Welcome to Individual, nzgirl’s DIY guide to turning your stuff into better stuff . . . for $10 or less.
It’s all about taking what you already have and personalising it into something that will have all the top designers ringing you to see what you will be wearing this season. Just because we’re from the land of many sheep doesn’t mean to say we have to dress like the rest of the flock. All it takes is a bit of imagination, a bit of creative flair and a basic understanding of how to use a pair of scissors.
Let’s talk about gloves, seeing as it’s winter, it’s cold and gloves are a crash-hot way of transforming your winter outfit into something a bit ‘spesh’. Gloves add a touch of class and, as an added bonus, they keep your hands warm. Practical yet stylish – they tick ALL the boxes.
When it comes to individualising your gloves, think about your winter outfit as a whole. Gloves are cheap enough to be able to justify matching them to a particular ensemble – and despite what other people might say it is OK to have more than one pair. Glassons have a two for $12 deal on at the moment, Farmers have gloves for around $8, and then there are all the army surplus stores. Provided you are OK with various shades of poo green, you can get a decent pair for around $7.
To individualise some of the gloves shown here I’ve used felt. Felt is one of my favourite ways of individualising things because it doesn’t fray. Anything that doesn’t fray has the big thumbs up in my books. It’s also cheap – you can buy squares of the stuff from good craft and fabric stores for a couple of dollars or less, depending on the size. But there is nothing to say that you can’t go crazy with ribbon, or buttons, or lace . . . though I am not sure the world has ever really recovered from Madonna’s excessive use of lace gloves in the 80s, so maybe you should give that one a miss.
I use blanket stitch around the felt but if that sounds a bit too strenuous then you can always do a basic running stitch (under, over, under, over . . . ) to secure your designs to your gloves. You could even use glue, though unless you are prepared to keep your hands completely still you have to be realistic about how long things will stay stuck to something that is continuously moving. And if you ever plan to wash your gloves again, you had better consider a glue that isn’t water based.
I always find it helpful to create a paper pattern first. You don’t have to be the world’s most creative person to come up with a pattern – just scribble something out on paper and then use that as a guide to cut your fabric. Patterns help to keep things consistent and they give you a better idea of how your finished product will look.
Here’s a few ideas to get you started.
I’ve blanket-stitched red felt ‘fingernails’ onto this glove and made a ring out of a piece of ribbon and a particularly classy rhinestone that I had lying around. Get someone to help tie the ribbon onto your finger while you are wearing the glove to ensure that you make it loose enough to wear without cutting off your circulation. I stuck the rhinestone on with glue, running it vertically along the finger instead of horizontally because that gave a better surface area for the glue.
Buttons are an interesting option – go raid your Granny’s button collection for inspiration. If your Gran doesn’t have a button collection find a grandmother who does. Alternatively, check out your local fabric shop. A few buttons aren’t going to send you spiralling into debt.
Felt flowers can create an interesting design, as can circles or leaf pattens.
I’ve sewn plastic spiders onto this glove but why limit yourself to spiders? There is a world of plastic animals out there, just waiting for you to get creative. A snake slithering up your hand could create an interesting talking point, as could a couple of well placed lizards.
Katy
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