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.

DIY Jeans Refashion: Flares to Straight Leg

I've had this pair of blue cult jeans sitting in my closet for a good two years, but I couldn't bare to part with them because I love the way they fit at the waist and thighs, and the actual jean is so soft!  As the flared jean style is no longer in right now, and these pants actually are a little short for me (just a few reasons why they've been sitting in the closet unworn for so long) I decided it was time to refashion to straight legs!

My first step was research, I wanted to read through other bloggers attempts and see what method I thought would work best for me.
The majority of tutorials showed only altering the inside of the pants, but to me this didn't make much sense beacuse you'd be pulling the jean and might end up with awkward bunches.
I decided the best way to go would be to alter both sides of the jean starting just above the knee
Here's what I did...

Turn your jeans inside out and try them on

Starting above your knee pinch fabric and pin (make sure your jeans are laying flat and you're not pulling the fabric to one side or the other); work your way down your leg moving from right to left; once complete do the same thing to your other leg

Keeping the pants inside out, use a long straight stitch (just in case you mess up you can use the seam ripper to start over) to sew down both sides of the pants; when sewing make sure to start just off the fabric above the knee so the seam is nice and straight

Try on the pants again, if you like the way they fit (left side is altered), turn inside out, cut off excess, and resew using a zigzag stitch.  Do the same process to the other leg.

That simple, new wearable straight legs!