Cheap Chic Wedding Dresses Made of Toilet Paper!

Brides-to-be, listen up - there's a new way to cut costs for the wedding. Apparently every year a contest is held to make the most creative, beautiful wedding dress out of toilet paper. These dresses are so impressive! Check out the the winning designs below. I'm so amazed by the detail and the flow of the dresses - who knew toilet paper could be shaped quite so well! Just goes to show that true fashion designers are not limited by the materials on hand :P It's all about craftsmanship and enormous creativity.

DIY (or not): Obi-style corset belt

I don't remember the name of the etsy seller who first turned me on to obi-style wrap belts (unfortunately, she is now inactive), but I clearly remember the belts themselves: neat lines, intricately patterned Japanese fabrics printed in blacks, browns, reds and golds with sakura all over them.  They seem very forgiving of all body types, as the wrap style allows you to adjust them for a very snug fit (and will hide multiple pooches).

They made such a stunning, dramatic statement that I wanted to buy one really badly before I realized: this should be one of the easiest projects for the beginning seamstress, one who, say, had a reliable machine and yards of brightly colored fabrics at her disposal, and was ready to move on from cushions and curtains (like me!).  Since then it's been on that vague, someday-I'll-get-to-it list of things to do.

I recently had another nudge in this direction when I came across an even more inventive version by desirapesta, which looks a bit more like a corset.  But no more difficult to make, I think, if one measures and cuts carefully.  Then I totally fell in love with the ones made out of leather at LedThread...they are so sleek, so brightly colored, and so gorgeous!

I decided I really want to make myself an obi-style corset belt or three... first using the batik fabric I picked up in Kuala Lumpur, and then maybe if I can get my hands on some scrap leather and a tougher needle for my sewing machine!  I'll keep you guys posted on the results.

Re-inventing silver sandals

Until I can afford to throw $900 on a pair of shoes, I suppose I'll make do with what I have, with a little creativity.

I got these silver sandals for a wedding for which I'm a bridesmaid.  Not wanting to break the bank, I got some nondescript RSVP sandals from 6pm.com for very little.  I was actually impressed with the quality - the soles are made out of leather, not rubber.  They were, though, a bit ho-hum.

Enter: Garry's signature studded belt, which he's worn to death over the last 1.5 years.  It finally fell apart and before he could throw it away, I confiscated it.  I found the studs easy to remove with a screwdriver, and even simpler to apply to the straps of these sandals...they fit perfectly, like they were made for each other. 

I definitely was not going for any specific pattern and eschewed symmetry in favor of a more "abstract expressionist" approach, just adding studs where they felt right.  I'm pretty happy with the result, and they'll be a nice surprise peeking out from under my formal dress.