feel completely heartbroken because I didn’t spend a lot on them to begin with. There is no shame in buying ‘dark’ clothing brand products on clearance, and then using them for DIY projects.
  • I used Angelus Leather paint combined with some hardener to paint the pleather jacket. Stencils helped me with this greatly and there are tons of different stencils for sale on Etsy. It’s also fairly easy to make them yourself. Just use an x-acto knife to cut out your drawing made on cardstock. I also might stencil some radiation symbols onto some plain knee high New Rocks that I have. Yes, they sell boots without all of the metal crap.
  • I’m going to sew some post-apocalyptic/dystopian film patches onto the denim jacket. I will also probably stud part of it with skulls and pyramids. I got them, and a very sharp awl, off of Etsy.
  • I cleaned out my clothing drawers and found some old craptastic bondage belts with chains clipped to them. I am going to take those chains and either put them on the jackets or on some of my messenger bags.
  • I am going to distress some thrift store finds and use some big safety pins for decoration on them. I will also be cutting up and distressing some ‘goth’ online store finds that I bought on clearance. Things such as ripping off peter pan type collars and replacing them with some torn up fishnet fabric.
  • Buying a plan black messenger bag and sewing some band and horror patches onto it. I will also probably be studding it to some degree.
  • Buying some jewellery wire and making some broken jewellery into zip pulls and for clothing decorations. I will be attaching them to zip pulls and bondage belts with some metal clips. I also bought some cheap spooky keychains off of Etsy to use in the same way. Keychains with skeletons, spider webs,etc…
  • Using stencils, and a bleach pen, I have created radiation and pandemic bleach drawings on black leggings. The leggings I got for very cheap off of New Look’s site.
  • I will be distressing some film and band shirts. Rather than creating a fancy cut pattern on them I’m going to make more random cuts. I will also be cutting off the sleeves of some of them.
  • I don’t feel confident enough to make my own jewellery so I have bought some very cool post-apocalyptic themed pieces on Etsy. Those are usually not too expensive. However, the ready made post-apocalyptic themed clothing is usually very expensive! Most of it looks very cosplay, but I have found some very cool skirts that I can pair with a plain top so that it doesn’t look like a costume.
  • Etsy!!!! Etsy!!!!! Etsy!!!! If you haven’t guessed by now I get a whole bunch of my craft supplies, patches, jewellery, bondage belts, band shirts,etc…off of there. Most shops on there are reasonably priced, especially when it comes to studs and spikes. Also, head over to Bandcamp for shirts and patches because some bands have them for sale on there.

I really hope that I have helped and inspired you, because it is always fun to do DIY projects.

© 2024 My Dystopian Life

Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑