The pants I’ve posted already, here’s a guide I made to how to get started on your own.
The vest is new! I got the base off of Mercari and painted the Acid Bath, Minor Threat, and Fugazi patches. I haven’t worn it yet, I made it for summer when my pants get too heavy to wear.
The bag is something I made entirely out of scratch out of canvas. I painted the Dystopia logo and covered it in sashiko. It was supposed to be a bum flap, but it’s too cunty to sit on and I wanted a smaller bag anyways. The hardware wasn’t too hard to figure out, I bought the strap from Joaan’s and figured it out. The only expense was having to buy a grommet hole puncher :(
TLDR: Got materials from recycling centre, made a shoulder bag.
I’m avoiding getting things from shops, even though this may help some bigger picture of gross national product. There are literally millions of abandoned items out there in landfills, dug illegally in someone’s backyard, or dumped in the oceans.
Also unfortunately making things is a part of the consumerist cycle, although this has the somewhat happy effect of not financing companies who probably have their junk made in unfortunate sweatshops (although in some cases, people working in sweatshops may prefer them, since the alternative is homelessness and/or prostitution, gdi this world.)
So these days I’m in the habit of trying to get my crafting materials as well as my dresses, cardigans, skirts and coats from the Helsinki area recycling centre, as well as books, kitchen utensils, tools, curtains, and so on, and so on. The shoulder bag I made for myself (in the picture) is made mostly of recycled materials, with the lining, the top material, the accenty edgy blue thing I have no word for in English right now, and the shoulder strap all made from what more or less seemed like old junk at the thrift store (the shoulder strap especially! it was very dirty when I got it, it had an 80s packaging, and it was 100 % mercerized cotton made in Italy.)
The new parts are the metal bits, and the iron-on stiffening fabric on the inside of the bag. I could have gotten recycled metal bits by finding the right kind of bag, taking it apart, and reusing the parts, but I couldn’t find an ugly enough bag or a bag in such poor condition that I would have felt comfortable putting a knife to it. In total, with the fusing, the metal bits, and the fabrics and the shoulder strap, the whole project cost 15 €, of which all the recycled materials cost me 5 € (and I’ve still bits left.)
All in all, not a bad project.
(That’s a black tutu underneath. I made it for ballet class and I still haven’t attached buttons to the waistband, so I close it with safety pins at the moment >.>)
I really love DIY tote bags and I recently made some my self. It's very easy and fun,and of course a bit messy from time to time. What you need is a plain,basic tote bag (I'm sure you'll be able to find them at the craft or Dollar store),some acrylic paint (you choose the colour) and of course a design of your choice(you can find some on the internet or just make one yourself).And you obviously need paint brushes,some cardboard/paper and some tissues. For beginners I recommend you start with a simple design (emojis,lines,circles, squares etc.).
TUTORIAL
First,you must prepare the bag for painting.Lay the bag on a flat surface and put cardboard /paper inside the bag so that the paint doesn't transfer to the other side(of your bag).
Then you prepare the paint brushes and the acrylic paint you'll use.You can trace the design onto the bag with a pencil ,but I personally didn't do that since I did a pretty basic design. After you sketch the design,start painting the bag with the paint. Now you can do multiple layers of paint depending on how thick or thin your paint is. If you decide to do multiple layers of paint,make sure that the layers are dry before you add new layers.Wait for the paint to dry completely.
To make the paint last longer,turn the bag inside out ,put cardboard/paper inside the bag. Once you do that,iron both sides of the bag(WHILE STILL INSIDE OUT!!!).Also once you decide to wash the bag,wash it inside out so that your design doesn't get damaged. And that's it!Have fun!