Well, Hello there!
It's a lazy Sunday here so I thought I'd edit photos for a tutorial. Who all has a favorite pair of jeans that is just beyond repair, but you can't make yourself throw them out? I know I have a few. But then I was inspired. Who says my favorite jeans have to end with me? Why can't my daughter enjoy them too?
Now, grab your old jeans, some scissors and a pattern of your choice and upcycle those babies!
Here are my super old, ripped-to-shreds, size 10 Short jeans. (By the way, these were JUST the right size to make my daughter's 2T pants)
Next, get a pattern or use a pre-existing pair of your child's pants as a guide. I used the Brianna's Tiered Ruffle Pants from Create Kids Couture. LOVE THEM! Be forewarned, you WILL become addicted to their patterns. So easy to follow and beginner friendly! I laid the pattern piece for the pants on the widest part of my jeans and traced the outline with quilter's chalk. You can also use a washable ink pen. If you're using a pair of your child's pants as a guide, be sure to add about 1/4" seam allowance.
If your pattern has other pieces to cut out, go ahead and do that now.
Next, make sure your folded side is "solid". On these, I had to cut a little on the folded side. Easy fix, just sew up that part and serge, or zigzag stitch to make it a bit sturdier. If you have to do this, make sure you merge your seam with the existing seam as smoothly as possible to avoid a bulge/semi-corner poking out when you turn your jeans right-side out.
Now continue with your pattern. Don't have a pattern and just winging it? Alrighty! I don't have pictures for this next part, but I can make another pair of pants just for pictures if need be :). What you want to do is take your two pants pieces and lay them RIGHT sides together. Pin along the two CURVED sides. Sew down both the curved sides. Serge or zigzag stitch. Now adjust your pants so that the seams you JUST sewed are stacked and your "folded" edges are now on either side. The crotch of the pants hasn't been sewn yet and it should be at the center and bottom of what is in front of you. line up the edges making sure the seams you JUST sewed are lined up. Sew the crotch seam and serge/zigzag stitch. Now you can turn the pants right side out and make your hems. At the bottom of the legs, turn under about 1/4" and press with an iron. Turn under another 1/2" and press. Sew close to the folded edge. At the top of the pants, turn under 1/4" and press, then turn under another 1" and press. Sew close to the folded edge leaving a 1" gap. Measure your child's waist and add an inch to that measurement. Cut that measurement out of 3/4" elastic. Feed elastic through the waist of the pants with a safety pin. Be careful not to feed in the loose end (I pin the loose end at the 1" opening so it doesn't go in the casing). Once you feed the elastic all the way through, overlap the two ends and sew them together (I usually overlap about an inch to one and a half). Once both ends of elastic are sewn together, distribute the pants fabric evenly and sew up the 1" opening. Now your old jeans should have a new life!
Once I finished these jeans I still couldn't part with the remnants of my old jeans, so I continued to upcycle :) I used Suzie's Twirly Halter Top and Dress pattern and made a top to match!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Hopefully you can find the strength to take scissors to your old pants, haha! You can even do this with thrift store finds! Hopefully my instructions were clear enough. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
It's a lazy Sunday here so I thought I'd edit photos for a tutorial. Who all has a favorite pair of jeans that is just beyond repair, but you can't make yourself throw them out? I know I have a few. But then I was inspired. Who says my favorite jeans have to end with me? Why can't my daughter enjoy them too?
Now, grab your old jeans, some scissors and a pattern of your choice and upcycle those babies!
Here are my super old, ripped-to-shreds, size 10 Short jeans. (By the way, these were JUST the right size to make my daughter's 2T pants)
 |
| You just can't recover from a rip like that. Thank you, top-loading washing machine. |
Next, get a pattern or use a pre-existing pair of your child's pants as a guide. I used the Brianna's Tiered Ruffle Pants from Create Kids Couture. LOVE THEM! Be forewarned, you WILL become addicted to their patterns. So easy to follow and beginner friendly! I laid the pattern piece for the pants on the widest part of my jeans and traced the outline with quilter's chalk. You can also use a washable ink pen. If you're using a pair of your child's pants as a guide, be sure to add about 1/4" seam allowance.
 | ||
| Voila! Both legs are stacked on top of each other. The "straight" side is still attached just as they were before. |
If your pattern has other pieces to cut out, go ahead and do that now.
 |
| My pattern is for tiered pants so I've cut the required fabric |
Next, make sure your folded side is "solid". On these, I had to cut a little on the folded side. Easy fix, just sew up that part and serge, or zigzag stitch to make it a bit sturdier. If you have to do this, make sure you merge your seam with the existing seam as smoothly as possible to avoid a bulge/semi-corner poking out when you turn your jeans right-side out.
 | |
| The green line is the pre-existing seam in the jeans. The red lines are where I had to cut excess off. This is where we're going to sew and merge our seam with the existing seam. |
 |
| Yellow line is our seam we just sewed. We want it to flow easily with the existing seam with the LEAST amount of angling as possible so we don't have a weird poke-out on the outside. |
Now continue with your pattern. Don't have a pattern and just winging it? Alrighty! I don't have pictures for this next part, but I can make another pair of pants just for pictures if need be :). What you want to do is take your two pants pieces and lay them RIGHT sides together. Pin along the two CURVED sides. Sew down both the curved sides. Serge or zigzag stitch. Now adjust your pants so that the seams you JUST sewed are stacked and your "folded" edges are now on either side. The crotch of the pants hasn't been sewn yet and it should be at the center and bottom of what is in front of you. line up the edges making sure the seams you JUST sewed are lined up. Sew the crotch seam and serge/zigzag stitch. Now you can turn the pants right side out and make your hems. At the bottom of the legs, turn under about 1/4" and press with an iron. Turn under another 1/2" and press. Sew close to the folded edge. At the top of the pants, turn under 1/4" and press, then turn under another 1" and press. Sew close to the folded edge leaving a 1" gap. Measure your child's waist and add an inch to that measurement. Cut that measurement out of 3/4" elastic. Feed elastic through the waist of the pants with a safety pin. Be careful not to feed in the loose end (I pin the loose end at the 1" opening so it doesn't go in the casing). Once you feed the elastic all the way through, overlap the two ends and sew them together (I usually overlap about an inch to one and a half). Once both ends of elastic are sewn together, distribute the pants fabric evenly and sew up the 1" opening. Now your old jeans should have a new life!
 |
| My daughter can now wear my old jeans! |
Once I finished these jeans I still couldn't part with the remnants of my old jeans, so I continued to upcycle :) I used Suzie's Twirly Halter Top and Dress pattern and made a top to match!
 | ||
| My Etsy shop is ASilentRank and my FaceBook page is A Silent Rank. |
 |
| See how great those torn up jeans look now! |
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Hopefully you can find the strength to take scissors to your old pants, haha! You can even do this with thrift store finds! Hopefully my instructions were clear enough. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
No comments:
Post a Comment