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Become a Lockdown Fashionista – and Win!

Lucy Miller 4th May 2020 2 Comments

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Stop boredom in its tracks by becoming a lockdown fashionista – and win a £50 voucher from LoveCrafts!

We’re all getting a little bit bored in lockdown – so now’s the perfect time to drag out your old clothes for a revamp. From fixing holes with iron-on patches to turning jeans into a skirt, there are tonnes of things you can do to revise your wardrobe on a budget.

Keep reading for some ideas – then find out how you can win a £50 craft voucher!

Make do and mend
Tie-dying your cottons
Turning winter jeans to summer shorts
Ruff-up your boring old jeans
Adding fancy trims

Make do and mend

We’re channelling Blitz spirit at the moment, and what better way to do that than getting out your sewing kit and fixing up your worn clothes rather than splashing cash on new ones?

Making do and mending your old clothes not only saves you cash, but is better for the environment too. Sewing up holes in leggings, darning socks, fixing zips and fitting new soles into your shoes or trainers are all quick ways to avoid spending money and contributing to the big polluter that is fast fashion.

lockdown fashionista hack 1: Tie-dye your old cottons

Want a fun fashion activity that you can do with the kids? Look no further!

Tie-dying might make you think of 1960s hippies with flowers in their hair, but there’s the chance that it brings to mind sunshine and fun too. And rightly so! The kids will love getting stuck into some tie-dying, especially if it means that they’ll end up with a colourful, brand new t-shirt instead of that boring white one you picked up from the shop.

You’ll of course need to get some dye for this, so we recommend looking online for craft shops that are still delivering (you’ll find that lots are). Think about what colours go well together. Seasonal greens and pinks might be a nice idea, and blue is always a good choice when it comes to tie-dye.

You’ll also need:

Water
A bucket
Some elastic bands

When you’ve got your dye and chosen the clothes you want to tie-dye, you’ll need to twist the item or items up and fix into place with the elastic bands. The tighter you twist or crunch the material, the more clear the difference between the dyed and the non-dyed parts will be, so think about whether you want the pattern to be loose or have stronger lines.

Next, mix your dye in a bucket with the water, following the instructions to see how much you need. Fully immerse the material, making sure you’re wearing gloves (this is important!) The longer you leave the material in the dye, the stronger the colours will be.

If you want to add a second colour afterwards, make sure the areas that are exposed to the dye when you dunk it into your second mixture are white. Otherwise, you’ll undo all the dying you did the first time round!

When you’re done, make sure you take the material out of the dye, discard the elastic bands, and leave it pegged out somewhere to dry (ideally outside). Once it’s dried, you’ll be able to see your new creation in all its glory!

Why not try it with some plain old pyjamas? That way even if it goes wrong (although this is very unlikely!) it won’t matter!

lockdown fashionista hack 2: Turn winter jeans into summer shorts

Got some old jeans that are frayed at the bottom? There’s no sense in throwing them out – instead, why not give them a trim and turn them into shorts for summer days in the garden?

You won’t need a lot of equipment in order to turn your old jeans into a new pair of shorts. We’d just recommend making sure you’ve got a sharp pair of scissors.

Here’s what to do:

Decide how long you want your shorts to be. Do you want hotpants, peddle-pusher type long shorts that end at the knee, or something in between?
Once you’ve decided, mark with a pen where you’re going to cut. You don’t want to end up with one leg longer than the other!
Using your sharpest scissors, cut along the line you’ve just made. Be careful here: you need to make sure the front and back of the material is being cut at the same length
Maybe try on when you’ve cut one leg, to check that it’s the length you want
If it is, go ahead with cutting the second leg
If you want a frayed hem instead of a straight one, don’t be afraid to go at the hem with some tweezers. Pulling at the loose bits of thread until they come out slightly will give you a frayed hem that’s bang on trend
If you don’t want to distress the hems of your new shorts, fold them up an inch and put in a few stitches to give a comfy, two-tone effect

Of course, this works best if you’ve got a good brand like Levis – but really you can do it with any old jeans that you might have in the back of the wardrobe.

Bonus: if your jeans are scuffed but you don’t want to turn them into shorts, why not cut them off just above the ankles for a leg-lengthening effect? That way, you’ll have what feels like a summery new pair of jeans in no time, and you won’t have spent a penny!

lockdown fashionista hack 3: Rough-up boring old jeans

Want to make an old pair of jeans look a little bit more “distressed”? Of course you do!

Here’s how you can give your oldest denims a modern makeover, using only a trusty pair of scissors and without spending any money:

Create rips or slashes by deciding how long you want the rip to be, and cutting through the denim in a straight line. Just above the knee can work great!
Distress your hems with tweezers – for how to do this, see our advice above! Also think about carefully pulling a few strands of thread out without breaking them, to create a layered effect
Use a pumice stone to create artistic rough patches to give that worn-in look

lockdown fashionista hack 4: Add a Fancy Trim

This is a tip that can be applied to almost any item of clothing that you own: jeans or shorts pockets, necklines, tops, even handbags.

First, you need to decide what kind of trim you want to add. Pretty and floral, or delicate and lacy? Or something more striking: an Aztec print, perhaps, or a bold colour that’ll stand out for all the right reasons?

Once you’ve decided how you want your new trim to make your existing item of clothing look, you’ll need to find the material online. Check out the websites of haberdashers for this: you’ll find that lots are still open and delivering during the lockdown.

Once you’ve got your material, you can start the process.

Here what to do…

First, you’ll need to work out how much material you’ll need. To do this, measure the length of the pocket, seam or neckline that you want to add the trim to
Mark the same length (or a bit longer) on the material you’re going to use for the trim
Cut the material to the length that you’ve marked off
Depending on how neat you want to the trim to be (this depends on the material and the style you’re going for) you can either use fabric glue to fix the hem in place, or hand sew it on
If you do choose to hand sew, make sure your stitches are small and close together. This will make them practically invisible, and will also mean they’re stronger when you put your revamped item of clothing in the wash

You can always look at other items like embroidery kits or iron-on patches to spruce up the seams, pockets, and anywhere else on your jeans, too!

Win a £50 LoveCrafts voucher with your lockdown fashionista wardrobe

We’d love to see your lockdown fashionista creations once they’re ready. So, to encourage you in your crafty endeavours, we’re giving away a £50 LoveCrafts voucher to one lucky winner.

Here’s what you need to do…

Get crafting, using the above tips or your own imagination
Snap a picture
Share it with us on social media, tagging us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #MagpieFashion
If you don’t have social, email your pic to [email protected] and we’ll post it for you
We’ll pick a winner from the most inspired creations we see

We hope this has inspired you to make like a true lockdown fashionista, and win our crafty prize! Let us know how you get on – we can’t wait to see what you come up with…

Small print: Closes May 25th 2020 at midnight. Prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative is available; winner’s voucher cannot be used for gift vouchers or PDF downloads.

Find out more here.

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Seyifunmi

4 years ago

Hmm nice article

Joanne

4 years ago

Have always, tried to mend things first, but some good ideas hear.

Become a Lockdown Fashionista – and Win!

Make do and mend