♬ DIY Tattoo Tights ♬ | Make Thrift Buy #36

Hey! Welcome to Make Thrift Buy, the show
where you send in stuff that you want me to

try and recreate, and then sometimes, I recreate
it! Now, I’ve done musical-themed items

on this show before, like this pleated piano-skirt
dress, and today’s challenge is along the

same lines – which is, these musical note
tights! Thank you Boomer Love for the suggestion!

Now the original tights are from… ebay?
Maybe? This is an item that appears to be

sold out absolutely everywhere that I looked,
which makes it a perfect candidate for some

DO-IT-YOURSELF. So let’s begin!

The important materials that I’m going to
need are a pair of tights – and I actually

have like 5 packets of these sheer white tights
from the 80s that were given to me by a family

friend, so this was $0 for me – but it is
really really easy to find these kind of tights

in thrift shops.
I’m also going to need a black marker –

now, my one is an actual fabric marker, but laundry-safe permanent markers will work fine as well.

Now the first method that I tried out involved
getting myself a big old piece of cardboard.

The next step was remembering that I should
probbbably at least make an effort to brush my hair.

Yep.

Anyway, I rolled the piece of cardboard up
into a leg-sized tube like so.

I then taped up the tube so that it stayed
this shape.

Then, I stretched the tights over the cardboard
tube like soooo.

Why do I feel like I’m giving instructions
for a highschool health class-

– and then I started drawing some musical
notes!

Now if you’re anything like me and your
artistic skills aren’t AMAZING, then you’ll

want to practice drawing some beforehand on
a piece of paper, and then keep these pictures

nearby for reference while you’re drawing
on your tights.

You can even print out an image of the shape
that you want to trace over, stick this on

your tube, and then use it as a template to
guide you.

While drawing the notes onto the tights, I
put one arm inside the tube to help the tube

keep its cylindrical shape. Because the marker
will snag on this fabric, I found that the

best way to go about drawing was to first
dot an outline of the shape of a musical note,

and then to fill in the outline using small,
quick strokes, like this.

And then I basically just repeated this with
a number of different musical notes for both legs!

And before I show you all what they looked
like, I also did a second pair of tights with

MORE musical notes on them, using a slightly
different method.

Now, this is a method that you can use if
you don’t have any cardboard paper but you

have some tights and a marker and you want
to get started on this project right away.

THIS method involved covering my legs with
paper, so I wouldn’t get pen all over my

legs, and then drawing on my musical notes.
Because this pair had many more musical notes

on it than the other pair, it took me around
~3 hours to complete. And gave me a sore back.

I would not recommend this method if you plan
on doing a really detailed design like this.

Anyway, I put about double the amount of musical
notes on this pair because I think that it

makes it look closer to the original.

I also made a pair with lettering, which I
did by printing out my letters and then tracing

over them, and a pair with a cherry-pattern,
using my coloured fabric markers!

Anyway - how did they turn out?

[music plays]

[record scratch sound, music abruptly stops]

Annnnd there's a hole in my tights.

[music resumes]

[record scratch sound, music stops abruptly]

Are you kidding me.

No matter how good your designs are, if you're
going to be working with sheer tights, prepare

yourself for some heartbreak. These rips and
ladders happened AFTER I worked on the design,

and before you mention it, it's not just because
I was using thrifted retro tights - the ones

that I used for the MAKE, THRIFT design were
actually brand new!

Sheer tights are the worst.
They’re the worst.

Seriously why do they even exist? Why do we
even wear them? WHY ARE THEY A THING!? I don’t

think that I’ve ever had a pair of sheer
tights last me, rip-free, for more than 1

wear. Has anybody out there??
IS THE WHOLE WORLD MAD?

So with this musical pair of tights - while
they worked really well, I don’t even think

that I’m ever going to wear them again because
they took me 3 hours to make and the disappointment

when they rip – WHICH THEY WILL DO – will
be far too soul-crushing. So, I can’t do

it. So, my conclusion is:

[scissor snipping, zipper sound effect]

BUT… use thicker tights. And it’s not
like you can buy these anymore, anyway, so

that does kind of cross out "buy" from the
whole make thrift buy equation.

Most tights you get online are super thin
and flimsy anyway – I actually bought a

whole bunch of tattoo tights when they were
really popular a few years ago, and after

one or two wears - they all got holes in them!
Of course I have kept them all because I can’t

bear to just THROW clothes away… even though
these are no longer useful to anybody which

is why... SHEER TIGHTS JUST MAKE NO SENSE.
But, anyway, at least I didn’t spend like

$20 on these suckers. Just time and energy.
Priceless.

ANYWAY IGNORING HOW MUCH SHEER TIGHTS SUCK
- these actually did turn out pretty well.

The music note tights don’t look exactly
like the original, and I think that I made

them a little too busy – the notes could
have been spaced out a little bit more evenly

– and they really are a labour of love - so
if you were feeling more lazy and wanted music-themed

tights, you could just maybe just draw some
bigger notes, do them more spaced-out, or

draw like a really large quaver on your knees
- for a kind of similar effect. It's really

up to you and how much energy and time you're
willing to put into something like this. Just

USE THICKER TIGHTS. I can't stress that enough.
Oh my god I hate sheer tights.

And with that, I'll see you all in my next
video. Bye!

Thank you so much to all of my Patreon supporters,
whose love and support helped to make this

video happen!
In this episode, I want to give a shoutout

to one of my wonderful business supporters
– Sarsparilly! Maria makes the prettiest

dresses. I’ve had this Mermaid print one
here for over 2 years now and it’s still

one of the prettiest, most well-made thing
that I own. Check her Sarsparilly's store

– there's a whole bunch of original, handmade
designs along with a whole bunch of vintage-reproduction

dresses as well! Links are in the description.