DIY Ripped Skinny Jeans

I found a pair of black Joni jeans (from Topshop) which are very old. Some of the elastic had gone and they are slightly too short for me. So I decided to get a bit creative! I have ripped my jeans using two different methods to create, what I think are, a really cool pair of jeans.

 Ripped jeans are very in at the moment, and theres no need to go out and buy a ready made pair - just rip your old jeans yourself!

- a pair of denim jeans - scissors - tweezers - pencil/chalk (optional) -

Step 1 - Mark

Whilst wearing your jeans, mark out where you want to rip your jeans. Mark as many places as you want using a pencil or tailors chalk (an eyeliner pencil which is a different colour to the denim works well to!) I went for both knees, then a few more places up my thigh on one leg, all at the front, but you can add some in the back if you wish. These marks don't have to be perfect, and you can always add more later. And if you use a pencil, tailors chalk or an eye liner pencil, the marks will come off easily so don't worry about being able to see any marks!

 

Step 2 - Cut

Take off your jeans and lay them on a flat surface. Be brave and cut along all the lines you have made in your jeans. Here's the part where you can decide what you would like your rip to look like. 

If you want it to be a clean(ish) rip, then simply cut along the line and then rub the blade of your scissors along the new edges. This will fray the denim slightly and made it look more worn in. This is completely optional, but your jeans will start to fray themselves with wear, this just speeds up the process! I used this method on the two largest holes, on each knee.

Step 3 - Tweeze

If you would like your rips to be more messy looking this is the best method to use. Firstly cut 3 or more horizontal lines close together (I did 4) Then using your tweezers start to pull out all the vertical fibres. These fibres (they will look like threads) will be the shortest and the easiest to pull.

This is why its important that your jeans have to be denim and which only stretch in one direction. If your jeans are made from a fabric which stretches in both up-down and left-right directions, the fibres that make up the fabric will have more elastic in them and it won't work as well. I am using Topshop's Joni Jeans which stretch horizontally (left-right) but they don't stretch vertically (up-down) This type, which only stretch one way, and the type with no stretch at all, will work the best.

As you can see in the photos above, once you start pulling out the vertical fibres, you are left with just the horizontal ones. This gives a really cool, worn out looking rip to your jeans. Continue this process on all of the small strips of denim there is until you are left with a hole with only horizontal fibres (or threads) running along it. This does take time, and makes a bit of a mess, but don't give up, this type of rip definitely looks the best!

You can also do this the other way, so you'd cut your lines vertically and pull out the horizontal threads. In the photo below, I have done one simple cut, where I just rubbed the edge of the denim with the scissors, then two cuts where I pulled out the horizontal threads to make a small hole, then 4 large cuts where I pulled out the vertical threads, then lastly 3 small cuts in which I pulled out the horizontal threads again. You can see the different effects that all the different methods give!

Have fun cutting up all your old jeans!!

~ Coming Soon : How I Style my Ripped Jeans ~