Mechanical Rose Designs: March 2013

Vintage Ralph Lauren Loafers FOR SALE

BUY HERE

DIY: TRIBAL PRINT SHORTS

Tribal print is one of the hottest trends this side of summer (here, here and here) and Made in Pretoria would not be awesome if I did not include a DIY on it.

DIY: Trendy Tribal Print

Supplies: An old denim, a pair of scissors, bleach, permanent marker
Cut the denim’s legs off. Make sure you fit and mark where to cut before the damage is done.
For a distress feel, make small cuts. Put the shorts through a washing machine to get full fray effect.
lay the shorts’ ends in 1:1 water:bleach mix
Wait until you get your desired colour. This can take a while, so please be patient
With a permanent marker, draw the print on the shorts.
http://madeinpretoria.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/diy-tribal-print-shorts/

There’s no denying it, cutoffs are a wardrobe staple this time of year. And with all the variations of color, fabric, textures, prints and more, there’s certainly no shortage to our selection. But if you’re like me and you’ve got a few pairs of old cutoffs from previous summers that could use a little makeover — or if you just want to give your cutoffs a little something special to make them stand out – today’s DIY is for you. I spotted the image above on tumblr and got inspired to update a pair of cutoffs by adding some fun printed fabric!

What you need: a pair of cutoffs (I used these), fabric of your choice, scissors, a needle and thread

Start by cutting a piece of fabric that is large enough to cover one side of the shorts. Attach it with a few safety pins to keep it from moving around.

Start sewing the fabric to your shorts – I used the natural seams of the shorts as a guideline.

As you sew, you can trim off the excess fabric as close to the stitches as possible.

And there you go! A “brand new” pair of cutoff shorts to wear all summer long :)

http://blog.freepeople.com/2012/04/diy-update-cutoffs/

DIY Printed Victorian Shorts

Supplies: fabric (1 yard)

pair of shorts

The warm weather is almost here and it inspires me to start sewing summer pieces. Shorts are such a small piece of clothing that you can add color and prints too. I've always loved the victorian, shabby chic type fabrics and what a cute pair of shorts they made. I'm not fond of making pants/shorts...they never fit well. This time I drafted a pattern from a nice fit pair of shorts and it worked out perfectly.

Draft a pattern from shorts and copy where to sew. Find a pair of shorts that are simple to recreate. These had the zipper on the side seam which was perfect.