This summer has been the season for DIY denim. Just last week I cut a pair of jeans into shorts since it has been over 100 degrees for a couple days, and I have been struggling to find anything comfortable to wear in this heat (check Instagram to see how they turned out).
The jeans featured in today's post are the same Topshop Leigh jeans I wore in this post: "Black, White, and Alexander Wang." As you'll notice, they are just a tad short on my 5'9" frame (as are most standard 30" inseams). As per usual, I became very impulsive and decided to do an experiment with the bottom hem, as the raw edge is quite the trend these days, and I was hoping that releasing the hem might make them the perfect length. I had no particular plan for this but decided to document the process in the off chance that it turned out okay, which it did! Yay! So here is what I did, with pictures, so if you decide to experiment with your own pair of jeans, you have a guide to follow vs. my impulsive method of jumping in blindly, head-first!
TOOLS:
Jeans!
Seam ripper (I also used small scissors from a sewing kit which worked great!)
tweezers
Iron, or garment steamer
STEP 1.
Find the perfect pair of jeans to DIY. This could be anything from an old pair that are feeling a little blah, and need a trendy update. You can also use a pair that might be too short (like mine!) since this DIY will add a little extra length to the bottom hem!
"Cropped" jeans always look like high-waters on me..
STEP 2.
Pull on the thread loops of the outside hem with the seam ripper to remover the thread piece by piece. Don't worry too much about making it perfect, we're distressing the hem at the end so any imperfections from the process give it even more character. Use the tweezers to remove any threads that are being difficult.
STEP 3.
Once you've gotten the outside thread removed, the inside thread will be completely unattached, and will easily pull right out (cut the thread where the side seams begin if they aren't easily coming).
STEP 4.
Using the seam ripper again, remove the threads holding the hem seam to the side seam of the denim. This one can be a little tricky, but once again don't worry about being too careful. I cut my jeans on accident when I was doing this step and it ended up looking intentional with the distressed vibe.
STEP 5.
Unroll the hem, and using tweezers, pull threads out around the bottom edge until your desired amount of distressing is achieved! Of course as you wash, and wear the jeans they will slowly distress more and more and become even better with age!
STEP 6.
The last and final, most important step is to Iron the hem flat! I don't own an iron so I steamed mine, which may not have worked quite as well as an iron would have, but at least they won't curl in on themselves which they otherwise would have sans-steam.
Voila!
I have to say, for as easy as it was, I'm still proud of how they turned out!
Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!
xo