With the holidays quickly approaching, time is running short to buy gifts.  Here are a few do-it-yourself ideas for some fashionable gifts this holiday season.

Lace-up top

Vintage-look T-shirts are an easy way to rock the lace-up trend. They sell for over $100 at big city boutiques and average about $45 on Etsy, but you can make them for much cheaper with thrift store tees or sweatshirts.

• Find a loose graphic T-shirt with a cool design.
• Try it on and decide how deep to make the cutout. Mark the point with chalk, pencil or pins.
• Use a ruler (or something with a straight edge) to draw two symmetrical lines from the neckline to the low point.
• Cut out the front triangle. You can choose to cut out that section of the collar if or leave it in.
• Sew fabric trim/ribbon over the side edges by hand or with a machine.
• Mark where you want the eyelets to go, making sure both sides have the same amount and they are evenly spaced.
• Cut small holes/slits at each mark and pound in the eyelets with a hammer. It’s best to buy a pack of eyelets that comes with tools to help you hammer them in correctly.
• Use your choice of string or cord to lace the top just like you would your shoes. Start at the top, and tie a knot on the inside at the bottom of the cutout to finish.

Cutout sweatshirt

Cutouts and cold shoulders are major right now. You could scour the mall for a cute trendy sweatshirt, or you could find one that matches your friend’s style and then cut the trend factor into it yourself.

• Find a hoodie or hoodless sweatshirt. Either will work.
• Decide what kind of cutouts you want. Choose from simple elbow slits, large cutout shoulders, a deep V with the hood or collar left intact or a combination of smaller cutouts.
• Try the sweatshirt on and roughly mark the location of the cutouts.
• Lay it flat and draw the cutting lines more precisely. You can either use a ruler to make sure the cutouts symmetrical or free hand it on one side and then cut the other side to match.

Distressed embellished jeans

Scene-stealing embellished jeans are on the forefront of fashion and can currently only be found for hundreds of dollars at upscale retailers. The fashionista on your list will love unwrapping this designer-lookalike denim.

• Thrift shop for some old mom jeans in a boyfriend or straight fit without much stretch.
• Try them on (estimating how they will fit on whomever will get them) and mark where the hem should hit and which areas should get distressing, rips, holes, sequins, etc.
• Cut the hems at your marking and fray them by using a seam ripper or tweezers to pull out the horizontal white threads. You can also create a trendy stepped hem by cutting the front pant leg a couple inches higher than the back.
• Cut out areas where you want large holes — usually around the knees.
• To make rips, cut horizontal lines about an inch apart and use a tweezers to pull out the vertical blue threads, leaving the horizontal whites ones intact.
• Distress the edges of holes and rips and other areas using sandpaper, a cheese grater, a pumice stone and/or the edge of a scissors.
• For a dramatic look, hand sew on large pailette sequins, layering and mixing colors and sizes. Alternatively, sew on scattered traditional white pearls for a subtler vintage feel.

Spliced tee

Remember those half-heart friendship necklaces from Claire’s you used to buy with your elementary school friends? These tees are the modern grown-up equivalent. Combine sports teams, fandoms, schools or just ironic pairings to create unique mash-up tees.

• Find two T-shirts to pair.
• Cut each evenly down the middle or at an angle for an asymmetrical variation.
• Sew half of the first tee to half of the second down the center front and back.
• Cut the longer hem and fold it under twice to match the shorter hem and sew, or fold the center seam allowances back and sew for the asymmetrical look.