a bit of DIY

On Sunday morning I woke feeling surprisingly spritely after a late night spent catching up on desperate housewives. After a trip to a Dunelm Mill with a friend I had remembered to buy some hemming web and elastic for a little DIY idea I had seen here. It was the customising of knee-high socks to make them look like those featured in Alexander Wang's Spring/Summer 2010 collection.  I came across this girl (after getting lost on a 'blog wander' ) who had created this awesome idea. I thought I'd give it ago (you see i'm a bit creative like that -granted, not everything I make is wearable).

Photo credit: JazziMcG

For anyone who doesn;t know what hemming web is its a bit like ribbon that you cut to whatever length you need, you place it on the inside of the hem and fold the excess material over the web and iron. It's just a quicker and easier way to adjust the length of things like trousers. I love the stuff I have made a garish gothic skirt that I have a strange love for, constructed using just hemming web and elastic, (it hasn't fallen apart yet - though that would be embarassing).

So anyway all you need to make yourself of sock braces as they have been dubbed, is elastic the same colour as the sock about an inch wide, hemming web, needle and thread, scissors and white chalk or eyeliner.

I'm not gonna tell you how to do it becasue I think It's only fair you visit her blog and find out, but I will tell you what I thought.

First off, drawing and oval on the back of the sock whilst wearing it is hard. My attempt looking like a child's drawing, so after squiggling some kind of outline, I took of the sock and tidied it up a bit. After cutting out the ovals and sewing on the elastic (seems more sturdy) I checked the even-ness of the holes in the mirror and with no surprise one was twice the size of the other. I carefully cut to match the largest hole whilst wearing the sock (not something health and safety would approve of but that goes out of the window in my room!). Unfortuneately I only had over the knee socks but it still works okay you just have to trim and iron the hem under. I did this after sewing on the elastic as you may have to stretch the sock a certain way to stop it from gaping at the sides.

Hear is the result! The shorts I'm wearing are DIY cut-off tracksuit bottoms (£3 from primark) hemmed up using...HEMMING WEB!  It's a sporty look i'll be championing when the sun comes out for more than half an hour.

Shoddy photo's by me