Do It Yourself - Studs & Sweaters

I love the truculent, feisty way cone spikes or pyramid studs can bring an edge to even the most feminine of little black dresses...

This season champions the hardware trend of the 80's and punky nail heads can be found adoring all the bags, shoes and accessories of the High Street. Dress an Oxblood girlish lace frock with a studded leather jacket and biker boots and you've accomplished this seasons toughened up trend to a tea. My favourite thing about it? ...The transition from day to night outfits requires little or no effort at all. 

As winters looming my annual wardrobe sweater shop does too. I love oversized jumpers with baggy sleeves for their snug and cosy fit but struggle to find many which match my nit picky demands. "It's too cropped" "The neck is too high" "It's too thin" "It makes me itch" ...you get the idea!

After a little online research, I accepted defeat that I wasn't going to find the jumper I had envisioned. Having mildly dabbled in thrifty clothes customisation in the past, I realised the only way I was going to get exactly what I wanted was to DIM (do it myself!)

Firstly I ordered a plain sweater from eBay at the bargain price of a tenner. I purchased it 2 sizes bigger to achieve my desired longline, oversized look. On its arrival I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the material at such a great price. Having recently spent a fortune on a BOY London sweater, it felt identical - minus the silk screened logo.

The unexpected subtle fleece lining was also another plus, affirming I would definitely be snug-as-a-bug in the coming, chilly winter months.

I also bought some 16mm silver craft spikes (25 for £6, from your local haberdashery or eBay) These one's are particularly great as they have a screw back. They don't require any fancy machinery to attach them to material and are so easy to use, even first time clothes customisers would find them a doddle.

The rest is pretty self explanatory; armed with my trusty fabric scissors I decided on the layout of my spikes. I begun to make tiny holes through the fabric, pushing through the pin attachment from the inside of the jumper.

Once in place, I twisted on the spike topper as tight as I could, affixing it further using a pozidriv screw driver. I repeated this process until I was happy with the pattern & design I had created.

Voila! In less than 30 minutes I was the proud owner of a sweater that exceeded my expectations and that ticked that battle armour embellishment trend box! 

Have you had successes with customised clothes?