Mizzie Modifies:DIY Fashion - Painted Shoe Sole, Christian Louboutin Style

Step One: Find a pair of heels that have a worn sole or you can do this to a brand new pair of heels.  I chose a vintage pair of gold heels from Bloomingdale's. 

          

Step Two: You will need some masking tape and a small can of spray paint in the color of your choice. 

Step Three: Tape off the top of the shoes.  Basically put the tape anywhere you don't want to get paint on. 

Step Four:   In a well ventilated area simply spray a light coat of the spray paint onto the bottom of the shoes.  It really only takes one or two coats. Aw look how pretty.  

Step Five: My shoes had some damage on the toe strap that needed to be fixed.  I repaired them by stitching the tear together and then gluing it to reinforce the strap.  But I was left with this unattractive scar on the leather.  Soooooo....

I went out and purchased these gold flower broaches and pinned them over the scar and....... . 

voila!  Good as new,maybe even better?

Mizzie Modifies Tips:  Try colors like hot pink, of course red, purple or yellow spray paint. This modifies in particular is one I would love to see photos of.  Will you send me photos of your newly painted shoe soles?  


Happy Modifying! 

Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Add Pockets To a Dress or Skirt

How much do you love a dress with pockets?  I know I do.  Sometimes I won't even try on a dress if it doesn't have pockets.  This weird obsession of mine, that has kept me from buying some very cute summer dresses I might add, got me thinking.  What if I could buy the dresses I love without pockets then use my "Mizzie Modifies - DIY fashion" skills and add pockets myself?  I thought this way I could save some serious cash, since pockets add to the cost of a garment, and give myself more choice when shopping for my favorite summer item, the cotton summer dress. It's a win win!!!

This is a dress I bought that did not have pockets.  It was on sale for £15, bargain! 

Supplies: 

- Dress with no pockets

- Small piece of fabric about half a yard

- Seam Ripper

- Scissors

- Straight pins

- Thread

- Sewing machine

Time to modify: about 1 1/2 hours

Step One: Find a pocket that you like in a garment you already own.  This will serve as your pocket pattern.  You will also need some fabric, preferably a similar or lighter fabric than the garment you are adding a pocket to. 

Step Two: Trace the outline of the pocket onto your fabric.  You will need four copies of the pocket pattern.  I folded my fabric in four layers so I would only need to cut once.

Step Three: Cut out your pockets

Step Four :  Using a seam ripper or small pair of scissors make a 10 inch whole in your dress approximately 3 inches from the waistline.  I used my butterfly dress as a guide for placement.



Step Five: Pin the right sides of the fabrics together one on the front and one on the back





Step Six: Sew a seam down the edges on each side where the pins are then fold back the seams and iron.





Step Seven: Turn the garment inside out and pin the two sides of the pocket together and sew around the edges. 

Step 8:  Make sure there are no open spaces between the seam on the dress and your new pocket.  If there are just go back and sew those closed by hand or machine. 

And that's it! Now repeat the process for the other pocket and you are done!  I really love this modifies I am planning on sewing pockets in like 7 of my dresses.  

Get creative.  If you have a solid dress use a patterned pocket fabric or a contrasting color. 

Happy Modifying!  

Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Dyeing Suede Shoes

Remember these shoes? From this post?

I loved them when I purchased them but I never wore them.  I noticed it was the color and a few light water spots that kept them from my feet.  As much as I have tried, I just do not like red.  I have given the color many chances, but for some cosmic reason red and I are not and probably will not ever be buddies.  

Since the shape of the shoes is so gorgeous I decided to try my hand at some DIY fashion dyeing.  I've never dyed suede before so I googled "dyeing suede" and came up with this Fiebing's Suede Dye.  You can find it on a few different websites including ebay. 

The application is simple and straight forward.  Because my shoes were a lighter color I knew I would most likely not be able to get them to a dark black so I settled for a lighter almost purple black.  I ended up doing 4 layers of dye. 

When they had totally dried I used a the cap of a sueded cleaner to lift the nap that was flattened by the liquid color.  

The result is pretty nice, but I think that I will need to do another coat before I wear them out.  

Tip 1:  The dye is very runny so watch out for the edges and soles of the shoes.  I ended up dyeing the bottom of mine because I had a bit of run over.  

Tip 2: I also used this dye to give new life to my old UGG's. It's amazing what a new coat of color will do for over worn lack luster black suede. 

Happy Modifying

Mini Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Brimmed Hat

This summer the brimmed hat is your number one accessory.  I personally love hats and went out and purchased this one along with a couple of fun floral tank-tops to wear at a festival I attended a few weeks ago.  I ended up covering up my cute new tops with a wool sweater, leather jacket and scarf due to the non existent English summer but I will not take you down that road. It gets pretty dark when I start ranting about English weather.  Back to the hat and DIY fashion. You have probably realized by now that I can rarely just buy something and wear it as is so of course I modified it slightly.  

The Hat

The Feather

I actually had this one already, but you can pick one up at your local craft store.

The feather in the hat.

Me in the hat at the festival.

It was a huge hit.  My straw brimmed hat received quite a few compliments my favorite being from a friend of mine saying I looked like Peter Pan.  That was maybe more of comment than a compliment but I'll take it. 

Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Short Dress

My Mom loves second hand shopping.   She recently purchased this Warehouse dress from a local charity shop for me.  Unfortunately the dress was a skosh too small.  Fortunately I like to modify things.  Here is my solution to a dress that has a waste line that is either too small or too high or both.  

The Dress 

Step One:  There are two ways to do this modifies.  One - Just cut the dress into two pieces at the top of the skirt.  You will have some fraying from the raw edges, but if you don't want to sew this is a quick and easy way to separate the dress.  Two - This one requires a sewing machine or a local seamstress (dry cleaners also usually offer an alteration service).  Using a seam ripper rip out the seam between the top and the skirt of the dress. 

Step Three:  Once the dress is separated then you will want to pin the edges in preparation for sewing. 

Step Four: Sew the edges with a medium sized stitch. 

Step Five:  Style your new skirt and vest.  

This turned out even better than I expected.  You may have noticed that there was a button missing at the waist.  To be honest the waist of this skirt is still a little too small, so I just put a wide belt on which I think is a great addition to the look and I don't have to worry about finding a button or feeling like someone is squeezing my stomach all day. Yay!

I am also thinking about changing the buttons if I can find some I like.  I think some black ones might be nice. 

Happy Modifying and thanks Mom for the new outfit!

Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Statement Necklace

A few months ago I stumbled upon an entertaining TV show called Lipstick Jungle.  I neglected to watch the show when it aired writing it off as a wannabe Sex and the City.

 So one rainy night in London I switched it on and fell in love.  I am not sure what attracted me more, the sexy yet sincere male characters or the stunning accessories worn by the three lovely leading ladies.  Every exquisite outfit they wore on the show was topped off with the perfect piece or pieces of statement jewelry.  The jewelry was so gorgeous I literally dreamt about it waking up a little disappointed my necklaces were so small and puny.  Needless to say I started lusting after statement necklaces and large rings online that I could not justify buying which led me to create the Bling Ring and now the DIY statement necklace.  

Step One:  You most likely only wear about 20 - 30% of your jewelry.  So gather all the pieces that don't get worn on a regular basis and lay them out on a table.  I grouped mine by color but you may want to arrange them by size, or style.  However you decide to do it group together pieces that you feel go well together.  Be creative.  Use necklaces, earrings, broaches...anything!  You will also want a few needle nose pliers and possibly some wire. 

Step Two:  Once you have your jewelry in groups choose the one you want to start with and create a base necklace.  This will be what you use to build your statement necklace.   I started with these chains that came from my Boot Bling boot straps and another chain that came off an old pair of jeans. 

Step Three:  This is where you get to have fun.  Add on necklaces, broaches and earrings to the base connecting them with the claps already on them and some wire.  If you need some inspiration check out these phenomenal necklaces from Many Will See.  I used them as inspiration while I was building mine. 

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Happy modifying,

Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Bling Ring

First of all I have a quick question for all my loyal and lovely Mizzie Modifies readers.....Do I use the word "bling" too much?  I know it's an out dated, silly slang word but I just love it.  I am asking you as my friends to please let me know if it is just not cool for me to use the word bling and if you say "Yes Mizzie it is so not cool for you to use that word" as much as I love it, I will refrain from using it in further modifies posts.  Thank you  sincerely. ; )


Now for the good stuff. This Modifies is very exciting.  It is cheap, easy and it literally took me like 15 minutes! 

For the past couple of months I have been really into these Kenneth Jay Lane rings, aren't they gorgeous?  

So of course I started looking around my jewelry box to see what kind of statement ring I could fashion out what I already owned. Here is what I came up with.

Step One: Find a ring you don't wear or one that fits nicely and you don't mind covering up. 

Step Two: Find or buy a brooch that is no bigger than 2 inches in diameter and has a semi flat back to it.  Metal works the best but you could use a plastic one.  I had this one just sitting in my jewelry box and I don't think I have ever worn it.

Step Three:  I can't believe how easy this is.  Just glue the broach to the ring. Blam!  I used an epoxy specifically for metals and used the pin to help secure it.   If you are not sure what type of glue to use just do a little Google research.  There is so much glue info out there it's actually shocking.

        

Step Four:  Wear your new fantastic statement ring.  I LOVE mine and can't believe it didn't cost me a dime to make.  I wore it to a dinner party the other night and received a very nice compliment on it.   I always hesitate a moment before telling people that I made it, but then I just blurt it out because I get so excited to talk about it and how easy it was to make.  

So good luck, I hope it all goes well.  And please send me photos of your homemade bling rings to mizzie [at] stellashops.com.  I would love to see your creations, and I am working on a readers modifies post, so if you want to be involved you must send me photos!  

Happy Modifying,

Mizzie Modifies: DIY Fashion - Cropped Jacket

This is one of my favorite modifies and so super duper easy. 

Step One:  Find a jacket in your closet, your local charity shop, ebay -  you get the idea.  I recommend looking for one made of a nice fabric wool blend or linen and that has an interesting pattern and nice buttons. 

Step Two: Measure the length you want your cropped jacket.  I used a jacket I already owned that I like the way it fit and used that as guide.

Step Three: Cut your jacket.  Now this part I admit is a little scary but be brave, be bold and be careful. Make sure you cut in a nice clean straight line. 

Step Five: Feel free to leave the edges raw or if you are feeling ambitious go ahead and hem the bottom and the sleeves.  I just folded up the sleeves for a casual look and left the bottom edge raw.  

Dress: Vivienne Westwood, Shirt: Nolita NYC, Shoes: Kurt Geiger

Step Six: This is my favorite step.  Find something fantastic to wear your new jacket with, I have actually worn mine three days in a row.  Seriously,  it goes with everything! 

Mizzie Modifies Bonus

The buttons that came on the jacket are really cool metal military style buttons and I hated to see them just sit in a tin in my closet.  I remembered I had been looking for buttons about the same size for a jacket I recently purchased while on tour in Manchester and decided to see if these buttons would work.

As luck would have it the buttons from my new jacket fit perfectly on the jacket that needed new buttons.  I love when things work out like that!  Makes me feel very green.

There you go, two modifies out of one.  Bargain! 

Happy modifying,