Patent Abstract:
Jewelry and the method of making jewelry which includes the steps of cutting a piece of material from an existing article of clothing, most preferably a pair of denim pants, attaching a fastener to said piece of material, and adapting said fastener to be capable of removably attaching said jewelry to a portion of a person&#39;s body.

Full Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This Continuation-In-Part (CIP) utility application claims priority to Provisional Application No. 61/239,661 filed on Sep. 3rd, 2009; and the “parent” utility application Ser. No. 12/655,689 filed on Jan. 6, 2010. 
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to jewelry and the method of making jewelry using pieces of existing articles of clothing, and fasteners capable of removably attaching said pieces of existing articles of clothing to a portion of a person&#39;s body. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    For thousands of years jewelry has been formed and fashioned in many ways and styles. Many different types of materials have been used. Usually, jewelry has been formed from different types of metals that require hours of forging and forming, and master hand craftsmanship. It became evident over time that forming jewelry from pre-existing materials and shapes would save enormous amounts of time, energy, material, and money. 
         [0004]    In the past 100 years or so the art of manufacturing clothing has been mechanized, and in following, a large percentage of clothing is simply thrown away when its usefulness has been determined to have run out. With this in mind, it became evident that all this wasted material could be used to create other new and useful pieces of clothing and unique styles of jewelry. Further, it became evident that using portions of these pre-used or pre-existing articles of clothing would save time, energy, material, and money. 
         [0005]    After further analyses and experimentation it became evident that certain portions or parts of a pair of pants were optimal to form certain types of jewelry. For example, belt loops for earrings, waist bands for wrist cuffs, and hem lines for chokers. Even further, certain types of materials seemed to perform better than others. For example, denim is strong and easily pierced for attaching other elements, such as connector and attachment members. In following, it became evident that pre-used pairs of denim pants are very useful within the method of making jewelry as set forth herein. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The instant invention relates to jewelry and the method of making jewelry. The method of making jewelry includes the steps of breaking apart an existing piece of jewelry, for example separating a fastener from an earring or a fastener from a necklace; cutting a piece of material from an existing article of clothing, for example cutting a belt loop from an existing pair of denim jeans, attaching the fastener to the piece of material, and adapting the fastener to be capable of removably attaching this new piece of jewelry to a portion of a person&#39;s body. As will be disclosed within the preferred embodiment, portions of a pair of pre-existing denim pants are used to form different types of jewelry members. In particular, belt loops can be used to form earrings, waist bands to form wrist cuffs, and hem lines to form chokers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a front view of a piece of jewelry, in this instance an earring, formed by cutting a square piece of material from an existing article of clothing, in this case denim pants, and incorporating a hook member from an existing earring as the attachment member. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  illustrates a view of the method of cutting a belt loop from a pair of denim pants to be used as the foundation material for an earring. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  illustrates a front view of earrings created using belt loops to which beads and other decorative members are attached thereto. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  illustrates a view of the method of cutting a waist band from a pair of denim pants to be used as the foundation material for chokers. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates a front view of a choker created using a waist band to which decorative members are attached thereto. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  illustrates other jewelry members formed from a belt loop and a zipper. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  illustrates existing pieces of jewelry, including an earring and a necklace. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0014]    The preferred embodiment of the inventive jewelry and method of making as set forth herein is best shown in  FIGS. 1-7 . 
         [0015]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 7 , a piece of jewelry  10 , in this instance an earring, is formed by cutting a square piece of material  12  from an existing article of clothing, preferably denim pants, and incorporating an attachment member or fastener, for example hook member  13 , of an existing piece of jewelry, preferably an earring  40  or a necklace  50 , as the attachment member through hole  14 . The square piece of material  12  is considered a foundation material. Decorative members, such as beads  15 , jewels  16 , buttons, snaps, studs, clasps, tags, or findings, can then be attached to the foundation material. Together, the foundation material and attached decorative members can be considered an accessory. The attachment member is also connected to the foundation material and adapted to removably attach it to a portion of a person&#39;s body, in this case a person&#39;s ear. Together, the accessory and the attachment member form a piece of jewelry. 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , a piece of jewelry can be formed by first cutting a belt loop  20  from a pair of pre-existing denim pants  30 . The belt loop is considered the foundation material. Decorative members and an attachment member can then be attached forming earrings as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0017]    The foundation material can be formed by a number of different members or portions of a pair of denim pants, including the belt loops, the waistband, the hem, or the pockets. Many types of decorative members can be used and attached thereto, such as beads, jewels, buttons, snaps, studs, clasps, tags, or findings to create the accessory. Finally, many types of attachment members can be used, including clips, hooks, posts, wire, and chains to hold the earrings to an ear of a person. 
         [0018]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , a piece of jewelry can be formed by first cutting a waist band  25  from a pair of pre-existing denim pants  30 . The waist band is then considered the foundation material. Decorative members and an attachment member can be attached forming a neck choker as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0019]    Jewelry formed as chokers or cuffs may use a snap, a button, pieces of hook and loop material commonly referred to as VELCRO, a toggle, a hook, or a chain to connect the two ends together for it to stay secured to a person&#39;s body. Barrettes can use a metal clip, a comb, or even a bobby pin as a base to attach the accessory thereto. Pendants and key chains may have a loop or a hole to put a hanging object such as a chain therethrough. Pendants may also have pins on the backs to attach them to clothing. Cuffs may use buttons, snaps, pieces of hook and loop material commonly referred to as VELCRO, or ties, to keep the cuff on a person&#39;s wrist. Pocket add-on accessories may use snaps, buttons, or pins to attach over an existing pocket. 
         [0020]    Belt loops are an excellent option to form the foundation material used for making earrings, hair ties, barrettes, combs, key chains, pendants, and pins. Its function is to act as a strong and an easily perforated base for attaching other fashionable elements and an attachment member, such as a clip, hook, post, wire, or chain to hold the jewelry to a portion of a person&#39;s body. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , a belt loop  20  and a zipper member  22  use attachment members  23  to form hair ties. 
         [0022]    Waistbands or hems are another option as a foundation material for chokers, cuffs, headbands, pocket designs, key chains, pendants, pins. Cuffs can be taken from existing cuffs of shirts or blouses and can also acts as a foundation piece of material. 
         [0023]    Any and all other obvious modifications to one or more of the parts of this invention are inherently incorporated herein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8