DIY Sew: Jeans Refashion

 

Recently I decided to do a little spring cleaning, and came across a whole pile of dated flare jeans.  I honestly can't believe how quickly flares went out of style, and conceivably they could come back in a few years, but being that I live in the here and now, I decided it was either time to revive them or toss them (as closet space in a city is limited!). Now, if you remember this post from last year, I basically followed it exactly, but there were a few small things I did differently that I wanted to share.

Step 1: Turn your jeans inside out and put them on

Step 2: using pins, start above your knee on both sides and pin down (make sure not to pull the jean from left or right or you'll get bunching when you sew)

NOTE: I did one leg at a time to make sure it was exactly how I wanted it

Step 3: After pinning one leg, take the jeans off, and get ready to sew

Step 4: Using a long straight stitch start above the knee off the fabric, and sew down each side of the leg (I suggest using a long stitch, because if you make a mistake you can use the seam ripper and start over)

Step 5: Turn right side out, and determine if you have to make any adjustments (on my first attempt, there was a lot of bunching around the knee; to fix, I turned the jeans inside out and sewed another inch higher from the knee)
Step 6: Once you've determined that you like the fit of the jean on your leg, take it off, turn inside out, and cut off excess fabric

Step 7: Head back to the sewing machine, and using a short zigzag stitch, sew up both sides of the pant leg (make sure your jeans are still inside out). Doing this will prevent fraying; also, if you have a serger, you can use that instead.

Step 8: Repeat steps 1 through 7 for the other pant leg

Then... you are done!

Below is what the jeans looked like before the refashion.

So happy they could be revived!

Feel free to share pictures/post comments if you try this out yourself.

Life Through My Lens: Hangzhou, China

I'm back! I haven't updated in more than a month, I can't believe its been that long.  My hiatus was mostly due to my 15 day vacation to Japan and China; and my need for rest once I got back.  Prior to leaving for vacation I took my first ever photography class, and learned how to shoot in manual.  It was a great beginners class, and I used some tricks and tips on my vacation.  I'm considering implementing a bi-weekly or monthly series to my blog to be titled Life Through my Lens, which will mostly consist of pictures around New York City; but also on occasion have some fun pictures from foreign and domestic cities I've traveled to. Below find the first pictures of the series, Hangzhou, China.

Hangzhou is known in China as paradise on earth, it's located in eastern China, not far from Shanghai; and really is absolutely gorgeous.  All the below pictures were taken at the West Lake.