How to Add Studs to Clothing

Metal studs are often added to clothing such as jackets, vests, and pants by punks and metal-heads. Considering I had not read or seen anything regarding how to stud before doing it, I decided to take step-by-step pictures just in case someone else is feeling a little overwhelmed as to how to go about studding your stuff. 

Step 1: Materials Needed

-Studs
-Article of clothing
-Something to put holes in fabric (in this case- tweezers).
-Something to fold stud prongs down (I used my thumbs, and by the end, they were soooo sore. I suggest using needle-nose plyers as I attempted to use my tweezers and ended up cutting myself when they slipped off of the prongs)
-Anything with a straight-edge, such as a ruler, to get a straight line of studs.


***Studsandspikes.com offer a great deal for getting a bag of 100 "English '77" silver cone studs, either standard or tall, for only the cost of shipping. 

Here's my Instructable on how to get their free studs-
Getting Free Studs

Step 2: Figuring Out Your Desired Pattern

You may want to lay your studs out to get an idea of how many studs you will be using and the pattern you will make. Look at some pictures of other peoples vests and jackets to get an idea of how close you want your studs. Below is my vest before studding, and then two of other people's vests/jackets I found through Google to give you an idea of different spacing. 

Step 3: Inserting Stud

In denim, you may either try to force the stud through the material, which can be difficult and may actually rip the fabric, or ease the fabric apart with your tweezers before pushing the stud prongs through. 

Step 4: Continue Adding Studs

After adding all of the studs, I then folded them down, but there is no set process, just do it how you see fit. I feel that not folding them until the end takes away from some of the hassle in case your studs aren't placed how you want them to be.

Any holes from a stud that you had to remove will tighten back up to the regular weave, or whatever, that the denim starts with, unless you happened to rip the fabric itself.

With leather, the holes are a little more permanent, but can wear themselves back to a normal look, but will most likely always be there.

Step 5: Finished!