DIY Gem-embellished Shorts

If you ever need an excuse to break out your handy-dandy BeDazzler—we assume it's hiding away in your closet somewhere—it's this month's Do It Yourself story! Now, before you think your WWW editors have completely gone off the deep end, we'd like to direct you to Christopher Kane's S/S 12 runway show, specifically the designer's bejeweled denim. While some would say rhinestone-embellished pieces are better left back in the '80s, leave it to Kane and the design gurus at J Brand to make them utterly cool and wholly desirable once again. Considering these sparkly accents make such a stylish and texturally intriguing addition to one of our favorite summertime staples, we thought it would be fun to make our very own bedazzled denim cutoffs!

The Inspiration
We adore many aspects of Christopher Kane's spring collection, including the designer's fabulous metallic floral prints, but there's something so creatively unique and fun about the collection's hand-sewn jewel-embellished shorts. (Note: the shorts were sadly not produced, however, the jean version is available and definitely worth checking out!) Kane teamed up with beloved denim label J Brand to design the fancy cutoffs, which, with their statement-making sparkle and contrasting mint green pattern, are completely on-point for a summer filled with music festivals, barbecues, and weekend getaways.

As soon as we saw the shorts on the runway, we knew we had to have something similar right away—that's where Erica Domesek of P.S. I Made This comes in! If anyone could create a lookalike pair of Christopher Kane for J Brand shorts, it's definitely Domesek! And sure enough, that is exactly what she did with just a handful of ingredients and some simple-to-follow steps. Crazy about this jewel-embellished D.I.Y. project too? We thought you'd be, which is why we've included all the need-to-know information below. So without further ado, let the crafting begin!— Jessica Baker

Ingredients:

-Levi's 501 Worn Cut-Off Shorts ($58)
-24mm Round Jewels ($8)
-14mm Round Jewels ($8)
-30mm Paillette Sequins ($11)
-White Fabric Paint ($7)
-Fabric Puffy Paint ($13)
-Real or Fake Flowers (Note: we used real Spider Mums. If you decide to use real flowers, it's best to have four or five on hand in case they begin to fall apart from the paint.)
-Ruler
-Pencil

Directions:
1. Use a ruler and a pencil to draw a diagonal grid pattern on your shorts. The size of the grid and spacing depends on your preference. (Note: our lines are approximately half an inch apart.)
2. Using the white puffy paint, trace over the pencil-line grid. Wait approximately an hour for the puffy paint to dry completely.
3. Once the puffy paint is dry, dip a real or fake flower into fabric paint to create a stamp. Stamp the flower directly onto the shorts in a diagonal pattern. We used about nine to 10 stamps per each leg of shorts. Wait approximately one hour for fabric paint to dry.
4. Once fabric paint is dry, use fabric glue to secure the large paillette sequins to the center of each "flower" stamp. Wait 15-20 minutes for the sequins to dry.
5. Once all of the paillette sequins are in place and dry, glue the larger, 24mm gems to the center of each paillette.
6. Glue the smaller, 14mm gems between each "flower" shape. We used approximately five to six per each leg of the shorts.
7. Allow to completely dry before wearing.