DIY – Distressed Jeans
Whenever I think about distressed jeans, I imagine my Baba saying, “I don’t understand why people would purchase these destroyed clothes!” in her Ukrainian accent. And then I’d have to try to explain about trends…which would lead me to have a flashback to this conversation…
Well, if you are interested in purposefully destroying your clothes, here are a few simple things that you can do:
Find some denim that you’re interested in destroying. (I used an old, thrifted skirt from Express.) Gather any materials from around your house that can damage clothing…cheese graters, knives, scissors, sandpaper, or even that foot scrubber doohickey that’s been collecting dust on the top shelf of your bathroom.
Put the item on and figure out where you’d like to have the damage done…or more importantly, where you do not want the damage done.
Then grate, cut or scrub away. One of my favorite techniques was using a knife to cut slices, then using sandpaper to fuzzy up the edges. I also loved how the one end of the foot brush (see top right picture) destroyed the material.
The final and most important step is to wash and dry (via the dryer) the denim. That process really helps make the denim look distressed.
I really like how my skirt turned out…next I’ll be trying it on a pair of cut-offs. Have you ever distressed jeans before? What kind of technique did you use? It’s a great way to bring some “new life” into the old denim in your closet! (Talk about an oxymoron!)
Linked with The Pleated Poppy!
Great work!
The skirt went from just cute to really cool.
Thanks for sharing the tips.
Cheers,
Laura
Great tips! I’ll be trying this out on a pair of jeans for sure! When I made cut off shorts I mostly just used my fingernails to pick at the hem haha, definitely not as efficient!
Well done my dear!
i’ve never thought to distress my own jeans, but love how this turned out. Actually i love the whole outfit! the stripe top and vest are amazing
I have some jeans I am definitely going to try this on. Thanks for the tip!
Great tips! Such a fun skirt.
I actually really want that vest! But youre skirt is really cool too – I get the same reactions from my grandma, haha
Love what you did with the skirt. It’s a great skirt to start with. And I love the vest and striped shirt.
Love this! I’m going to have to try it on a pair of jeans I’ve been meaning to cut off:)
This turned out so cute!
Creamy
Your post totally cracked me up. The part about figuring where not to put the damage. Anyhow, great job on distressing your skirt. It turned out well! The floral embroidery and stripes look great together.