Written by The Strategy

 

It’s almost the weekend, and it’s almost Spring. If those two things together mean anything, Spring Cleaning is it. Before we ramble on and on about the importance of cleaning your closet and clearing out what hasn’t seen the light of day in a year and a half, we’re instead offering you a solution to the one thing you probably see every time you get dressed. Your jeans.

Got old jeans? Got some time? Perfect. Because we’re DIY-ing— the lazy persons way. No fancy equipment, no wait time, very little fuss.

What you’ll need:

-jeans, preferably an older pair that you don’t mind cutting into

-scissors

-tweezers

-fine sandpaper OR a gritty nail file (We know, we know…sand paper doesn’t scream lazy DIY-er. But it really makes a difference in how the denim fades and is a lot easier to work with than a file. Chances are you know someone who’s the kind of person to have it laying around so it’s not entirely impossible to get your hands on.)

Any old jeans will do, but make sure they fit. You don’t want to go through the trouble of DIY-ing the heck out of jeans that are two sizes too wrong. Also, it’s best to do this in an open area, especially if you’re opting for the sandpaper. 

Now, lay your denim of choice on a hard surface and go to town. For the classic slashed knees, use the scissors to cut a straight line and then pull the fabric to fray it. Tweezers are helpful for pulling threads loose. If you want a raw edge look, tweezers are your new BFF. Feel free to slice and dice pockets, knees, belt loops, and hems. Stay away from side seams and inseams unless you want to chance your pants falling to pieces.

For fading and creating more natural looking worn holes, sand away. Depending on the grade of your denim, or not denim if you’ve got something closer to a jegging, this can be super easy or require a little more elbow grease. Working in vertical passes gives an over all fade that looks the best over the thighs, concentrating near the knee. Sanding over the pockets and lightly over the seams gives an overall roughed up look, whereas just sticking to the legs keeps it a little cleaner. And don’t neglect the back of your denim DIY project. A little fading and sanding on the back pockets finish the whole deal.

And there you have it! Relatively easy, quick, and still wearable at the end of the day. The beauty about denim DIYs is that you can’t make a mistake. Unless you try to DIY denim shorts…that’s a talent we have yet to master.

Written by Katrina Garofalo