Spending an afternoon working on Do It Yourself (DIY) projects and crafting may appear to be a trip back to the Girl Scout era of our generation, however, with websites such as Pinterest, YouTube and Tumblr these ideas have reconnected back into our daily activities. Creating files and favorite-ing pages on what catches attention alone can become a hobby in it-self. And how about the brave souls who actually make the attempt to create their own clothing? Three University of Illinois students have created their own version of the online DIY clothing ideas and vamped up their wardrobe for this summer.
Casey Stabosz, an incoming sophomore, has spent her summer creating new articles of clothing for her closet.
Ombre Shorts:
CS: I Went to thrift stores to find high waisted jeans, and cut them into shorts. To ombre: I made a mixture of bleach and water and dipped the bottom half of the shorts in, then let it sit for about an hour until I put them in the washer and dryer. These were the easiest to make.
Studded Shorts:
CS: I bought some DIY studs off of e-bay for $3.25 from China. They have prongs on the back that you stick through the denim then fold down so they attach to the shorts. It took about an hour to put all the studs in
America Shorts:
CS: I bought continuous fabric spray paint from Michaels in red and then regular fabric paint in white. I put masking tape in stripes down one leg of the shorts and sprayed the red spray paint over it. Once that was dried, I t removed the masking tape, and painted white where the tape was. I used an American flag bandana to use for the stars on the other leg of the shorts. I laid it over to kind of trace it and cut it out then used fabric glue to hold it down. I folded the ends under so that the edges were more clean cut.
Bandeau Top:
CS: I learned how to make it from this website: http://www.trashtocouture.com/2012/04/diy-bow-bandeau.html. I used some of my mom’s scratch fabric I found in the basement and her sewing machine to create the final product. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments and likes on the pictures I have posted. A lot of people first ask me where I got them and then when I tell them I made them, they are usually shocked! Even if you are not that creative or don’t have a lot of faith in yourself, these items are really easy to make and there are a lot of DIY tutorials on the internet. It is definitely worth a try because it will be way less expensive than trying to buy the same thing online.
Katie McNamee, a junior in architecture, has used her creative side to make different designs for her new style.
America Shorts:
KM: I found these jeans at a resale shop, bought some star stickers and painter’s tape (for the stripes) and put them on the shorts and then used red & blue spray fabric paint to make them look like the flag. I wore these on the Fourth of July, and I plan on wearing them at Country Thunder, barn dance, and any other All-American festivities at school! The shorts cost about $13 ($6 for the shorts, and I split the cost of the $13 paint set with 2 friends).
High-Waisted Denim Shorts:
KM: The high-waisted shorts were easy to make! I bought “mom jeans” from goodwill, and then cut them short and cut some holes and rips and put them through the wash. I’m having my mom sew on some lace trim around the pockets. These shorts cost me $5 and I think it’s a great way to recycle clothing and save money while still looking trendy. I love new clothes, but I don’t usually have a few hundred dollars lying around . There’s a interesting video I just watched about how to make a braided racerback tank top from a T-shirt, I want to make that next!
For junior Samantha Oberholtzer, these shorts were here first summer project and she hopes to continue making more trendy items.
Tie-Dye Shorts:
SO: For the tie-dye shorts I spent 15 dollars for the shorts and 10 for the dyes. I used regular dye like in the packages from Walmart. My tip when dying shorts is to not be a perfectionist. The shorts will come out awesome, just have fun and use the colors you want. They will look sick anyways. All girls love them. It’s a new craze.