EASY DIY CLOTHING! NO SEW! + QUICK 2018 video

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Iron on Patches? Ribbons, bows and ties?

Iron on patches can be expensive if they are large like this one, showing the umbrella.

You might also want to sew the outside of the patch in case the glue fails. Hm. What if you want no iron as well as no sew?

SEWING

No needle? No machine? Never mind. the internet has videos showing how you can create and re-purpose clothes. As I contemplate two weeks in lockdown quarantine, with not enough clothes, I am wondering what I can do. Watch videos for answers.

Fabric extension belt

You can cut the fabric for a skirt so that the belt is an extension of the fabric's waist line. I have a skirt cut like this. On one side, the fabric is short, the width of my hand, sticking out like a thumb, just long enough to tie to the long piece on the other side of the wrap skirt. 

The same system can be used to extend the cut of your cloth to make a shoulder strap. The shoulder strap can lie flat, or be twisted and twirled onto a rope. or plaited. I prefer flat 'ribbons' which don't rub and are wider.

Fabric Glue

If you have a fabric glue, that helps. 

You can also use: 

If you are looking at glueing shoes, you need shoe glue. I wondered if shoe glue was even stronger and firmer than the strongest glue. No. On the contrary. Shoe glue sets softer, so that you can flex the soles of the shoe when walking without the pieces pulling apart.

Patches

Think about quilts from patches. Think about iron on patches. Most hotels can supply an iron.  Two pieces of fabric can overlap with a patch holding them together. A large patch can be cut into strips.

Ribbons

Ribbons can make ties. Alternatively, ribbons can be glued or stapled, or folded under a pleat.

A ribbons can make a an ankle fastener, belt, a cuff tie, a bow, or a bow tie, or a long necktie.

Safety Pins

If staples and pins seem to dangerous, use safety pins. Small ones are easy to conceal. Large ones can be concealed by tying ribbons over them.

Safety pins can be a feature. Do you remember the Liz Hurley dress?

 

Staples

Staples can attach two pieces of cloth or ribbon, the cloth or ribbon can be folded, so that the staple is not visible and does not touch your skin.

Tie Pins

Tie pins can be used to fasten two pieces of material. You could use two or three or more to form a line. Conceal them or display them.

Tie Up

Alternatively, do what they did in the old days with togas and sarongs and sarees. Wind a long oblong of material around your body. You can tie it at the waist or tuck it over. Tie it above the bust or tuck it over. Tie it over one shoulder. Alternatively throw it over to drape or hang at the back like a shawl or tail. Tie it behind your neck.

A thin fabric is easier to tie up using the pointed ends.You can tie a knot or a bow.

Tuck In

You can tuck fabric into itself, like a sarong.

You can also tuck fabric into underwear, such as pants (Americans say underpants), a bra, or a vest or a tank top, or a half slip or long slip.

Wear A Cover-up

Wear a Jacket

An open back can be concealed by wearing a bolero or jacket.

Wear a Scarf

A thin scarf makes a belt. A scarf conceals an untidy knot.

A scarf can be twisted into a rise and pinned on with a safety pin.

Useful Websites

https://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Sarong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Versace_dress_of_Elizabeth_Hurley

YouTube video about no sew

About the Author

About Angela The Author

The Author - Quick Quotations

Angela Lansbury B A Hons  is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books. 

About Angela The Speaker & Trainer

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Vice President  Public Relations, Immediate Past President.

Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.

Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK

Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on bha.learncool.sg . Also educational on using Powerpoint for posters.

Next BHA meeting, Wednesday evening, May 5th, 7 pm Singapore. Next meetings 1st Wednesday evening and third Saturday afternoon, Singapore time.  

Angela The Blogger 

Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

See next post on sculptor Tom Harvey.

Please share links to your favourite posts. 

An easy DIY Large-Scarf Dress With Tie-Together Fringes

My Recent DIY Dress From A Scarf
I made a dress by folding a long piece to make an oblong shift dress shape. I cut down the top of the long side to make an armhole.

For the shoulders, I seamed from the two short side corners, from the top left and top right outsides of the short top section. I left a space in the middle large enough to go over my head.

 Yes, it must allow your whole head, not just your neck, unless you cut out a v shape notch at the front and edge it with fancy ribbon, or make a short seam at the centre back to fasten with ribbons, a hook an eye, or press stud or zip.

I was looking at the fringe on the side and thinking of adding one, two or three pairs of ribbons at the bust, the waist and the hip. Would that make the dress too tight. Would the extra sewing take too long. It was gone midnight. I thought, I shall just tie together two bits of the fringe.

Tie Together Fringes
The large sections of fringe made a large ugly untidy knot. So I halved the bit of hanging fringe to make a half size knot. This was strong enough to hold together and not be pulled apart when I sat down, once I had done three or four more.

I tied toether knots from about bust level down to knee level. i wanted a slit at the bottom of the legs to let me walk up and down stairs without pulling on the knots.

The final dress is cool in hot weather at home. I asked my husband, "Can you tell this iss a home made dress?"

He said, "No. I have no idea about how women's clothes are made."

Success!

I wanted to wear a new dress every day, or every week, for variety for myself and my family.

I love my dress. I love it so much I have worn it three days running and written a blog about it.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a trave writer and phtographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other Wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Or quicker to type and easier to remember:  tinyurl.com/BHACOOL

useful Websites
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
https://www.facebook.com/angela.lansbury.121
translate.google.com
duolingo.com