Removing Jean Pockets

 Hello Readers. I love to go thrifting and sometimes I find amazing items. Sometimes I find great basics too. These jeans fit so well and the length was perfect. They were a perfect basic. And they were only $1.75!!! I liked the dark wash but not the front pockets.

Removing the pockets.

These jeans were on clearance at the thrift store. They were also soft and had a straight leg cut. They seemed great.

I didn't notice until I got home but the front patch pockets were unevenly placed. I don't like front patch pockets anyway and I planned to remove the pockets entirely. 

 

I used a seam ripper to take the stitches out. I worked from the inside to prevent damaging the outer fabric. I worked slow and went stitch by stitch until I could remove the pockets easily. I didn't want to pull on the fabric or rip the front of the jeans. 

The jeans had some slight light marks where the pocket stitches were. 

 

I used a fine tipped permanent marker in black to hide the little stitch marks. I didn't draw a line over them. I made a small dot right on the light spot to darken it. I went dot by dot until I had blended them away. The permanent marker will stay on through the washer and dryer well over time.

 

I was happy with how the stitch marks had disappeared. I think the smooth front looks better without the pockets. I like the plain simple look of these "new" jeans so much better. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

Artistic Jeans

 Hello Readers. Do you like distressed denim? I love almost anything of  denim and jeans are my everyday uniform. But these are a little too distressed for me. Especially in winter. My legs would freeze in these. They were only 25 cents at one of my favorite thrift store! I brought them home and decided to patch all these holes.

 

Before and after.

 

 

The holes in these jeans were not going to work in the winter where I live. It is freezing outside. I would turn into an ice cube. 

I need some patches. I decided to use this fabric I had on hand. This fabric is cotton and has a nice weight to it, it's pretty thick. It is for home interior decorating projects. It will be a good match for the thicknes for these jeans. I could cut out some of the pictures and use them as patches.

I cut out the pictures with my rotary cutter. I cut the pictures out based on the size of the picture and the size of the holes in my jeans. I wanted the patches to be a bit larger than the holes.

I arranged the patches on top of the jeans to make sure the holes were fully covered. I arranged them carefully to make sure my plan would work.

 

I used this iron-on hem tape to hold the patches in place. Pins would also work but they always seem to shift around and stab me when I am sewing so this tape will be safer for me. 

I placed the tape under the patches. I put it around the edges and ironed the patches to the jeans following the directions on the package. 

I unbuttoned the jeans. This allowed me to get the jeans into position on the sewing machine. I used a zigzag stitch all around the patches. The stitching will hold much better than the iron-on tape alone over the long term. 

It took a while to get around all the patches and wiggle the jeans around my sewing machine but it worked out great.

My jeans were finished. The patches were all in place and all the holes were covered. My legs would be warm and covered all winter. 

I love the colorful and fun patches. This was such a fun way to "fix" the distressed spots on my jeans. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Turn It Around

 Hello Readers. Feeling comfortable in our clothes is something we can neglect sometimes. When we get busy or distracted we can forget to make sure we feel good. You probably have favorite fabrics, styles and cuts of clothes that you know you like. There are probably types of clothes that you know you probably aren't going to like as well. I know myself enough to know that any kind of turtleneck or even a mock turtleneck might not feel good to me.

**Danger**- Turtleneck Shirt ahead!!

I feel like this shirt wants to choke me out at any moment. It was handed it down it to me and it has a beautiful floral design. But that neck!! What could I do??

The back of the shirt had buttons and a keyhole style neckline. That gave me an idea.

So, I took it off, unbuttoned the neck and just turned it around. (Yes, that is where I got the title.) 

When I wore it backwards, it still looked great. I could breath freely and not tug at the neckline all day because it wasn't comfortable.

These jeans fit so well but were too long. I am 51, my feet are old, I can't wear high heels everyday, I need real-world comfortable clothes. These need to be shorter so I can wear flat shoes.

I marked the length so I would know where to cut these jeans.

I cut the jeans and left enough extra to turn the edge under and sew a new hem.

I sewed the jeans at the new length and I was done. 

Whew! I can breath in this shirt and my jeans are a better length. I am ready to go live my life. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun and comfortable for yourself. 

***Year End Update- This combo works for any day that I can't wear pajamas. I don't have to think about it. I can just put it on.

Denim Shorts; A Summer Necessity

 Hello Readers. Every summer I need one thing in my wardrobe, denim shorts. It is a must. Since the time of Covid my shorts have gotten too small every year so I have to make a new pair. So, welcome to "Denim Shorts 2023 Edition".

It's an annual tradition!

Capri length jeans are not flattering on me. They tend to cut off my legs in a bad way. These will be perfect to cut off into summer shorts.

I like to try them on inside out and make a mark where I want to cut the length. 

I used a seam ripper to get the frayed look. I picked at the edge of the shorts and then washed the to get really good fraying.

Do you have a problem with the waist being too loose? I did but I found an easy solution. 

I found these metal jean buttons on Amazon a while back. (Not an ad. They don't know me.) They have a cap that you can take on and off the back like an earring. You can put them in jeans, or anything else. They stay on really well.

I attached the button a little further over and put the cap on. 

When I button the waist it is a couple inches smaller. No sewing needed!

Here is to a fun summer full of relaxation. (Just kidding. I'm a mom of an 8 yr old boy. We don't sit still.) Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- I wore these all summer. They were perfect for casual mom life.

Denim Days-Star Wars Jeans

 Hello Readers. It's Star Wars Day! May the force be with you. I decided to refashion denim all this month and I was so excited to refashion these jeans. Are you a Star Wars fan? I definitely am. I remember seeing the first movie when it came out way back in the summer of 1977. I was 5 years old and my mom had to read the intro script to me because I couldn't read yet.

 

Before and after.

I found this small drawstring bag at a clothes swap. There was a yellow side...

And a green side. I love green side with all the schematics of the space ships. 

 

I cut the bag apart and made 2 square shapes. I wanted to make the squares into pockets for the back of a pair of jeans. I did not cut the top of the squares. That is where the drawstring was. It is colorful and nicely finished. It will make quick pockets if I do not have to sew the top of each pocket.

You can see the squares are larger than the original pockets of the jeans. I wanted to cover those original pockets completely so my new pockets will have to be larger. I could remove the original denim pockets but that will take more time and it is not necessary when I can just cover them.

I measured to make sure my pockets were the  I needed and the same size as the other. I folded the raw cut edges under and ironed them to get them precise. I clipped them to the jeans so they would not move while I was sewing. I used the original pockets as a guide for placement and angle. 

This video shows the pockets and how I sewed them on the jeans very clearly.

Here are my jeans with the new pockets. They are so fun. 

I wore these jeans to the beach. They say Star Wars, but they could go anywhere. 

It was a beautiful day. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- These are going to be life long favorite! I saw Star Wars when I was a kid so many times!

Cherry Blossom Jeans

 Hello Readers. It is springtime. In my part of the world we lose our minds over the cherry blossoms in Washington DC. The trees were a gift from Japan and everyone loves them. There is a festival and a parade. The dates of peak bloom are announced in the news so people can plan to go see them. There are a lot of fun activities and it really is beautiful.

Before and after. 

In honor of those pretty blossoms, I made some jeans.

I grabbed some black acrylic paint and a thin brush and started painting branches on the sides of these jeans. I painted with a heavy hand. The paint will not wash out. It is permanent but it will fade a little. I want the black to be dark and visible after many washes. I let the black paint dry thoroughly. 

When the black paint was dry I started painting pink spots along the black branches. This does not have to be perfect. I even let my youngest help me. I just loaded the brush with paint and tapped it on the jeans. I did not let this dark pink paint dry.

I added some lighter pink paint onto the dark pink spots. I liked how the 2 colors blended in with each other a little. This also does not need to be perfect, orderly, neat or uniform. Just make some splotches on the jeans. It's fun. Don't over think it. 

Here is a look at my very low budget paint holder. I put the dark pink paint in this cup so my son could paint with me and then I added white paint to make a lighter shade of pink that I used second. You can use any pink acrylic paint you have or like. The paint I have is a mix of inexpensive paints from the craft store. 

If you look closely at the picture of the blossoms they have a dark pink center so I added a dot of magenta to the center of my spots. I wasn't trying to create really accurate paintings of blossoms. I am going for more of an impressionist style. 

You can see these blossoms are all different and imperfect, just like all the people that go see the blossoms. I love it that way.

I love the pop of pink. It's so fun, cheerful and perfect for spring. I made some jeans almost just like this about 4-5 years ago but they got too tight. It's OK, now I replaced them. 

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- These jeans were so fun! I know skinny jeans are not supposed to be in but if these are wrong, I don't want to be right.