Hi Everyone, I’m back again this week to talk about embellishing your clothes. Sometimes if money is tight and you can’t afford to buy something new, an afternoon of crafting is all you need to turn an existing piece of clothing into something special and uniquely yours. So if you have any old t shirts, jumpers, dresses or jeans that are past their best or you just want to spruce them up a bit with a new look, here are seven ideas on how you can do that!
1 Add beads and / or sequins to a neckline (or any other area of a garment). This is a lovely way of making a plain T-shirt or cardigan into something extra special. I try and salvage beads and sequins from any old bags that I don’t want or dresses that don’t fit me anymore and keep them in a collection in my sewing room. Then when I feel like doing a project like this, I get them out and see what will go with the fabric. I’m planning on doing a blog post on exactly how to do this, so stay tuned for that!
2 Change up the buttons on a cardigan, jacket or anything else that has a button closure. Remove the existing buttons by snipping at the thread which attaches them with some small scissors until the button comes away and then replace them with some new ones. Often charity shops have vintage buttons which you can buy really cheaply, or your local haberdashery shop will undoubtedly have a good selection. If you fancy something a bit different then I have lots of handmade fabric covered buttons in my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/dbasnippets These are all made with fabric scraps left over from other projects so I have a wide variety of colours, designs and sizes. In this picture, the buttons on the left are the original buttons that came with the cardigan I bought and the middle and righthand side buttons are fabric covered buttons which I have trialled.
3 Adding buttons as a decorative accent. Buttons don’t have to be functional; they can be just decorative! So why not add some pretty buttons to a garment on the cuffs, around the neckline or dotted around anywhere that feels good!
4 Sew some embroidery. The back pocket on a pair of jeans or the hem of a plain denim skirt are both crying out for something pretty. A few little embroidery stitches go a long way in creating a nice little feature. You don’t have to be particularly skilled in embroidery, there are lots of YouTube videos which demonstrate beginner stitches which you can use as a pattern. Here are some I have found:
5 Attach a ribbon or bow. A ribbon could be sewn around a hemline or a cuff or you could sew a bow onto one or both of your shoulders. (The bigger the bow the better if you are Esmee from the Great British Sewing Bee!) This is one I made from some scraps of blue leopard print needlecord that I had left over from another project I worked on.
6 Make and sew on a fabric flower. There are lots and lots of tutorials on YouTube for making fabric flowers; I’ve listed some below. These are a quick little project that you could make and then attach one or more to a piece of clothing with a few stitches. This one was actually a gift so I didn't make it myself but its a good example!
7 Sew on a trim or some lace. There are some absolutely stunning trims available these days and they can turn a boring top into something beautiful. They can be sewn on by hand or on a sewing machine
So these are just seven ways you can enhance your existing clothes to make them into something ‘new’ whilst doing a bit of crafting at the same time! Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these or have any other ideas!
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