Yes thank you Wolfmammy. I seem to find a lot more punk-oriented sites than goth-oriented. :/

Anywho, I can think of two more websites that aren't goth-targeted, but I find a lot of them hang out on it: Cut Out + Keep and Craftster. I don't go onto the latter as much, but I really prefer the former. They're both nice and cozy to share your projects and your tutorials (I like them a lot more than DeviantArt because there isn't a large demand to be a)perfect or b)popular. Plus they focus almost entirely on artisan crafts). I'm a member on CO+K. Is anyone else?

Rozz, is that you?

No problem, Doom_Baby & Carpi(I like that better than 'CDP', is that okay?). I was looking up some DIY projects a while back and that's one of my faves. I'm not a member anywhere else, but I have looked at Craftster.

There was a place one time that a girl posted instructions on how to make a corset. Site's not up anymore, though. Although it's not something for a starter to tackle, it's not as scary as it sounds.

Like Centurion, I make a lot of my own accessories(armwarmers, earrings, chokers, hair stuff) and it's really not hard at all. Some things could be time-consuming if you don't have a sewing machine, though.

I'm on Cut Out + Keep a lot. It's a great place to find easy to understand tutorials, as well as look at other people's work to generate your own ideas. I also really like the tutorials on DeviantArt. I mostly look in the Artisan Craft section, but it's hard to find anything new very often. People don't post there very often. Thread Banger is another good one.

Elizabethan Costume has a generator for a custom corset pattern. I haven't used it yet, myself.

Thanks for the link Doom Baby. I looked at the overview of an Elizabethan outfit, and - whew. I don't know. Peasant life seems to be more relieving, considering what you have to do just to go to the bathroom if you were upperclass.

It says that it would take an hour and a half to get dressed (including hair and make-up), and I suppose so with all of that stuff you had to put on. Kinda funny how in the modern era, it takes us a half an hour just to choose what t-shirt we're going to wear. ^_^;

I haven't been on ThreadBangers much, only to find a tutorial on how to make a tube top. But I do have a DIY book by one of the people who frequents that website. She wrote a book on how you can reconstruct a t-shirt in 101 ways (or maybe it was 99...).

I think there are a few reasons for the lack of DIY, but there is also a resurgence of DIY. Let me explain-

The motivations for DIY have to be examined- the reason people used to make everything:
1. Cost - goods were made generally by hand, and of extremely high quality. The amount of time/effort to make something made it cost quite a bit (and things were meant to last, so you bought less, requiring higher price tag when you DO buy)- so people would just make things themselves.

As costs come down, the cost-benefit changes because you are in essence "buying your time"- which leads into the 'mindset'- why are you making your stuff yourself? Personally I make my own things for a few reasons- I want things that you can't buy (unique)- I want things that last (quality these days seems to be in the toilet)- I enjoy the creative process. Not everyone feels this way I'm sure.

Being male in the goth scene is even more difficult, fewer options for clothing, etc. So DIY is born out of necessity.

Case in point- I wanted a Harry Potter scarf for myself- all scarves were either too small, cheaply made, or horribly expensive. My solution? I taught myself to knit. So now I have have a new skill, and a Harry Potter scarf that is over 20 feet long and pretty good quality.

I also think that many people that would be DIYers simply lack the skills to do much of the DIY they would want to.

Just my $0.02.

I'm still VERY BIG on DIY stuff. Not so much clothing, but I make a lot of my own ham radio equipment, and many of the specialized tools I need, as money is short. Working on things for myself, my labor doesn't cost anything, and is factored into my entertainment time.

That's really cool KingDiamond. Clearly, DIY does not only apply to home goods and such.

And I want to make a Harry Potter scarf as well. I only know one knitting technique, but that'll do. I was planning on making a Ravenclaw scarf, since that's the house I have more in common with (one of their traits is intelligence and creativity ).

I made Slytherin

Awesome.

Many people are often unaware that DIY is pretty much its own little culture, drawing inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Here and here. And this doesn't only apply for making your own clothes and electronics.

And I found another goth-oriented DIY site: Dark DIY

If any of you have taken a gander at it, who else really wants to try out that underbust corset project? I think that would be a nice winter break project for me.

I am appreciative of DIY, don't get me wrong here. I admire the people that actually take time to create their clothing, it makes it unique and tbh, when done well, looks much better than the manufactured clothing. I, however, do not participate in DIY for three reasons:

-I can't sew for shit
-I am extremely unskilled in all things crafting, I have a hard time cutting out those paper fold snowflakes for godsake
-I have no money, and little patience for those types of things

so I will support those DIYers who are willing to sell their work and I will buy their stuff when I do actually get money, and I will continue to admire them.

I hope I'm doing my part here lol

Well, at least you gave it a shot, so I won't be so hard on you.

I have always had people say to me either, "hey can you make me this and I'll pay you?" or, "you should start selling your stuff."

Now, I'm sorta alright with doing an occassional commission, but what some of these people (mainly from my high school experience) do is that they find out that I have a particular skill, and then they go way out of proportion, commissioning these esquisite and elaborate project that hell - I either don't have time to do or are not at my skill level.

For the latter, it'd be nice to start my own shop, but, the problem is that I don't feel really comfortable doing it. I mean, I started doing the whole DIY thing so I wouldn't have to buy heavily priced items from these sellers who DIY the clothes themselves, and it would be pretty hypocritical of me to sell stuff that I made myself that I encourage other to do also, no?

I like leaving hobbies as a hobby.

One way to get into DIY is to modify existing items.

I buy stuff all the time with plans to alter it or use it for the material. However, I'm not very apt at sewing so I find that what I end up with is either exactly as I pictured it, or so bad that I end up ruining whatever I am working with. There never seems to be any middle ground.

I just finished a velvet dress I was working on two or three works ago, only to find that I won't be going to the wedding I made it for, so now that's gone into the pile of clothes in front of the closet with all the other stuff I never wear. As I got it, it was this really tacky 80s spaghetti strap dress in a red & black rose print with this ~4" long ruffle that ran across the hem. I ended up removing the ruffle, shortened it by ~4 inches from the hem so that it would be knee length, re-heming it, redid the sides of the paneling so it would be form fitting when I wear one of my corsets under it, and then used all the extra material to make a fishtail design on the back, and then used the ruffle material to make an ^ shaped ruffle to boarder the top of the fishtail. I also debated dying it black at that point, which I'm still somewhat tempted to do because then I'd probably get more use out of it.

It kinda makes me regret how much stuff I've either thrown out or donated away in the past. Now virtually everything I discard goes into a pile where I can scavenge for material, trim, etc.

Well, I am about to jump head first into the DIY field and start by making myself a skirt! It will be so basic, it's not funny (length of fabric, hem the bottom, add elastic in a waistband at the top, sew together and wear) but I'm sick of being ripped off for crap clothes that fall apart and are not really what I wanted in the first place (usually I have to compromise because of my size)! So I'm going to attempt to make my own crap clothes, instead

I have nothing to lose and if it looks dreadful, well, at least I gave it a shot (of course my late grandmother, the professional dressmaker would be turning in her grave at the very thought of what I plan to do to the black velveteen fabric in the bag at my feet!) If all else fails, I can use it to make cushion covers or leave it out for the cat to sleep on

-- Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:28 pm --

Another thing I was going to try was regarding t-shirts.

I like picture t-shirts, and I'd love a skull one (but the ones I like are all too small)... I've seen the shirt I like and I was thinking of buying it, cutting off the picture and sewing it (or sticking it with fabric glue) onto one of my black shirts... so that it looks like a giant patch.

Has anyone ever done something like that, and if so how did it turn out?

I went to Jo-Anns, and they had another incredible $.99 pattern sale. Unfortunately, all of the corset, bustier, and bodice patterns that I wanted were gone in my size. But I least I compensated, because I have a ton of patterns on my wishlist.

So now, I just need to stock up on more fabric (even though my aunt took me to this great fabric warehouse, and I got some fabric for half of my plans; but I still need more!).

A member from my environmental club is having a costume party, and I'm planning on my dressing as a fairy. I was going to make a completely different skirt, but I want to save my money on fabric (for that and other projects). The good thing about a goth wardrobe is that it's versatile for a lot of costume events, so I am instead planning on wearing one of my black skirts, a black bustier, and I'll just make my own fairy wings.

With help from Emilie Autumn's lovely tutorial on how to make fairy wings. <3