M&J Blog

Rev Up a Classic Shawl with Biker Chic Embellishments

September 22, 2009 at 12:48 PM Roseann 6 comments

By Roseann

Biker influenced details will be seen everywhere this fall such as; fringe, studs, zippers, and other hardware.  Although this is a trend that has been seen time and time again, designers this season are pairing the hardened classic look with more feminine pieces like gowns and flirty skirts. Although it’s not quite time to pull on a leather biker jacket, the weather is quite right for soft jersey knit shawl.  I experimented with some ultra suede fringe and antique brass nailheads and am quite please with the contrasting robust embellishments on a soft draped fabric.

 Materials

• 2 yards of cotton or silk jersey knit fabric or a shawl purchased or preowned
• 2 packages Ss30 Dome Nailheads 4-ProngStyle: 04030
• 2 yards of 2″ Faux Leather Cut Fringe Style: 30246, I used a 6” fringe Style: 00807-bk which can be purchased by calling 1-800-9mjtrim.
• 1 bottle Gem-Tac Glue 4 Oz. Style: 29471
• 1 Ez Rhinestone Setter Set Style: 39318, or Brisk-Set Rhinestone Setter Style: 16512 and Nailhead Adapter for Brisk-Set Style: 16509 if you plan to work more frequently with nailheads.  The latter setter is more expensive, but will save you an immense amount of time.

 Directions

• Cut fabric down to 1 yard wide, or the desirable width you’d like for your shawl to be.  Finish ends with a sewing machine.
• Cut your fringe into two 1 yard pieces and sew to the short ends of the shawl.
• Choose which side you’d like to embellish.  Then measure up 16” on the right side and mark.  Using a yard stick create marking for studs in a straight line 1” apart beginning at the bottom left corner to the 16” mark on the right hand side.  Be sure to create your marking on the wrong side of the fabric. Since I used a black fabric I used a whiteout pen to make my marks, a paint marker will work equally as well.
• Continue with another line of markings 1 ½” bellow the first, repeat until you have created 7 diagonal lines.
• Now you are going to add each of your nailheads to the markings on the fabric using your setter.  Since jersey is such a light weight fabric I added a drop of Gem-Tac to the back of each nailhead.  I notice that the prongs are more likely to come out of the fabric if you don’t secure it with a little glue.  You are also going to want to let your glue dry for a full 24 hours before wearing.
• Enjoy!

Entry filed under: Fashion. Tags: DIY Accessories, DIY Fashion, Embellishment, Fashion, Fringe.