Jeans Sewing: Designing Pocket for Maximum Bling (Embellishment)

What makes the bling on this jeans pocket?
Some of it I can figure out, but other bits
I'm not so sure about.

Regular readers of this blog know that I've been working to build up my jeans-sewing skill set. I started out by sewing a jeans-style denim skirt (* ). I've been getting a kick out of wearing that skirt too. I wore it to classes three days in a row, and several other places since.

Now, I'm planning to move on to an actual pair of jeans. I'm taking a half-semester weekend class called "Pants Drafting" at Cañada, so I'm expecting to have a jeans pattern that fits me.

But what about the pockets? It's the pockets in the fancy-schmansy designer jeans that really appeal to me. I want cute ones. After making the skirt, I also decided that I should work on the pockets first, because by the time I got to the final stages of that garment, I just wanted to be finished and start  wearing it. If I have my pockets ready, you can bet I'd sew them on.

I'm starting to analyze the cute pockets I see. The one above certainly has me wondering.

I don't want to make an exact copy, I like creating my own designs for things. But I would like to know what kind of stitching and materials were used to create the pocket above.

1) What kind of white thread is that? Is it perl cotton? Is it regular topstitching thread? If I made my stitches that big, they'd get loose and fall out, so maybe I should hand sew something like this, and make some kind of locking stitches, despite the long size.

There seem to be at least two different types of stitching going on here, maybe three. 

2) Some of the bling is definitely small rivets, but others are little glass crystals with metal circles around them. I found some iron-on crystals  with no metal circles. I need to test them in the wash before I use them, by testing some on scrap denim - maybe in a little three sides-sewn bag I can turn inside out. On this youtube video, the creator told us, that you turn the garment with the bling on it inside out, and put it in a pillowcase before washing. I'd then probably hang it to dry. I already hang-to-dry most of the clothes I make.

3) I wonder if that big button really is just a regular button and not a jeans button at all However, it goes with the small crystals... I'll keep my eyes peeled for something along those lines.

~ ~ ~

* In "Jeans Sewing Skirting the Issue: Terminado! Done! I summarize my experiences sewing this skirt
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/09/jeans-sewing-skirting-issue.html

DIY, Sparkle Your Old Jeans With Rhinestones - Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJZELQ97fBg

This seems like the kind of place where you get sparkly bits. I'm still unclear if gluing sparkles on, works in the wash. Also this site refers to having sew-on rhinestones, but I'm not clear which products those are. But they have a phone number!
http://www.rhinestoneshop.com

This place has sew-on rhinestones, among other products
These two links are for their round shapes. You can go higher up in their product hierarchy and find other shapes, colors, and materials
http://www.dreamtimecreations.com/category/730/rhinestones-sew-on/sew-on-round-rhinestones/crystallized-swarovski-elements-3202-round-rhinestones/

http://www.dreamtimecreations.com/category/714/rhinestones-sew-on/sew-on-round-rhinestones/

How To Crystallize Your Seven Jeans & Other Denim
http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-To-Crystallize-Your-Seven-Jeans-amp-Other-Denim-/10000000006924991/g.html

Wash and Care for Embellished Clothing
http://www.ebay.com/gds/RHINESTONES-Wash-and-Care-for-embellished-clothing-/10000000001654801/g.html

Summer of Jeans Sewing: The Plan

Pockets like the ones on these
L.A. Idol jeans are inspiration for learning to
sew my own denim threads.
No, I don't know yet how they get that bling,
And I also wonder what kind of thread they
use for topstitching. Learning about stuff like
that is a ways down the road for me. I've got a lot
of basic skills and fit lessons to learn first.

I've been promising myself since last fall, that I would begin to work on learning to sew jeans this summer. Isn't it important to keep those promises we make to ourselves? Part of that promise was that I'd take the beginning and intermediate construction sewing classes, as well as the pants construction class, at Cañada Community College, in order to improve my overall sewing skills and begin learning techniques that had always seemed more advanced.

OK, I did that.

Now, the plan is to:

1) Sew samples to work on learning and improving jeans sewing techniques : flat felled seams, fly front zippers, special pockets, decorative pocket stitching, attaching rivets and special jeans buttons, jeans hemming, belt loops, dealing with those thick seam crossovers (I know people use hammers and little shim's and stuff)  and probably some other things I haven't thought of yet. And what about embellishment? How do manufacturers, like L.A. Idol create the cool bling on their pockets? I don't know yet.

2) Work on jeans ft for me. Improve knowledge of general pants fitting. Use instructions from various jeans patterns to assist with fit. Take the pants fitting class in the fall to produce a muslin/toile/sloper.

3) Collect information from others - books, magazine articles, web links. Pattern Review has good resources I've been reading and Threads Magazine did a series of three articles a couple of years back, that I have set aside (even though I broke down and bought the full archive of Threads, I held onto those particular paper issues in my "Jeans" drawer).

4) Collect resources to help get started: needles, topstitching thread, budget denim, sample (worn out) jeans from others I can analyze, study and maybe even cut up for sample sewing

5) Collect inspiration. Photograph cool jeans - especially pockets - I see people wearing and I use pinterest (http://pinterest.com/lrshimer/boards/ )  to save references to beautiful jeans features - yes more pockets!