Most everyone has several pairs of jeans that are either too big or too small (or too long or short) (or too frayed at the bottom or holey at the knees) (or woefully out of style). I'm willing to bet that your denim is also probably one of the most durable items in your closet and that there are pairs in there that you've had for 10 years. Don't toss them yet; there are plenty of things you can do to revive old denim.
I've picked out five pairs of jeans -- well four pairs of jeans and one pair of jean shorts -- to restyle in completely different ways. I've had each of these pairs for at least five years so this here is a pile of memories:
I'm going to be using dye, bleach, fabric, zippers, embroidery, and ribbon to transform my old jeans into new denim that I actually want to wear. No project should cost more than $10 to complete and I'll post a step-by-step tutorial for each pair.
Each Wednesday I'll debut a new pair here on the blog.
First up...
The jeans: Abercrombie + Fitch jeans - probably the most sentimental pair I own, as I bought them in 2002 specifically to wear on my first date with Nekos. I know, I'm fancy like that. These jeans have also been a barometer of my weight losses and gains over the years. If I can fit into these, I'm feeling pretty good. If they're loose, I'm feeling great. If they're tight, I need to waddle to Weight Watchers fast as I can. I have worn these suckers to threads (obviously). Both the knees were destroyed long ago and now the crotch is starting to show wear, too. But I hope to always, always have these in my closet.
*Actually I found a photo of me wearing these same jeans in 2002 :)
The inspiration: This was a total copycat project, taking inspiration from a Sew Mama tutorial about how to make hexagons using English paper piecing. I've posted before about wanting to try knee patches but that was before I came across this and fell in love with the idea of a hexagon flower knee patch. It just speaks to my '70s-loving soul.
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| Source: Sew Mama Sew |
The time: 3 - 4 hours
Resources I used and loved:
The process:
1) Download and print a sheet of paper covered with hexagons. With this great free download you can specify the size of your hexagon. (I think I chose 1.25 inches for mine.) Next, cut out your hexagons. You'll need seven of them to form a hexagon flower.
2) Select your fabrics. I followed the Sew Mama Sew example and selected four different fabrics to create my flower.
3) Use a glue stick to glue a paper hexagon to the wrong side of your fabric. Then cut out each shape, leaving about a quarter of an inch seam allowance.
4) Hand fold the overlapping fabric over the hexagon and use a wide basting stitch to temporarily secure it into place.
5) Once you've basted all of your hexagons, you'll start sewing them wrong side together using a whip stitch. Try not to catch any of the paper with your thread, just sewing the fabric together.
6) This is the optional part: Trace your hexagon flower on a piece of iron-on interfacing. Then cut out the piece of interfacing and put it to the side.
7) Once you have your hexagons all sewn together and have cut our your interfacing if you're going to use it, very carefully pull out the pieces of paper and then carefully remove the basting stitches.
8) If you're going to add interfacing to your flower, now's the time. Use your iron to attach the interfacing to the flower.
9) You will now be ready to attach your hexagon flower to your jeans or any other surface. Use a blind stitch to sew it onto your blue jeans. I actually sewed up the gap in my jeans by hand first and then sewed the patch on but I don't think that's necessary.
10) Please let me know if you tackle this yourself! I found it really easy to do and I love the finished product.
See you next Wednesday for the next pair of restyled jeans?
