Upcycling
The Art of Fashion Exhibition with Reiss Middle East

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The lovely people from Reiss Middle East invited me to view their Art of Fashion exhibition which perfectly matched the ethos of Cheapnchic.net.

“The Art of Fashion” took place at the exclusive ProArt Gallery in Palm Strip Mall, Jumeirah Beach Road. A select group of artists, graphic designers, painters, photographers and sculptors had been challenged to blur the lines between fashion and art. Each artist was given a piece from the Reiss collection and had two weeks to create a unique art piece using garments from the Reiss AW”12 line.

The art pieces may be travelling beyond Dubai soon but I visited the showcase in the two weeks after the launch party and just thought it demonstrated how garments could be utilised, upcycled and given new life. It all depends on your imagination. One artist used a Reiss shirt as a canvas but my fave pieces was a polka dotted dress (below)!

Here I am at Reiss’s latest collection launch a couple of weeks ago.

DIY Detachable Embellished Collars

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I am a big fan of detachable collars. I’ve made one already here and using a similar technique of upcycling old men’s shirts, I’ve created two different designs:

Here’s what you’ll need:

Hooks and eyes, thread in the corresponding colour to the fabric colour of the collars, beads, studs, rhinestones, pearls, unpicker/seam ripper and old men’s shirts.

How to:

1) Cut and remove the collars from the shirts. Make sure you cut the collar after the seam where it is attached to the rest of the shirt.

2) Place out the beads and studs etc on one side of the collar and rearrange them until you’re happy with how it looks.

3) Sew down the beads, studs and other embellishments onto the side of the collar that you like. Repeat the pattern on the other side of the collar.

4) Unpick the button on the neck of the collar.

5) Turn in the tab of cloth where the button was before and sew it down with hand stitches towards the neckline. Do this also on the tab of fabric with the button hole.

6) Attach the hook and eye as in the photo above, to attach the collar at the neck.

Thanks to Kelly Brbich at www.thehouseofphotography.com for the amazing images.

If you’re looking to find the tools to create this project you can check out our exclusive Cheapnchic.net Do-It-Yourself in Dubai Directory http://cheapnchic.net/directory/.

 

DIY Detachable Collar Workshop at The Change Initiative February 9th

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Our first DIY workshop over the weekend was so successful. As a result of the front page press for Cheapnchic.net in 7 Days, the Al Maraya Art Centre had to turn down 21 women who called. On the day of the event we had 23 people show up for a 15 people workshop. More on that to come when I get a moment to blog about it.

For now though please get set to enjoy our next workshop on February 9th. The project is a little bit harder than DIY Arm Candy but these collars are even more rewarding.

Please read the above flyer really carefully. You will need to buy tickets in advance and also bring an old men’s business shirt with a collar which can be cut off. Here’s me wearing mine at last weekend’s workshop.

DIY Detachable Pom Pom Collar

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Pom poms make me happy! Don’t ask me why, they just do! I had been racking my brain on how to make cool detachable collars for my latest workshop. It’ll be coming to The Change Initiative on February 9th and it’s such a green project because you are reusing old clothes. So here is what I made:

That’s me smiling above! Thankyou to Kelly from www.thehouseofphotography.com for the stunning pictures.

You’ll need an old men’s shirt with a collar, a hook and eye, needle and thread, glue gun and assorted colours pom pom trim.

Start by removing the pompoms by cutting them off the trim. Cut the collar off the shirt below the seam which joins it to the shirt. From there, remove the button which attaches the collar at the neck. Take the 2 tabs of fabric (where the button was on one side and where the button hole is on the other side) which jut out from around the collar and fold them inwards and hand stitch them in. Then sew the hook and eye on to join the collar together. After this get the glue gun out and cover the collar with pom poms.

It’s a project you won’t wear everyday but it’s so fun and happy. I love it.

DIY Christmas Part 3: DIY Body Scrub

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Have you ever been in a position where you have forgotten to buy someone a present. They’re already in your house, you can hear their voice! Oh no! they’re approaching and you’ve bought NOTHING for them!

This is the easiest, fastest yet most substantial thing I’ve made yet. Also, it’s my very first Beauty DIY on the site and I hope to add loads more body scrubs and masks on here as time goes on.

Here are the 2 different scrubs I made for my loved ones this Christmas:

What you’ll need: sugar, olive oil, essential oil (I used peppermint and lavender), pepper kernels.

Slop them all in a mixing bowl until the consistency looks like this:

From there just place the scrub in a lovely vintage jar with a nice tight lid.

Now the packaging is where you really can make this look like something special. I loved visiting craft fetes as a child and seeing jams topped with cloth covers. This can be achieved by simply using a medium-sized plate as a template, placing it on top of the cloth, cutting the cloth into a circle with pinking shears (zig zag scissors) and then securing with a rubber band and some ribbon.

The below peppermint and pepper scrub is for a man, so I used some vintage cloth with more masculine shapes and a rustic bell to top of the “festive” feeling.

This is probably my last post before Christmas. I want to wish you all my love. Thankyou for supporting Cheapnchic.net and also me throughout this year. Much love.

Here some other gift wrapping options:

 

DIY Christmas Part 2: Aussie White Christmas Slice

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I can’t cook, it’s no big secret but this amazing Christmas treat is so easy to make that even I could get it together. I just love it because it tastes so Christmassy and reminds me of my Childhood in Australia. It’s called White Christmas slice; probably because we never had snow in Australia. It looks dazzling when packaged in a nice jar as a gift.

Here’s what you’ll need. The favours of white chocolate and mixed dried fruit are so festive!

The full details are here.

Soon you’ll have a slice that can be cut like this.

I’ve upcycled my Detox Delight jars again here and feel happy knowing minimal packaging has gone into these babies. Merry Christmas and enjoy these treats!

 

Ethical Muse and the Dubai International Film Festival Gifting Lounge

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As you know Cheapnchic.net takes a special interest in ethical fashion, upcycling and special labels who have special missions. I was invited to the VIP Gifting Lounge for a second time. The lounge furnishes visiting superstars like Cate Blanchett, Frieda Pinto and Richard Gere with local and international brands during film festivals and sporting events like the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In the lounge I came across Ethical Muse. The line features beach bags handmade in Uganda to help “weave out poverty” with exquisite cow horn handles. The IPAD covers Cate Blanchett grabbed were created with 48 plastic bags from waste in the Philippines and the brand’s bracelets are made from 100% recycled beads hand crafted by women in Uganda to provide income for their families.

As a for profit venture, Ethical Muse’s mission is to design and source high quality, recycled and sustainable accessories and bring awareness of global social causes to consumers.

The lovely ladies (above), Cathy (a fellow Aussie Chinese) and Christina gifted me their amazing Koko bag. I wore it to the Dove Real Beauty by Real Women book launch the following day. The Koko bag is red because it supports World AIDS Day December 1st. It’s handmade in Ethiopia from local leather and lined with fairly traded fabrics.

This bag has also been worn by none other than Kris Jenner as seen below:

The girls from Ethical Muse were not the only cool ones in the lounge. Just take a look at the amazing brands below.

It was a dazzling night and I want to thank Storylines, T Junction, Ocoo Beauty Drink, Natura Bisse, Bastien, Malaak and Moet and Chandon for the generous gifts. Thanks also to Miss Selfridge for the dress I am wearing in this blog.

 

DIY Jewellery Storage

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Make your jewellery your artwork! I am serious. When you live in a tiny apartment in a big city, storage is bound to be an issue. A lot of other DIY blogs like to copy images from other sites but I am trying to make the content on here 100% Simone Heng created.

This post is no different. All of these images are from my apartment and I hope they show you that instead of stashing your accessories away, you can build them into your apartment. Do let me know what you think in the comments!

The gorgeous photography is courtesy of Kelly Brbich at www.thehouseofphotography.com

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