Making your own skinny jeans

A few weeks ago I went in search of some skinny jeans at the store. You know me, they had to be cheap! I tried on so many pairs of jeans with no luck. Some of the jeans didn't have pockets, the buttons were fake, there were elastic waists in others...it was a mess. I thought, I have some jeans at home I like that were in my give away pile, why don't I try to make them skinny. So I did. And this is what I came up with. Cute right?

**updated to add some newer pictures of my skinny jeans in action, not just of me in my lumberjack shirt.



Here's you how do it. Take one of your old pairs of jeans and put them on.

Then turn them inside out.

Find the thick seam on your jeans. You don't want to use that. Find the thinner seam. I found that it's usually on the outside of the pants. Starting just above the knee all the way down to the ankle, pin along pulling your jeans tight as you go, but making sure the inside thick seam is always laying straight along your leg. Can you see the pins down the side?

Here they are closer. Now take off the jeans carefully.

Because that line by the knee is such a sharp corner, you need to make a nice line to ease into the existing seam. I used a nice big yard stick and a sharpie marker.

Take your sharpie and mark on the OUTSIDE of the pinned line (disregard the picture above, yes, I am marking the inside and I had to do it over!). To clarify, make the line to the right of your pins that you put on your pants on the right leg, to the left on the left side of the pants, closest to the part you are going to cut off.

AGAIN, make the line on the outside of the pins, closest to where you are going to cut off.

Starting at the ankle and working your way up, follow your sharpie line and stitch making sure the fabric is tight and laying flat.


IMPORTANT: Try on your pants after you finish sewing them. See if they fit the way you want them to. If they don't, take the seam out and try again. If they do, great. Cut the extra fabric off about 1/4 inch from the stitched line.

Then serge them up. If you don't have a serger, use a zig zag stitch or use fray check. Jeans fray and when you wash them the seam can unravel and open up.

And that's it! It took me less than a half an hour. Go try it, and let me know how it worked for you.

I'm linking up here


49 comments

Very Shannon said...

Great job! I found a pair at Old Navy (the new rockstar jean) so comfy! But I have another pair of jeans at home that I would love to try this out on! thanks for the tutorial :)

Jessica at Me Sew Crazy said...

How simple! And I too have been looking for a pair of skinny jeans to no avail - will have to try! Thanks!

Mandy England said...

Absolutely brilliant! Thanks for the tutorial! :]

emilyc @ Sew Super Sweet said...

GENIUS! And great tutorial...so great in fact I think even I could do this! :) Thanks so much!

Allison {A Glimpse Inside} said...

What a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

Great idea! Looks great and saves a lot of money, too!

Kate said...

That's awesome. I think I'm going to have to learn to sew just for this.. :)

Stacey said...

Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing!

Jenny Hall / Seamingly Smitten said...

What a great tutorial! Skinny jeans are hard to find at a good price, but everyone has an extra pair of jeans laying around!

Anonymous said...

WOW -- Beautifully done. They look sharp on you! Thank you so much for sharing this idea and wonderful technique on the Boardwalk Bragfest.

FineArtPainting said...

great tutorial. come link it up so our readers can find you... http://www.finecraftguild.com/diy-linky-party-19/

rose
contact at finecraftguild.com

Sassy Sites! said...

Thanks for linking up with Sassy Sites for "Trash to Treasure Tuesday". :)

-Marni @ Sassy Sites!

Mel said...

Fantastic idea. My skinny jean days are well over, bur I can definitely make them for my daughter

Patti @ Pandoras Box said...

Are your pants "twisting" a bit when you wear them? You want to make sure the grain is straight down the front of your leg ....This will work better if you cut a bit from both sides...the double flat felled seam is not hard to replicate...just a few suggestions!

Lisa said...

What a great idea! I have the hardest time finding skinny jeans because I need juniors but they're always too low rise for me. I'd love to try this with an old pair of flares! Also great for maternity jeans since skinnies are hard to find.

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

Thanks for sharing--I have a pair of ultra bell bottoms that need this treatment!

Kristine said...

I used to do this all the time in the late 70's when I was in Jr. High!! I have been meaning to do it on a couple of pairs of my jeans but keep forgetting...thanks for the reminder!

Robin Ange said...

Love it, but I am too scared to rock the skinny jeans look, even if I know they will fit like magic.

Kristol Faucheux said...

hmmm... maybe i'll attempt this endeavor. thanks for the tute.

The Orange Dahlia said...

Thanks so much for this! You make it look so easy. I just might try this one day.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh I want to do this but I'm sewing challenged! I'm a proud skinny jean wearer. =^)

Jo @ http://smilemonsters.blogspot.com

Beth Adams said...

Thanks for this tip. My 11 yr old grandson wants skinny jeans for Christmas. Have not found any in his size just yet. This will be great for a gift.
http://wiccanmakesometoo.blogspot.com/

Kyla Armstrong said...

Fantastic . . . now if I were only skinny. LOL

Thanks for linking up to TOO Cute Tuesday.

http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com

Jaimee @ Havenwood House of Boys said...

This is such a great tutorial! I recently bought a pair of tall boots and have been constantly readjusting the legs of my (non-skinny) jeans and tucking, tucking all day long. After seeing this post, I know just how to alter a pair of my current jeans to wear comfortably with my boots. Yay! : )

the old white house said...

This was a great tutorial, I have been 'making' skinny jeans for my boys for about 5 years now. My 21 year old loves vintage clothes but he likes them to fit slim so he buys them at thrift stores and I alter them. Both of my older boys are pretty slim so this always works! Yours look fabulous! Theresa xoxo

Lori P said...

This is a terrific idea! I've altered lots of things and have never thought of that. Thanks so much - bookmarking this. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! How talented you are! And such a great tutorial! Thanks for linking to Weekend Wander. Hope to see you again next week!

Krista

Andrea @ Keepin it Thrifty said...

I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE this i am a new follower!

i linked this up on my blog! hope you stop by and take a look!

~Andrea
keepinitthriftyandrea.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

GENIUS!!!!!!

Unknown said...

yipee!!! i have a couple pairs in need of a serious skinny jean make-over... totally doing this!

~selina

CarmenBee said...

AMAZING! Thank you- I'm adding this to the list. So simple!

Mrs. Sassy Crafter (Fabi) said...

great idea!!!! I did it to my kid's jeans, but never thought about fixing ones for me!!!! Thanks so much....oh I'm a new follower!!!!

Sabr said...

Oh you're so clever! Can't wait to try this out on somejeans in the discard pile!!

sabrinaalery.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Lovely idea! I needed this! Nice, simple tutorial - thanks!

Felicity @ Simple Elegance

Kristol Faucheux said...

Rachel, I followed your Tutorial this morning, and now have a great pair of skinny jeans. I blogged about them along with some shoes I dressed up. Please come check it out.

http://themagicofordinarythings.blogspot.com/2010/11/old-turned-into-new-gotta-love-it.html

Kristol

Maricar said...

Great job! Thanks for the tutorial tips ;)

.. I might make my own Best Skinny Jeans

Anonymous said...

Great tutorial! Love the idea of upcycling/recycling clothes! And a piece of advise: You can purchase very cheap skinny jeans at H&M. :-)

Krista S. said...

So awesome!!!!! And I must know where you got your boots!!!! Love them too :)

Krista S. said...

Thanks for the tute!!!! Here are the one's I made

http://thehandmadehomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/08/fall-means-bootsboots-mean-skinny-jeans.html

Unknown said...

I did this and it worked pretty well. I'm so pleased - especially since i'm not very good with the sewing machine.

melly said...

so trying this on a pair of super ugly boot cut pair I bought evidently out of desperation.

Amorphous Media Art / Off The Cuff said...

I just did this too~ I'd blog about it on my blog, but alas, all I do over there is cooking tutorials! But, rest assured, I got a pair of ordinary button-fly jeans to tuck into my boots properly now, without that uncomfortable "fold-over" lump at the ankle. :)

Unknown said...

Excellent tutorial! I actually did it successfully and I am a beginner when it comes to sewing. I ended up doing it to two pairs. I love them! Thank you!

kaceyjewel said...

Great job! I found a pair at Old Navy (the new rockstar jean) so comfy! But I have another pair of jeans at home that I would love to try this out on! thanks for the tutorial
sport tek apparel

Unknown said...

Just made them :)
Tada! Instead of buying a smaller size (thanks Cassey Ho!!) jeans, I just did this and will wear a belt! You just saved me thirty dollars!
Love,
katherine
www.veggiesinmysweets.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Mine turned out so cute!!! Thanks!

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