Ok guys and dolls, here it is; my tutorial for how to turn your jeans into a cute denim skirt. Now, even after I've told and shown you how to do this, if you still decide you'd rather not try it yourself let me know. I AM available for custom jobs, always.
Now you know you have a pair of jeans sitting in your closet that are either too short, or the hems are threaded from you walking on them. Or maybe your little one (or your dog) or even you have spilled something on them and they have a stain. You're still holding on to them. I just know it. Well, pull them out and let's get to work! It's summer time and denim skirts are always in style. Lets transform your old jeans into something fabulous.
*before I start, please know I'm uploading all this from a mobile device so if the pictures are out of order I do apologize.
Here's what you'll need:
-jeans
-needle and thread
-scissors
-straight pins
~Put the jeans on and mark where you'd like the skirt to fall. Take them off, lay them flat and cut the legs off. Set them aside for later use.
~Once the legs have been cut off, it's time to cut out that pesky inseam. (Note: you can leave the extra denim there if you have a seam ripper. I do not, so I cut it off. It makes no impact on the look of the skirt). Now your skirt should lie flat.
~You will notice that more material is missing from the front than the back. (Jeans have more material in the back for our booties). This isn't a big deal. Just lie them out and cut so the missing material is even. Now into the legs.....
~Take the legs of the denim and cut them in half so that the leg is open. Cut again. Use the leg of the denim to fill the space missing from the front and back of your skirt. Pin into place. Now comes the fun part....
I hand sewed the denim into the triangle shaped space and removed the pins. Then I pulled out my sewing machine just to reinforce it. If you have mad skills at hand sewing you can just do that. If you have a sewing machine you can just use your machine. It's up to you. I used brown and blue threads for a contrast but again, that is your choice. Once it attached, turn the skirt inside out and trim the excess denim away. Don't worry about the rough edge on the exposed side of the skirt. It will be frayed. Now what about that hem??
~ I'm not going to lie, hemming things is not my specialty, and I personally like the look of a frayed edge. But how do we make that happen? It's all about the wash. Seriously. Wash it and dry it. When it comes out of the washer you will notice long strings. Don't worry about those yet. Once it is dried, bring out your scissors again and trim those long white and blue threads away. You're left with a soft frayed hem and contrast on the exposed surfaces where you sewed the denim
Get creative with it! Use a contrasting or patterned fabric instead of denim in the triangular space. If you don't like a frayed hemline, sew on a lace trim! The possibilities are endless.
One more fun thing for you. I've noticed that patterned denim is all the rage this season. But did you know you can do it yourself at home? It's so easy! Lay your denim out and draw on it with a bleach pen. Seriously it is that simple. I don't have a bleach pen but I do have bleach and q-tips. I used those items to add polka dots to a scrap of denim to show you how quick it can be!
Remember, be safe with your project. Keeps scissors, needles, bleach and other grown up products out of reach of children.
