DIY Denim

I love customising my clothes. It's an easy way to create that one off piece with your own twist of uniqueness and individuality. You don't only end up with a piece of clothing that you can wear with absolutely everything, but its a piece that says something about who you are, what you're like and how you express yourself through you clothing. 

Anyway, I had this old oversized vintage denim shirt in my closet and have been dying to jazz it up for a while now. I ordered some DIY diamanté studs from my favourite haberdashery website in the whole wide world - Josy Rose, which I have sworn by for all my glitter, sequin and ribbon needs, ever since my Textiles GCSE. This is the simplest and easiest thing to do to update your old denim shirt (or whatever old shirt/jacket you want to use) without forking out an absolute fortune, and expressing you're own style in youre own unique way.

Here's what you need:

1 x Denim Shirt

Handful of sew on studs/diamantés

Needle & Thread

Scissors

Tailors Chalk (or a non-permanant pen)

Start by placing on the diamantés to see where you want them on the shirt.

Mark the spots where the diamantés were so you have a guide when sewing them on.

Sew each diamanté on securely (I did each of mine twice) to make sure they don't come loose when it's washed.

After each diamanté is sewn on knot the thread securely at the back.

I've added some to the pocket, but you can add as many or as little as you fancy (depending on your patience of course).

Et voila!

Your own customised piece of clothing.

What I'm Wearing: Customised Vintage Shirt, Zara Peplum Bandeau Top, Miss Selfridge Leather Leggings, Kurt Geiger Biker Boots, Marni for H&M Sunglasses & Topshop Rings.

This shirt-come-jacket is so simple to throw on over anything to give you that model-off duty sort of look (if only I grew a ft taller), and knowing that no-one else will have the same jacket as me is an extra bonus. I was/still am totally in love with the Zara camouflage diamanaté shirt which seems to be sold out in ever Zara I step into, so this is my very own denim version, decorated just for me. When it comes to customising your jacket you can of course go for the easy option of heat press studs which you iron on, which are "meant" to not come off, but I would always go for sew on studs - if you handy with a needle (could always get granny on the case?!) - or studs with teeth - which you press down on the reverse of the fabric to secure them in place (you can get a very sore finger doing this so make sure you use a thimble or something hard to push down the teeth with). Have fun DIYing!