DIY Balmain Denim Jacket // TUTORIAL

It's finally here! My first ever full tutorial!!!! :)

I hope you all are excited because I worked very hard on this jacket and how-to so all of you can have awesome statement jackets like me! 

Remember: This is just how I interpreted Balmain's style. Please just use this as inspiration and make your own awesome, one-of-a-kind jacket! :)

- scissors/fabric shears

- pliers (needle nose preferably)

- lots and lots of various studs and spikes

(studsandspikes.com)

- various safety pins

- xacto knife/blade of some kind

- seam ripper

- pins

- sewing machine (not shown)

- thread/bobbins/etc (not shown)

- adhesive (E6000 preferably)

- bleach/bleach pens

- pens such as sharpie (not shown)

- paint (metallic looks sweet on dark denim)

- fabric to add on to jacket (optional)

- a denim jacket to makeover

- lots of free time

1. Here's my denim jacket that I will be giving a makeover. I got it from goodwill for like $5.

I laid it out on a table to see what I had to work with. It's good to plan in advance kind of what you'd like to do to your jacket because sometimes after a certain point it becomes very difficult to go back. 

2. I decided to cut out the yolk of the jacket. Cut it out nicely and very close to the inside of the seam so you have a good template for the next step if you choose to replace it with another fabric.

3. Take the yolk you cut out and lay it over your replacement fabric. I used lace. I just pinned mine to it and trimmed around it, leaving about half an inch on each side so I would have more than enough to later attach it back onto the jacket.

4. Un-pin the old yolk from the new yolk. I then pinned my new yolk (the lace) to the underside of the denim jacket so it would look flush with the jacket. This part was rather tricky.

5. After you have pinned the new yolk to your jacket, now is time for the somewhat challenging part -- sewing the dang thing. Because this was lace that had a little stretch in it and again, the fact that it was lace, I set my stitch to a very tight zig-zag. After all this work, I didn't' want that lace to go anywhere. I used black thread that was unnoticeable on the other side of my denim jacket. You may want to do a test stitch to check how visible the stitch is on the other side if you have a lighter wash denim. 

Finished yolk :)

6. I then studded around the yolk. The seams here are usually very thick so I used an xacto knife to push through so the stud would stay secure to the jacket.

7. I knew the back of my jacket would be my focal point. I grabbed some extra news paper and laid it over the back of my jacket. I traced/eye balled what the 2 side panels would look like. I then cut out that template.

8. I then laid out that template and traced it twice onto my leopard print fabric with a metallic sharpie. I again added about half an inch to each side for later hemming. I only did this because my fabric frays. If yours does not fray, feel free to skip this step.

9. I hemmed these panels with my sewing machine using a zig-zag stitch. Again, I only did this because my fabric frays. Skip this step if your fabric is awesome and you do not need to do this.

After I hemmed my panels, I pinned them the best I could to the back panels of the jacket. They aren't perfect because I eye-balled it. 

10. I then used a straight stitch to attach these panels to the jacket. You could use a zig-zag stitch if you wanted. 

11. At the same time on the front of the jacket, I used a seam ripper to take off one of the pockets. I then used that pocket as a template and traced it onto the leopard print fabric. I left a seam allowance to hem it. I then pinned it to where the old pocket used to be and sewed it using a straight stitch.

12. I decided to somehow put my logo on my jacket. It could have been the exact thing, but I decided to abstract it -- with safety pins :)

I printed off a cut out of my logo the size that I wanted it. I then cut it out and traced it onto the back of the jacket where I wanted it with a fabric marker. You could use chalk as well. 

13. I then played around with different sized safety pins and how I would like to conquer this crown so it looked like a crown. I succeeded!!! :)

Caution: please close all of these safety pins with a needle nose pliers. You could get stabbed in the back if you do not take the time to complete this step. I recommend closing sections at a time as you complete them rather than at the very end. 

14. Remember what I did for the back panels of the jacket? I did the same thing for one of the front panels. I eye-balled it, traced it, cut out the template, traced that template onto my fabric leaving a half inch on each side, hemmed it, pinned it to my fabric, then sewed it on using a straight stitch.

15. Between a lot of these steps I took breaks of studding and spiking various places of the jacket:

- the back panels

- the front pocket

- the collar

- the arms

- the cuffs

Here is MY final jacket! :)

top pocket and collar detail

left front pocket detail 

finished crown detail

spiked elbow detail

front panel detail

full back shot

full front shot

I will always keep adding on to this jacket as I gather more materials and such. I want it to be super over the top like Balmain :)

But for now... it is finished!

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Dear readers,

If you make a jacket, please send me your pictures! I'd love to feature you on my blog! :)

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DIY Cut Out & Studded Denim Jacket

Bored with all the plain old studding you are seeing everywhere?
Well, I sure am. Especially since it's been a trend for at least a year and it's finally now hitting the midwest and I am officially in need of something a little newer.
Still keeping the studded look, but with a new twist. :)



Supplies:
- denim jacket (the thicker it is, the better the cut-out shape will be)
- chalk, disappearing fabric pen, or sharpie
- template to trace or you can free hand it
- shears or possibly a rotary cutter
- studs (square, circle, spikes, etc)
- pliers (to help fix the studs)
- (optional) sewing machine & thread

Directions:
1. lay your denim jacket out as flat as possible
2. draw the pattern you wish to cut out (like a heart or a cross) on the back of the jacket where you'd like it to be. the center will probably look best.
3. carefully cut out the shape using whatever you feel most comfortable with
4. optional: sew along the edges of the cut out about .5" - 1.0" away from where you cut so it won't just continue to fray past a certain point. the more room you leave, the more it will fray.
5. border your cut out with studs! They could be spaced a certain way or just right next to each other.
6. boom ya got a fancy new jacket. go rock it the next time you go out! :)

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DIY Multi Color Studded Leather Bag

Inspired by Fendi's Ready to Wear Spring 2012 Collection found on Style.com.





Supplies:
- studs
- a purse that needs an upgrade
- xacto knife
- jewelry pliers
- nail polish in whatever colors you want your studs to be
- nail polish sealant

Directions:
1. lay out all your studs and figure out which ones you want to paint what colors.
2. paint your studs with a couple of coats and let dry.
3. paint those studs with a couple coats of sealant and let dry completely.
4. figure out where you want your studs placed on your purse or clutch. the studs above are in an offset grid and then rotated so they are not all at 90 degree angles. play around with it :)
5. cut into the fabric with the xacto knife where you want your studs to go
6. use your jewelry pliers to fix the studs in place.
7. boom you got a purse with an upgrade that will be trending this spring!

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DIY Studded Knit Mittens/Gloves

If you are like me, you have a shit ton of random gloves laying around. And you are bored, right?
Prepare to get un-bored! Take those gloves and turn them into cute fashion accessories with studs and some bling!

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DIY Half & Half Studded Jacket

Although this would be difficult to pull off, it would be SO WORTH IT once completed.

I've been thinking about doing a half denim half leather jacket for sometime now and I might get it done over break if i can find a leather jacket and a denim jacket for decently cheap that are around the same fit. it should be interesting, but soooooo worth it.

i can just imagine some sweet way to do the back seam.
options?:
1. straight up and down then fill the whole line with the same sized safety pins
2. cut it zig zagged and fill with chain and safety pins





Suggested Directions:
1. Find a denim jacket and a leather jacket in the same fit/size (remember that mens and womens sizing and fits are different)
if the both zip, make sure they zip together somehow. if they don't match, you may have to rip both zippers out and just sew one on yourself.
2. decide how you want to join the two.
3. make sure you have a good sewing machine and the correct needle to sew denim and leather.
4. make sure you have a really good quality thread to sew the two together. don't want to go through all this work to just have it fall apart after you wear it out a few times.
5. buy studs in bulk. this would look bitchin with some spikes as well.
6. before conjoining, do all your bleaching before hand the denim if you wish. you can always distress it after but bleach can harm the leather/pleather after you join them if you aren't super careful.
7. be unique with it. don't copy this style exactly. add some patches or destress the leather a little bit in some places like the elbows, cuffs, and neckline.
8. rock your new one-of-a-kind denim leather jacket and turn some heads, baby!

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DIY Hot Pink Studded/Embellished Denim Cut Off Jacket - LMFAO "Sexy & I Know It" Music Video

If you haven't seen this music video, I suggest you go watch now. Pretty funny.

Obviously the bright pink studded/embellished jacket that one of the main guys is wearing caught my eye right away. I'm very determined to make this before the year is over :)

Supplies:
1. Denim Jacket
2. Pink Dye (or w/e color you wish. yellow would be pretty too) Rit dye will work.
3. Studs & other embellishments. hit up hobs lobs or order in bulk online.
4. e6000 glue (if you hot glue things on, they will fall off in the cold/if you wash it)
6. needle nose pliers to save your fingers from death. they help with traditional studding.
7. needle and thread if you feel like sewing anything on. make sure you get bigger embroidery sharps. they are stronger and sharper to pierce the denim.
8. scissors
9. exacto knife

full tutorial after pictures!





Full Tutorial
CAUTION: please wear gloves.
if you want any distressing or a destroyed look to your jacket, do this BEFORE you dye it. unless you want the distressing to be white looking, then wait til after it's dyed and dried. :)

MAKE IT PINK
1. grab an old denim jacket
2. bleach it with one part bleach, 1 part water (if you don't dilute it, it will literally destroy the denim so bad it will fall apart)
3. After most of the blue denim color is out, rinse out the bleach completely either by hand or in the wash. i just wouldn't put detergent quite yet.
4. get some hot pink dye (rit dye for those of you who don't have access to the commercial grade stuff should work). you might wanna get like, 3 packs if you want it super saturated pink like this
5. find an old 13 gallon storage container in your storage room. empty it out, wash it out so it's clean
6. follow the instructions on the package for the dye concentrate to water ratio.
7. cut off the sleeves of the jacket at your discretion. (if you want to that is. I know it's fall/winter for most folks so I'll be keeping my sleeves attached when I do this DIY).
8. put the jacket in the dye. make sure you stur it with a big spoon or big piece of metal or something (most likely this will get permanently stained with dye so stir with something that you will use in the future for dying or something you can throw away). make sure it's sturdy though.
9. stur like every 2 minutes so there is no uneven dyeing taking place.
10. after you leave it in the dye for as long as the instructions allow, follow the rest of them for suggested washing after. most likely you'll rinse out the jacket until the water runs clear. I suggest a bath tub for this. it shouldn't stain it. if it does, clean it. simple.
11. hang your jacket up to dry. don't dry it in the dryer unless you want your dryer to be stained pink.

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STUD/EMBELLISHMENTS
Now that your jacket is awesomely pink and dry, you can stud it!
1. gather your supplies
2. plan out what you'd like to do. where do you want your studs, and where you want your other embellishments.
3. BE CREATIVE! let your imagination run wild! do what you want and make it look good.
4. If you want just a mini statement, stud and embellish the shoulders. :)
5. tada! done! go out for a night on the town and rock your new statement jacket!

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DIY Inspiration: LMFAO "Sexy & I Know It" Music Video

I don't know whether this video was a good or bad thing for me to come across because it's pretty ridiculous.
But there's some pretty sweet DIY fashion going on :)



Before I get to the DIY inspirations, I just wanna point out that the girl in the slashed black tights on the right is wearing fake Jeffrey Campbell Alexa Wedges.


Fringe Top
scissors meet bottom of shirt. make sure you don't cut up too high though, don't want the girls fallin out the bottom/bra peaking out.



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Hot Pink Studded/Bedazzled Cut Off Denim Jacket
full tutorial in next post!


Slashed Leggings/Shirt
put on leggings and shirt so you know where to slash (or more importantly where not to slash. close to butt, by boobs, etc), sissors meet fabric. don't cut yourself!


Studded Leather Jacket
order some bulk studs in w/e your favorite style is. go to town :)

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DIY Studded Jeffrey Campbell's

I just came across these all of these amazing studded Jeffrey Campbell Shoes!!

If you for some reason are bored with your plain Jeffrey Campbell's and they are old and you are getting a new pair anyways, order some studs (screwable ones) and go to town. for the sole, use some industrial strength glue like E6000

1. Studded Jeffrey Campbell Lita's.


2. Jeffrey Campbell Lita Stud.

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