DIY Three Hole Dress
DIY necklace
thrifted vintage jacket
flea market belt
American Apparel leggings
Colonial Madness Boots

The three hole dress.  Arguably one of the easiest things to make and enough versatility to make you want one in every color.  Here’s what you need:

• 2 yards of fabric
• scissors

If you’re anal  and/or have OCSD tendencies (I refer to my newly created “Over-Complicating Shit Disorder), you’ll also need to perfect an oval pattern for the armholes (which, I promise, will be a lot smaller than you think) and bias tape to finish them.

Now, without insulting anyone’s intelligence (because cutting three holes in a dress doesn’t really require instructions), I’ll give you some pointers (read: my trials-and-errors) that may help you along the way:

• for the love of all things sacred, start in the middle of the fabric; one hole dead center and one hole on each side of the first
• measure your shoulders and add two inches to it; this is approximately how far you should place the second and third holes from the center hole (of course, you can go wider for more drape)
• before you cut the official holes, cut off a scrap square and practice first – I repeat, they will be smaller than you think
• leave at least 6 inches between the top of the fabric and the top of the armholes; it’ll look less rough around the edges
• don’t cut the hem until you’ve tried the finished dress on…twice

8/27/10 UPDATE: I felt like rendering, so here is a brief visual guide to help you along:

1 – lay out the fabric

2 – fold in half lengthwise and cut out the middle armhole (a half circle on the fold)

3 – fold in half lengthwise in the opposite direction and cut out the left and right armholes (a half circle on the two folds)

4 – cut the dress to the desired length (probably better to do this while it’s still folded)

5 – there is no step 5; YAY!

Depending on the width of the fabric, you may have enough to make a tunic or vest in the same style.  This process on a shorter piece will net you something similar to what I wore in this post.

I didn’t do a “look at all the possibilities” photo montage, but trust me, there are a lot of possibilities.  It all depends on what you put or don’t put through a hole.

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This post wouldn’t be complete without the disclaimer that this DIY project was born out of want for the original Harputs Own Three Hole Dress (unfortunately, the one I was after is no longer sold on the site, but its lovely wool incarnation is available).

I buy what I can, I make what I can’t.  Word.

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UPDATE:  Since a few of you expressed interest in buying this here garment, you can now do so right from this post.  YAY!!  The dress is $45 and shipping is $8 via USPS.

Yours will be made of a nice, weighty jersey fabric in the color of your preference.  The armholes will be finished and the edges will be left raw.  Don’t forget to provide me with a shoulder measurement and the length you’d like when you check out.

=D

(if you’re viewing this in the reader, you won’t be able to watch the vid.  Come to the blog, yo!)

There’s no need to call any more attention to my card-carrying stan-club membersip for Janelle Monae (proof here, here, here and here), so I’ll let you all enjoy the song and video.

ACES.  It’s all ACES.

Predictably, my eyes were drawn to the footwear, but instead of  coveting a pair of shiny black brogues with a diagonal white bar across the front, I’m t-t-t-tipping on the tightrope with the ones I already have.  Thank god, because those joints are expensive as hell. 

gifted Prada shoes
bracelets are heirloom
DIY and from Lulu

StyleLikeU has proven itself to be more of a creative influence for me than any other medium that intends to inspire.  Blogs can only go so far with pictures and blurbs; magazines tend to bore me with ad after ad after ad.  SLU is more of a catchall of cool people with time to spare and the balls to open up their closets and thoughts to the world; no pressure, no selling points, and amazing variety.  Most of the time, after I’m finished playing the part of voyeur, I’m led to edit my closet, make something, refashion something, or buy something.  Weird how that happens, eh?

Mario Monroe

Natalie Toren

After watching these videos (and aside from feeling like I needed to clear out my closet for the 37th time…), I felt the urge to throw things together; to reinvent and repurpose items left to languish in piles hidden in drawers.  I made peace with the chain scraps and odds & ends lying around my desk and turned a few into the following.  I wouldn’t call them the most sophisticated or well-composed, but I love them.

Yes, that is an actual .44 bullet.  I told you a while back about my…thing…for violent accessories.  A brass ankh and silver charm with a lotus stamped into it have since been added to the other silver bracelet.  You guys know how much I love my lotus flowers.

Counter-clockwise from left: ankh charm that I’ve had for YEARS, chandelier crystal, mini tankard, antique jailer’s key, and vintage button from Michelle on a long vintage chain I had tucked away.

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In the communal spirit of DIYness,  I want to shout out Lori, one half of the gorgeous blog His & Hers Chicago (which I am completely in LOVE with), who made this beautiful Love necklace out of wire and a broken Forever 21 necklace:

Dope, right?  I KNOW!!!!!  If you haven’t already, CLICK.  His & Hers. 

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Sooooooooo, is there anything you have that you have left over from broken jewelry/abandoned projects/finding ish on the streets that you want to salvage?  Tell me!  We’ll brainstorm and turn it into something cool…or at least wearable…

• A proper black leather handbag is a magical thing.
• Completed DIY projects are soothing to my soul, wallet and psyche.
• Cookie-cutter shit is becoming more and more annoying.
• I’d rather look interesting than look sexy…but I’ll take interestingly sexy any day (thx ‘Nanaclipse)
• If given the opportunity to graze instead of being fed once a day, a cat can gain one pound a day.  Persephone, slow down.

• I really can’t go in to Hotel de Ville without spending money (it was for a gift this time, I swear).
• Doing laundry sucks and takes WAY too long.
• I am in need of a vacation…and will be gone until Sunday.  W00T!!!

I seem to be completely unable to post on a consistent schedule.  I don’t think I ever will be, so thank you for putting up with my shit.  I love you guys.  Really.  =D

I FINALLY got around to giving a pair of jeans the Tay Trong treatment.  These will be on perpetual sample status because I should have started with a larger size of something straight legged as opposed to my actual size in skinnies.  Although they passed the “be seen in public walking for hours on end without ripping” test, they also did VERY well in the “making my right thigh mimic an opened tube of biscuit dough” test.  Not exactly a good look.  They are prettyfuckincool though.  Hell to put on and odd to take off, but prettyfuckincool.

Wearing:
Thrifted jacket
F21 cardigan & jeans (well, before I…altered…them)
Vintage Brigade Rosse shirt
Colonial Madness boots
handmade beanie

All of today was spent prepping for our road trip up to NorCal for Christmas.  There was WAY too much walking involved but I did come away with this quilted army green jacket from a stop over at le Good-weezy.  I got a black dress that I plan on altering, too.

I seem to have the DIY fever.  Catch the wave, yo.

Gotta go pack now.  You guys have a kickass holiday…or whatever else you plan on doing this week.  If it involves eating, save me a plate.  Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks!