The Guess Denim Workshop at Chadstone Shopping Centre.

Hello lovelies,

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed me posting some photos from a recent workshop at Chadstone (it's almost my second home). I'm a big fan of getting creative with things but space is a premium in my tiny flat, so when the email from Chadstone advertising the denim workshops popped into my mailbox, I was quick to flash my credit card and sign myself, and my friend, R, up.

There were eight sessions in total, with four sessions held per weekend. Entry was priced at $20 per head. The first weekend was teamed with GAP, while the second weekend (this weekend) was teamed with Guess. The first session was held at 11 am, while the second was at 2 pm. If you signed up to the 2 pm slot (which worked better for us anyway), you were also eligible to receive a free pair of jeans, seeing as I practically live in jeans anyway, I wasn't turning that offer down.

We headed down to Chadstone at about 12.30 pm, got fitted at Guess for our jeans, grabbed something to eat, and presented ourselves at the workshop area at 2 pm., where we were greeted with a long white table filled with all types of decorations imaginable.

The lovely people setting up for the denim workshop.

There were several lovely ladies and two gentlemen running the workshop, they were there to give us tips and any assistance we might require.

The large workspace table of decorations.

The inspiration centre.

Given that we only had two hours, and that any decorations we did had to match the colour of the denim we chose, I decided to keep it simple. We also had access to a hot glue gun (removable, but leaving a residue behind) or a special adhesive paper that you could use to iron on your design (also removable, without leaving residue). There were also studs, needle and thread, and different kinds of material that you could sew/tack/hammer on to embellish your jeans.

I decided to use materials that could be detachable, so I could take it off if I got tired of it. 

Hard at work embellishing my jeans!
(Thanks to R for this photo)

The finished product!

Before I continue, I apologize for the photo quality; I wasn't initially planning on blogging about this workshop but I had so much fun, I couldn't resist! The photos were taken in my flat and the lighting is terrible.

So here's what I came up with. For the front, I attached diamanté studs along the pocket, and used a glue gun to attach a bling patch to the coin pocket. Then I reinforced it with needle and thread (it's the only thing aside from the diamanté studs that I won't take off - the glue will leave a residue behind). I also made a necklace charm that attaches to the front belt loop with safety pins, and threads around to the back pocket.

The front.

Close up of the coin pocket bling and diamanté studs.

Coin pocket bling.

I'm really loving that chain!

Pocket diamanté studs and accessory chain.

Managed to find my initial, so I tacked that on, too!

Close up of the accessory chain.

Spikes, chains, crystals, it's got it all!

The chain.

For the back, I kept things relatively simple. I threaded pins through the belt loops for added bling (the kind that you use for brooches), and sewed on a beaded patch onto the back pocket. I was advised that the beads on the patch would come off quite easily, so all I'll have to do is cut the thread to take it off.

The back.

Simple diamanté studding on the right rear pocket.

Detailed beading patch sewn onto the left
rear pocket.

That was it! Can you believe that all that took 2 hours to finish? It was a lot of fun though and I will definitely be going again if they run more workshops like this.

Oh, and we happened to be right in front of the Lindt cafe, so I couldn't resist going in and picking a few things up...

Lindt Cafe mini haul.

Do you like embellished jeans, lovelies, or do you like keeping things simple? I must say I love the idea of embroidering lace borders on my black jeans pockets, or even on the cuffs as a little surprise when you wear it with ankle boots!

Much love,

MM.

x


PS - I came across Charlotte's blog post from the GAP workshop, she did an excellent job with her studding, I just might have a slight case of jeans-envy now. Check out her fantastic work by clicking here.