As much as we enjoy new purchases, our well-worn, broken-in pieces tend to hold a special place in both our hearts and our wardrobes. Jeans that have moulded to our bodies over time might feel almost as comfortable as sweatpants, but with regular wear, tears and rough spots are unavoidable. Do you finally let go of your favourite denim or try to fix it?
As it turns out, distressing jeans at home isn’t that tough. With a few simple tools, you can change your old jeans into something celebrity-approved. Today’s most popular faded denim patterns, from companies such as Miu Miu and Balenciaga, may easily cost up to $1,000. However, what about a redesigned version of something you purchased a long time ago? So that’s virtually free.
Here’s our step-by-step tutorial for distressing your jeans. Now, when others enquire where you got your appearance, you can reply, “Oh, these?” “They’re actually custom.”
1:Put on your jeans.
2:Use chalk to sketch out the area you wish to distress.
1:Insert a magazine into the leg to prevent the box cutter from slicing through both layers of fabric. Alternatively, you can use cardboard or anything thick enough to act as a buffer.
2:Firmly place the buffer under the area you’re cutting.
1:Cut along the marked lines using the box cutter.
2:Continue slicing horizontal strips. Make each strip about 1/2 to 1 inch apart. The cuts do not need to be the same length or width.
3:To make a natural-looking rip, begin with short slices, then progressively add longer ones in the middle, and finish with a shortcut.
4:When you’re just getting started, remember that less is more. You can always add more disturbing, but if you go too far, you can’t take it back.
1:Flip the first strip of cloth over and use a safety pin’s sharp point to pry out each white thread (these are long woven strings that run side to side).
2:Continue to gently loosen and retrieve each white thread without breaking them.
1:Once you’ve teased out enough of the long white strands, a frayed fringe will appear. Use tweezers to pull out and remove the short vertical threads.
2:When you’re finished, the strip will be left with a cluster of white threads going horizontally—the beginning of your ripped hole.
The finished appearance should include a distressed pair of jeans. Put them on and get ready for loads of compliments.
