Sunday, May 4, 2014

DIY to-do pile

This post is part of this challenge.

Of course, our subculture is extremely DIY, with roots in youth culture/underground etc. Most of the time I see something I like, think "I want that!" but it's too expensive for what it is. See: harness trend. Other times I go to a raw materials shop and think "this thing is cool...I'll think of something." So here's my DIY to-do list.

Leather harness
I DIYed a harness look (the one in my profile picture, post here) but always wanted the real leather deal. The super complicated ones I like are like $200-300. Sewing leather is a bitch, but I learned a bit about working with leather and glue from my shoemaking class, that I think I'm going to forgo sewing and just glue the thing together. I bought the hardware (circle rings, D-rings) years ago...hope I can find them!


Something with this holographic sticker paper 

I was wandering around Chinatown and found Cyberpunk heaven. It was a plastic raw material shop selling clear and NEON and holographic plastics and rolls of this self-adhesive cyber wallpaper. I bought this during the hologram trend thinking I'd maybe make an envelope clutch from this DIY


Something with this giant spike

I'm kind of over the spike thing, but I bought these GIANT spikes that are too big to put anywhere. I bought them for a pair of shoes I made. So I've got a bunch of these. I also got a bucket of other spikes salvaged from old DIYs and other things. Anyone got any ideas?

Something with these fancy patches/Buttons

I was inspired by the super-expensive Rugby/Ralph Lauren blazers with these fancy patches, so I was like, I'll get some cheap blazer from Forever21 and put some really fancy patches/buttons on it. I have yet to do that, even though I think I paid like $80 for the below set.



A pair of Sandals

If you have shoemaking supplies, sandals are pretty easy to make. If you want to make a substantial shoe, you'll need a belt sander, which I don't have access to anymore, but I can force myself to hand-sand little sandal straps. Something like this:


Patent Leather Skirt

I made a long patent leather skirt in high school and it was a BITCH to sew. That had been an ambitious project with a patchwork of PL pieces and I just had a shitty sewing machine that would snap the needle after a few hours of sewing. Also patent leather is sticky, so I sandwiched the leather with paper so it would slide through my machine...then i'd have to pick out the paper from the stitches. It SUCKED.
a high-waisted one like this one. BTW I think this photo is actually vinyl.
This time around, I'm going to learn what I learned from my shoe-making class and GLUE the fucking thing together with shoe glue. Also, patent leather is hard as a rock and thick, so it's hard to make it look fitted. If you sew a hundred darts, it adds bulk. I'm going to try to last it (mold it)  and hammer it into shape...like you do with shoes. This also sounds like a pain in the ass, but I can't seem to find a good looking patent leather skirt for less than $300.

3D-printing

I've been learning SketchUp and made a few prototypes for a few pendants. I'll do a post on these in the near future! I'd like to make more. I'd especially like to make my own sterling silver rings with semi-precious stones.

What's in your DIY pile?

6 comments:

  1. this post is so awesome o.O I'm so curious what you will make of all these ideas.
    My DIY pile is huge too right now. Mostly because I'm too busy with exams and schoolwork. I can't wait for summer so I can make a few DIY tutorials to put on my blog too:)

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    1. I'm waiting for the summer as well! My schedule is going to free up, plus it's nicer working on things when it's warm and sunny out

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  2. I agree, shiny PVC is a bitch to sew. I had some huge spikes and made a spiked headband out of them....but when I wore it the spikes were way too heavy and it kept falling down, I put smaller ones on it instead.

    When I was younger I used to make leather collars and wristbands, I never sewed the leather, I just used rivets. I think you could probably make a leather harness with mostly rivets, it would be a lot easier to do.

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    1. rivets...sometimes the solution is the most obvious one

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  3. I love this idea! I have a to do list on my blog detailing my projects, but this might be good to get me focussed on them.

    Spikes were making me weary, till they got supersized; now, it's go big or go home. Harnesses are also something on my list - elastic, then once I get leather I might try that.

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