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Suzanne Carillo

40+ Adventurous style solutions for the uncommon woman

Embroidered Leather Dress DIY

by

I’ve had embroidered leather on my mind for some time now.

I bought these iron on embroidered patches in Hong Kong for this project and was inspired by Gucci’s over-the-top embroidered and embellished pieces.

DIY embroidered leather dress by suzanne carillo
Pleather shift dress – Talize, Vintage groovy booties – Talize

How To:  Embroidered Leather Dress DIY

*Important TIP*

If you buy faux leather or pleather you cannot iron on the patches, it will melt the pleather.

Nor can you use the iron on patches on leather as it will crack the leather.

 

Poo!

So much for the simple version of this DIY.

embroidered leather dress DIY by suzanne carillo

 

Originally I tried to use glue to adhere these patches…that didn’t work either.

During the photoshoot I noticed a few black specks on the ground around me. Those were the rhinestones popping off like popcorn.

You can even see where a few had popped off at the bottom of the dress on this photo.

embroidered leather shift dress DIY by suzanne carillo over 40 style for the uncommon woman

 

Insert very unhappy face here.

I noticed later that if I just lifted the edges of the patches a bit they also popped right off.

So this is what I learned…

Glue is essentially useless on pleather.

Be prepared to spend some serious time sewing these patches on by hand or with a machine if you are very skilled.

I lifted all the rhinestones off and replaced them with serious metal studs and sewn on jewellery rhinestones.

I also sewed on square sequins by hand. I machine and hand stitched the patches on and I have the pin cushion poked fingers tips to prove it.

This thrifted pleather dress was a real labour of love!

DIY embroidered iron on patches leather dress by suzanne carillo


DIY Gucci inspired leather dress by suzanne carillo

DIY embroidered leather dress by suzanne carillo style for women over 40

What I thought would be a quickie DIY turned into a long term dedication of time and energy.

I wore this on my recent blogger meet-up with Sherry, Sue and Mel in Vancouver.  We were at Talize thrifting here.

 

sue suzanne mel sherry blogger meet-up vancouver june 2017

Here I am showing off the dress on the sky train on the way back into the city.

Never let it be said that I turn down a dare! Ha ha!

Have you ever started a DIY project that turned out to be much more labour intensive than originally thought? Did you complete it? Or give up?

 

If you liked this embroidered project make sure to see the recent embroidered blazer DIY, the embroidered bomber jacket DIY, my painted jeans DIY and my fun floral clutch DIY.

 

 

Linking up with the lovely Patti over at Visible Monday.

 

 

Links à la Mode, June 15th

SPONSOR: Amazon’s Shopbop Fleur du Mal, Calvin Klein Underwear, VETIVER Dresses, We Are Kindred, Vatanika, Emma Pake, Hobo Bags, Loafers, Floral Lace Dresses, Men’s Stussy

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Comments

  2. Anne M Bray says

    I now have intimate knowledge of shoemaker’s glue, which of course works on leather. It’s SUPER rubber cement. The secret handshake? Brush on both surfaces, LET IT DRY COMPLETELY (heat gun/ blow dryer speeds up drying), THEN press the pieces together. THEN hammering it with a rounded peen hammer will make it even more secure — pressure activates the glue. Would this work for pleather? Maybe?
    We used “EMU SAR 36”.

    Your sewing effort was heroic! I know how it gets when one becomes determined. Super powers activate!

    Job well done, it turned out great. LOVE the tiger!

    • suzanne carillo says

      I need to search this out for my leather projects maybe…although I must say it sounds almost as labour intensive as stitching them on. Also there would be an issue with managing to put it on both surfaces since these patches are very detailed I’d have to trace onto the leather where it would sit and then paint the glue in afterwards.

      Thanks for the tips though! If it works on shoes it should really be able to withstand almost everything.

  3. Marilee Gramith says

    Yikes! You did a beautiful job of choosing some perfect pieces of embroidery and then working through the pitfalls of glue. When I glued patches to my leather bomber I was able to find a glue that worked on plastic and used a similar technique to the one described by Anne B. So far, so good. However, I’ve done some beading on a suede jacket and I know that it is tedious and difficult. I started it over 10 years ago and it’s still not complete!
    This dress really is spectacular Suzanne! One of a kinds are worth the effort eh?

    • suzanne carillo says

      Yeah the only reason I do this kind of thing is to have a one-of-a-kind piece.

      Were the patches you glued on detailed with lots of little bits and points? That is my issue with these. I wonder if the glue you used would still work on something like this.

      Beading on a suede jacket? I’m intrigued! Photos please!

  4. Vix says

    I don’t know what I love the most, your tiger embellished pleather dress or you pole dancing on the train. Brilliant!
    Funnily enough Jon’s currently glueing Velcro to a fake leather car seat and his language is shocking! xxx

  6. Melanie says

    Hahaha – I love that video. I couldn’t (well, could) believe that you’d do it. I almost expected you to take off the dress! Funny thing is, nobody on the train batted an eye.

    That dress is all kinds of amazing. Your DIYs are the best, Suzanne. Talk about what you can accomplish with determination. And of course those patches were also too good not to use. The dress is beyond Gucci, as Sue has said. And those boots with it, right on!

    • suzanne carillo says

      Yes, remember…I was going to jump on that bull had it not been for my dress ; P

      Aren’t the boots FAB??? With big red dots on them. I couldn’t take them to Vancouver though…too much walking and the possibility of rain.

  7. Veronica Cooke says

    It may have been a labour of love but it is unique and no one else in the world has the same dress! It looks fabulous on you btw. I love the modest white shirt underneath it and the boots with the red thingies on them are marvellous…

    Have a great week.

    bisous

  8. terrigardner1 says

    Thank you for having all those links-I checked out all your DIYs, I do a lot of sewing but not too much embellishing. You have inspired me to think about adding a bit to some things I own. Today’s whole look just looks smashing on you. I especially like you queen tiger!

  9. Ann says

    What patience you have Suzanne. I’d have thrown in the towel long ago. But the end result is fabulous and so is your pole dance on the train! xxx

  10. Anna Parkes says

    One day I hope to traverse the globe to meet up with all you lovely ladies!

    In the meantime, I have high hopes to copy something like this onto my old leather jacket. Sewing projects do get me excited, but sometimes the challenge just proves to be too big. ( Ahem, my recovering of sofa is currently hidden under a throw while I regroup and hope to find the enthusiasm to start again,)

    Anna x

    • suzanne carillo says

      It’d be so great if you could come for a visit Anna! The only issue is that I live on one side of Canada and Sue and Mel live on the opposite side…a 5.5 hr flight away. I have family that lives out that way.

      I’m much closer to you…only in Toronto, probably just a 6-7 hour flight for you. AND we have great thrift shopping here! Come on over! I’ll show you around.

  11. stinedurfdl says

    I saw this shot of outrageous awesomeness on Instagram and had to stop over to check it out in it’s full glory. Good lord, this is fabulous Suzanne! So tragic that the sparklies are popping off though. As non-DIY as I am, I have actually been considering heading to the craft store to pick up some embroidered patches to attach to things…now I have to because I’m inspired! I haven’t stop by in like…forever. So sorry for that, I do think that Instagram tends to make me lazy in my blog reading and I need to stop it!! Seeing the pictures and missing the stories is no bueno. xo
    Debbie
    http://www.fashionfairydust.com

    • suzanne carillo says

      Yes well everything was changed around and is now stitched on. I don’t have to worry about leaving a trail of rhinestones behind me ; P

      I’m terribly lazy about posting on IG and often miss posts.

      I’ve taken a reciprocal stance on commenting and visiting blogs now. One only has so much time.

  14. Theresa Campbell says

    Oh yeah. I’ve started many a project that ended up taking much longer than I thought. Got one going right now that is taking forever! Like you, I won’t give up if I’m really motivated by an idea. And your idea for blinging out that pleather dress was brilliant. Even though it took more time, I like the look of the studs and the sewn on rhinestones. Your talent knows no bounds! And how the heck do you have the time to do all that, plus blog, post stuff on Etsy and model on a train? You are truly an inspiration.

  15. Porcelina says

    You’ve totally captured the Gucci aesthetic, at a mere snip of the price! Too bad it took so much effort. Ah well, it’s a learning curve! Looking fabulous, love the strutting on the tube too x

  17. Hannah | The Outfit Repeater says

    Sewing on patches is the bane of my existence but, on the bright side, all that mindless sewing gives me time to catch up on TV or some YouTube videos! BTW Did you use regular glue or fabric glue? It could make a big difference!

    Hannah | The Outfit Repeater

      • Hannah | The Outfit Repeater says

        Well that’s a bummer! I had a similar dilemma years ago trying to glue clear plastic vinyl to itself. I must have tried every glue on the market! There was one that finally worked but heck if I remember what it was. I gave up on that project! lol

  18. Sheela Goh says

    It looks FANTASTIC, Suzanne. And without having read your story, I’d never known it gave you so much grief. Do you think it’d survive being cleaned? Shame though, the end results are truly quite spectacular xoxo

  19. Shelley@ForestCityFashionista says

    I love this outfit, and those awesome ankle boots!!! Kudos to you for the patience to keep at it until you were able to successfully embellish that dress. I get these grandiose ideas for DIY projects and they never come to fruition. I’m more of a “supporter of other people’s creative projects”.

  20. Señora Allnut says

    woaaa, you rock that gucci-esque style!, well done, even if it was so time consuming!. So cool!!
    I think I would give up as I hate to sew embroideries, they’re hard as stones!. And yes, I’ve started a DIY project which resulted so time consuming that I finished in a bad mood, even hating the whole thing! that’s not fun!
    besos

  21. stylecrone says

    I am always amazed by your creativity! Absolutely spectacular! A powerful look and perfect for a blogger meet up!

  24. No Fear of Fashion says

    I am the “giving up” type. And I think this dress now looks SUPER. And bloody expensive. Great job. Big cheer. And of course nobody flinched on th sky train. You just looked good. Period.
    Greetje

  27. Anja says

    You’re one persistent cookie, you know that?! Amazing! Same as with the repainted dress. Unbelievable.

    I would have given up pretty quickly.

    But the result is awesome. Well done and what a fab look!

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