I got this email, outlining Task #2:
My name is Jane Quimby and I’m Gray’s assistant. Nice to meet you by e-mail! Gray asked me to brief you on your next challenge. Style icons can be an important source of inspiration. Who is your style icon? Is it your mother or a favorite aunt? A celebrity or an athlete? A world leader or rock star?
Find the plain white t-shirt in your trunk. Using items around your house or your office, create a design on the t-shirt inspired by your fashion icon. Then, put the shirt on your dress form and post a photo of it to your blog, along with an entry that talks about how your design was inspired by your fashion icon. Ask your readers to tell you about their style icons here and mention the name of your blog. If Gray can tolerate your writing style & appreciates your ingenuity, you will proceed to the next phase of the interview process.
Well, I have a ton of style icons. Check out my entire Girl Crush series. But for this task, I was inspired by the one, the only, Drew Barrymore.
The thing about Drew's style is that it's really hard to classify. She's a little bit hippie, a little bit glam, and a little bit rocker chick. It all comes together for a whole lot of sexy, fun-loving confidence. Drew rocks.
(Who is your style icon? Tell us about it on the Jane by Design Facebook page and tell them What the Frock? sent you.)
So, when I started my t-shirt redesign, I asked myself, WWDW? Something hippie/glam/rocker, no doubt. And then I got to work on a no-sewing-required design. Because I am not crafty. Not at all.
I was going to post step-by-step DIY instructions, but to be honest, I totally winged this. I used dye, scissors, lace trim, fabric glue, and some velvet ribbon and an old brooch that I had lying around. And here's the result:
I hope that Drew would approve.
What? You really want the instructions? Well, okay, if you insist!
Materials: a white tee, grey fabric dye (I used Tulip brand in grey), fabric glue, lace trim, black velvet ribbon and an old brooch.
How I Did It:
- First, I dyed the tee per the package instructions. I purposely didn't stir it that well and didn't leave the in the dye as long as I was supposed to, because I wanted the tee to be kind of blotchy and distressed-looking.
- After the tee was dyed, washed and dried, I cut it into a one-shoulder shape.
- I cut lengths of lace trim and used fabric glue to attach it to the tee. I didn't feel like measuring, so I just eyeballed it, but it came out pretty even.
- After the fabric glue dried, I attached a vintage brooch and some lengths of ribbon for an extra embellishment on the shoulder. But it's completely removable.
And that's it! Easy peasy!
I hope that I make it to Task #3. These challenges have been, well, challenging, but I'm having a blast!
P.S. Check out another sneak peek of Jane by Design!
