Give your wardrobe a facelift with these 7 DIY fashion hacks

An idle mind and an overflowing wardrobe can make for some pretty productive social isolation. If it feels like you’ve watched everything there is to stream online, and are pretty close to wiping the farsan cabinet clean, we know exactly what you can do to make your time indoors more productive – DIY fashion hacks.

These DIY fashion tutorials will ensure that you emerge on the other side of this lockdown with some new fits without having to step out or spend a single rupee.

All you need is time, a litre or two of freshly squeezed creative juice, and a desire to revamp your existing wardrobe staples.

These hacks will also help keep your children busy, if you get them involved .

7 DIY fashion hacks to master during the lockdown

Tie-dye your old t-shirts

Tie-dye is a controversial Spring/Summer 2020 trend that celebrities like Shraddha Kapoor and Ananya Pandey are embracing. Pull out old t-shirts from the black hole that is your cupboard, and give them a flower-powered makeover.

Supplies:

• Fabric dyes (your choice of colours)
• Rubber bands
• T-shirt
• Ziplock bags
• Gloves

Instructions:

1. If you’re using a new t-shirt, make sure it is pre-washed to keep from shrinking.
2. Dampen the t-shirt slightly.
3. Lay it flat on a table, pinch it from the centre, and start twisting the fabric to form a disc like-shape. You can also use a fork for this step – place the fork at the centre of the t-shirt, and begin twisting it (the same action you make when eating spaghetti).
4. While twisting, make a few adjustments to ensure you have lots of folds and pleats in the fabric. This exposes more fabric to the dyes and will make for a more interesting pattern.
5. Once the disc is formed, secure it with rubber bands. Place the rubber bands in such a way that they intersect over the centre, dividing the disc into pizza slice-shaped segments. Use a minimum of three rubber bands.
6. Put on gloves to keep your hands from getting stained.
7. Dye each segment with a different colour or however you’d like. Make sure to squeeze some dye into the folds and crevices. One colour bleeding into the other will just make the t-shirt look more interesting.
8. Once you’re done dyeing the t-shirts, put them in plastic bags to let the colours set. Leave them in overnight.
9. Once the dye has done its job, take the t-shirt out of the bag and rinse it with water. Keep rubber bands on. Rinse it till the water runs clean.
10. Take rubber bands off, hang it out to dry. Once dried, machine wash it. Be prepared for the colour to bleed in the first few washes.

Make yourself a pair of lace trim shorts from a pair of old jeans

Remember those old jeans you can’t get yourself to throw out, but are too worn out to wear in public? After this DIY fashion hack, they’re going to become your go-to girls night staple.

Supplies:

• Mom jeans or relaxed-fit jeans
• Fabric glue/ needle and thread
• A pair of scissors
• Approximately two metres of lace, could be repurposed from an old dress or sari border.

Directions:

1. Fold your jeans into half, so that the back pocket is facing up, and lay them down on an even surface.
2. Take a pair of scissors and start cutting a few inches below the crotch while the jeans are still folded. This way you cut both legs at the same time, symmetrically.
3. Cut slightly diagonally going across the leg of the jeans. Always cut in a way that the shorts are slightly longer than you need them to be. This leaves room for corrections.
4. The next step is lace application. Start from the inside seam, and apply fabric glue about a centimetre above the bottom of the shorts. Keep adding the lace as you go.
5. If you don’t have fabric glue at home, you could attempt to try this with needle and thread but be warned, the denim will put up a fight.
6. Do the same for the other leg.
7. Leave the shorts to dry for about 24 hours, and then you’re good to go.

Make your own statement ombre jacket using just two ingredients

Turn your loyal denim jacket into a statement piece in a few easy steps. Bleach and water is all you need to pull this DIY Fashion hack off.

Supplies:

• Bleach
• Large bowl
• Hot water
• Denim jacket

Directions:

1. Mix two parts of water with one part bleach. You can add more bleach if you want the jacket to be really white.
2. Stir the mixture.
3. Soak one-fourth of the jacket (from the bottom) including sleeves into the bleach mixture. Let it soak for five to eight minutes.
4. As the jacket soaks, keep swirling the mixture to create a gradient effect.
5. Add another pitcher of warm water to the mixture and stir.
6. Lower the jacket down a few more inches into the mixture.
7. Let your jacket soak for another five minutes while continuing to repeat the swirling action.
8. Add a pitcher of warm water to the mixture and stir.
9. Let it sit for five minutes.
10. Pour out the mixture into a sink, and rinse the jacket.
11. Once rinsed thoroughly, machine wash the jacket. Make sure you don’t add other clothes with it because they might get bleach on them as well.
12. Add embellishments to the jacket if you’d like or just let it be as it is.

Repurpose an old dupatta to make a fun cover-up

Pay your mom’s closet a visit, and make yourself a cover-up to pair with your swimsuits. Something to show off the results of all your workouts from home….

Supplies:

• A dupatta
• A pair of scissors
• Measuring tape
• Needle or sewing machine
• Thread (same colour as dupatta)
• Tassels and trim (optional)

Directions:

1. Fold the dupatta in half lengthwise. Place it against your body and mark how long you want your cover-up to be.
2. Cut it to the desired length.
3. Keeping the dupatta folded in half, place it on a table and draw a mark 12 inches below the fold on either side using a fabric chalk or any washable ink.
4. Start securing the fabric from those marks, down till the bottom of the dupatta, with pins.
5. The gap between the fold and the pins will become the arm holes of the cover-up.
6. Stitch up the part that falls below the 12-inch mark, along the length. Repeat the same steps for the other side.
7. Now to create the opening of the kimono-style cover-up, mark the centre of the dupatta along the fold. Draw a straight line from the fold to the bottom hem, using your fabric chalk or washable ink.
8. Using a pair of scissors, cut along the line from the bottom end to the fold. Ensure that you only cut the top layer.
9. Hem the edges of the cut using a needle and thread or a sewing machine.
10. Add embellishment to the bottom half if you’d like.
11. Turn it inside out and your kimono is ready.

Teach your children how to block print using vegetables.

Put all the aloos gone bad to good use with this easy DIY fashion technique. You can also use flowers, leaves or ladies fingers to act as blocks — this activity will keep your little ones busy for hours.

Supplies:

• Raw potato
• Knife
• Fabric paint
• Piece of clothing you want to print on

Directions:

1. Carve the potato into desired shape using a knife.
2. Dip potato in fabric paint.
3. Shake off excess paint.
4. Place the block on the fabric, press firmly, and carefully take off.
5. Repeat as many times as you’d like.

Use your father’s old shirt to sew yourself a dress

After your mother’s generous contribution, it’s time to make good use of your father’s shirt you’ve been eyeing for all these months.

Supplies:

• Men’s shirt (full-sleeves) long enough to be a dress
• A pair of scissors
• Seam ripper
• Chalk to mark
• A dress (that fits you well or has a fit similar to what you want this dress to have)
• Sewing machine or needle and a thread

Directions:

1. Cut off the sleeves right above the seam, and put them aside for later use.
2. Close the top button. And cut across the width of the shirt, right below the top button.
3. Use a seam ripper to take the pocket off.
4. Fold the shirt in half, then fold the dress in half, and line them up in a way that the dress is lying over the shirt.
5. Draw the outline of the dress onto the shirt using a chalk. Make sure you leave some room for fitting adjustments and seams.
6. Cut along the marked lines, don’t shorten the length just yet.
7. Take the front and bottom piece and flip them to face each other because we want the stitches to be on the inside.
8. Stitch along the seems. And turn it the right side out.
9. Now we come to making the straps. Take the sleeves you’d put aside earlier, cut off the cuffs, and open the sleeve up.
10. You can use just one sleeve to make the two straps.
11. Cut the opened sleeve lengthwise, into two equal halves.
12. Sew the fabric to make two rectangular straps.
13. Hem the top of the dress and add the straps.

Turn your t-shirts into crop tops

And now for the easiest DIY fashion trick, and also a trend that is here to stay – crop tops.

Supplies:

• One A-line t-shirt
• A pair of scissors

Directions:

1. Hold the t-shirt against yourself.
2. Mark the point where it touches your belly button. Fold it at that point.
3. Cut it along the fold.
4. Pinch and pull at the edges to give it a rolled up, distressed look.

Watch now: Did you know about Mrunal Thakur’s near death experience?

Styling: Divya Gursahani, Makeup: Riddhima Sharma, Hair: Krisann Figueiredo, Model: Rakshitha Harimurthy/Faze

Sari: Raw Mango