Thursday, July 8, 2010

distressed denim 101!

After I cut off a pair of jeans into shorts recently... I have not been able to stop wearing them. I am such a "jeans" person, so jean shorts are just my style! I found an old pair in the closet that have gotten zero to no wear because I didn't like the fit at the ankle (they were a weird combo of boot-fit/wide-leg that did not suit me at all). I also thought, what the heck!?!? Let's have some fun distressing them as well... because if there is one thing I love, it's jeans. If there are TWO things I love, it's distressed jeans!

I have never done this before and didn't want to get out sand paper, bleach, power tools or the like. I happened to be in my bathroom (PLEASE excuse the ugly flooring, I know, I know.) and I had a pair of hair scissors (super sharp!), thinning shears and a hair brush. [Why all the hair scissors??? I cut my own kids hair! Do you? It's fun and cheap, except when I mess up and have to pay someone to fix it! ha!]

The photo quality is crap (iphone + poor light) - but I think you will get the sitch.

1. I started by dragging the sharp blade of the scissors across the denim. My goal wasn't to get big holes, but rather more shreds.


2. See shreds:


3. I did this in three spots on the front...


4. Then I used the thinning shears on the pocket areas for more distressing there. The thinning shears have a jagged edge that worked well for distressing the edges of the seams on the pockets.


5. Then I did similar distressing on the back side... one shred in the pocket (but not all the way through) and more thinning shears on the pockets. I didn't want to much "missing" on the back... you don't want to flash a bun or your undies! :)


6. (Not shown, I tried them on an determined a good length and cut that too... I wanted these a little long: see #7)Then I took this bristly brush and brushed the distressed areas really hard (this made a huge mess!)... but it was a good way to start the fringe effect!


7. Then I cut slits up the side... I tend to be a little "thigh-a-liscious" so this helps give those suckers some breathing room.


Voila!
Then just pop them in the wash/dryer to get the fringe fluffy and you are all set. Mine turned out AMAZING! Check the blog on Monday to see the finished product and a little giveaway (a completely un-related giveaway - but a fun one you won't want to miss!)

 

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