If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen that I was making myself a DIY co-ord, as well as a cute matching hairband. Co-ords have been a massive hit this summer with a lot of them ranging around the £30 price range or more for the set. I have even seen individual sellers on instagram who make them to order for £35 at a pop. HUGE mark up!! The entire cost of making this set me back a mere £7 (BARGAIN), apart from the time that goes into it why would you buy one when you can make it yourself with the material of your choice and for a massive fraction of the price! A lot of people were interested to see how I made it and wanted to give it a go themselves so here are my step by step instructions as to how to make a DIY co-ord according to the one above. The shorts are a standard design really but there are soo many different styles out there that you can make for the top which i might feature in some other posts if anyone is interested. If you want to have a go at making a hair scrunchie also (a lot easier) then i posted about that last year which you can read here.
Thread
Material of your choice (i bought 2m)
Elastic
Paper (for a template) or a ready made pattern
Scissors
Pins
How to make the shorts:
1. Either use a ready made shorts pattern in your size, pinterest have loads of free patterns to download (here) or they can be purchased in a sewing shop or you can even make a pattern from your favourite pair of shorts, which is what i did.
2. Lay out your fabric on a large flat surface and arrange your pattern/template going with the grain of the fabric. Then pin your pattern to the fabric and cut out. Tip - To save having to neaten the raw edges on the machine cut the fabric using pinking shears(see picture above).
3. Begin by threading the machine, i found this machine in particular very easy to thread.
4. With right sides together sew both the side seams first, followed by the crotch seam.You will now see the shorts taking shape.
5. At the waist of the shorts make a casing to fit your chosen size of elastic (i used 2cm wide elastic). Sew the casing in place leaving a small gap for you to thread the elastic in later. At the top edge do a small line of stitching right along the top which will help to hold the elastic in and make it look neater. There is no need to leave a gap.
6. Measure elastic to fit your waist measurements,attach a large safety pin to the end of the elastic and thread through the casing carefully. Sew the ends of the elastic together tightly by hand and neaten the gap you left either by machine or hand.
7. Hem the bottoms of the shorts for a neat finish and press the finished item!
How to make the top:
1. As above find a pattern for your desired taste. I used a pattern that i already had at home but made it a lot shorter, i always find crop tops look the best with co-ord shorts.
2. Lay out your fabric on a large flat surface and arrange your pattern/template going with the grain of the fabric. Then pin your pattern to the fabric and cut out.
3. Begin by threading the machine, i found this machine in particular very easy to thread.
4. This particular pattern had bust darts on either side and this was the first thing that i did.
5. With right sides together sew the front to the back. This pattern had a facing so also sew the side seams of this one in the same way. At this stage i had a top but the shoulders weren't joined together and also had a smaller facing of the same shape.
6. Then with right sides together sew the arm holes together and the neck together all the way around.
7. Turn everything the right way out and press - you should have a top with a neat edge but not joined at the shoulders yet.
8. Top stitch the complete neck and each arm hole.
9. Join the shoulders together as neatly as possible and top stitch to match.
10. Neatly finish the bottom hem by hand or machine and press the finished top!
There you have it your instructions to a DIY co-ord. I understand that it might seem quite complicated, but you will always find more help online or from youtube videos if you don't understand some of the names or techniques, or likewise drop me a tweet or email and i will be happy to help you. If you've never used a machine before i fully recommend the Janome sewing machine* from Hobby Craft as its a such a lightweight model, which came with an instruction book which was so easy to follow, i prefer it so much more to my other more heavy weight machine. This machine is so light that i can see i will be using it a lot more in the future. The machine costs £49 which is a brilliant price for such a detailed and compact machine. You can also view similar items from their vast range here. I am also thinking of doing future blog posts on how to use a sewing machine for a beginner, do let me know below if you would be interested in this! Thanks for reading, below are some more pictures of the finished co-ord!
Sandals - Topshop / Necklace - River Island / Sunglasses* - IceWatch
I took these photos in Santorini,Greece whilst on holiday, it really is a picture postcard place and the white backdrops everywhere are just perfect for outfit pictures.
Congrats if you made it to the end, it was long one! I hope you enjoyed reading my DIY post do let me know if you want to see more posts like this? What do you think of the co-ord? Would you have a go at making one? Do let me know if you have any questions about this or need anymore help!
*Products marked with an asterix (*) have been sent to me for review. However, all opinions in this post are 100% my own
