DIY skirt made from old jeans

Denim has long been a wardrobe staple. The fashion for trousers, skirts and jackets made of beautiful and at the same time unpretentious denim fabric will most likely never go away. Things made of light and elastic denim are worn at any time of the year by both children and adults. Every season, famous designers include them in their collections, changing the usual look of denim skirts or trousers or, conversely, returning to long-forgotten styles.

Every girl who has out-of-fashion or worn-out jeans in her closet can try herself as a designer and change her trousers into a short or long skirt. Skirts made of thick denim or light denim, sewn with your own hands, will help complement and complete the look of any fashionista.

How to make a short skirt from old jeans

Almost all women love and wear short skirts.It is generally accepted that denim minis are more designed for little girls or teenagers, however, today’s range of denim items fundamentally refutes this opinion. Today, even a woman in her thirties who watches her figure can afford to walk the streets of the city in a denim miniskirt.

Transforming trousers into a miniskirt does not require any special knowledge or skills. It is enough to know how to handle scissors and a sewing machine and have a little imagination. To work you need to stock up:

• a pair of unnecessary trousers made of thick jeans or stretch denim;
• seam ripper;
• a small piece of dried solid soap;
• pins;
• threads;
• scissors with long blades;
• tailor's meter (ruler);
• sewing machine.

Before starting any sewing work, every inexperienced beginner should take on board the following tips:

• for the first time it is better to use things that you don’t mind for remodeling;
• before cutting anything, you need to double-check the accuracy of the calculations;
• When cutting fabric into pieces, you should always leave one or two centimeters for seams and allowances.

The remodeling process can be divided into several stages:

1. Definition of length. Of course, the shorter the miniskirt, the better, but in order to maintain decency and not shock others with your appearance, it would be useful to determine the optimal hem length. To do this, you need to put on jeans and stand in front of a mirror that offers a full-length view of a person, and put your hands at your sides. The place where the fingertips touch the hips is the appropriate length for a given person.
2. "Cutting work." Armed with a piece of soap, you need to measure the points along which the cut will be made.Afterwards, you need to take off your jeans and, using a ruler, draw a horizontal line connecting them from two points, along which you need to cut the fabric. It is important not to forget to leave one to two centimeters of fabric for the edge seams.
3. Ripping out seams. After the legs are cut, you need to carefully rip out the inner seams connecting them. A tailor's ripper (blade or straight razor, nail scissors with thin blades) is perfect for this. The seams are cut from the hem line inside, up to the zipper in the front and the seam located between the pockets in the back.
4. Stitching and processing. After the halves of the future skirt are cleared of thread residues, they are laid overlapping each other and connected on both sides with a new middle seam stitched on a machine. The hem folded inward is processed using an overlock stitch on a machine.

Interesting! The hem does not need to be hemmed by machine. If the length allows, you can add two or three centimeters to the fringe. If the length turns out to be critical, you can sew a strip of fabric with loose threads onto the product using a machine.

You can make fringe using nail scissors:

• On the wrong side of the denim, mark a line where the fringe will begin.
• From the marked line down the ruler, vertical lines one or two centimeters wide are drawn, which are then cut with scissors.
• Using a thick needle, remove all horizontal threads from the cut fabric.
• To prevent the threads from fraying during wear, two thin stitches are made on top of the fringe, which can also decorate the skirt.

If the mini is too short, you can sew a frill to it from the same fabric or material with a different pattern.A model with pleats made of denim, chiffon or tulle looks stylish and youthful. If you need to turn a “mini” into a “maxi”, frills will also come to the rescue, only longer.

An excellent variation of a short denim skirt would be the sun-flare model. Not everyone can afford to wear such a bold outfit; in most cases, flared short skirts are the choice of schoolgirls and students.

Important! To sew a short flared skirt from old jeggings, you need not the hip part of the pants with a zipper, but the lower part of the trouser legs. Therefore, this option allows you to make two skirts from one jeans - a “mini” from the top and a “flare” from the legs.

Step-by-step remodeling process:

1. Using a sewing centimeter, measurements are taken: waist circumference (WT) and hips (OB), product length (DI). These numbers are needed to understand at what height to cut the legs of jeans.
2. The cut trouser legs are ripped out at the inseams and outer seams.
3. The resulting pieces of material are thoroughly ironed on both sides.
4. A pattern is drawn on graph paper - a trapezoid, on which the side line corresponds to 1⁄4 of the half-circumference of the waist, and the bottom line corresponds to 1⁄4 of the width of the skirt, the side side is equal to the length of the product.
5. The parts cut out from the pattern are sewn on the wrong side by machine.
6. From the remaining pieces of trouser legs, a belt is cut out, which is attached to the skirt.

Remaking jeans into a skirt in Boho style

The main feature of the boho style is the combination of things that are completely incompatible with each other. Appearing in the 19th century of the last millennium, it became a kind of protest against the generally accepted canons of style and beauty. Today, almost all famous film actresses and TV personalities dress in boho, considering this style the most comfortable and versatile.Its very name – “bohemian” – says that this is the style of people who are creative and romantic by nature.

Boho clothing consists of long multi-layered skirts made from fabrics of different types and textures, floor-length sundresses and voluminous vintage jewelry. Out-of-fashion or tired jeans and a loose-fitting knitted sundress will help you join the bohemian life and make a truly unique and interesting thing with your own hands. You can give them a second life by combining them into a bohemian-style skirt.

You can make a thing in which the hip part will look like jeans, and the bottom like a gypsy skirt, in this way:

• The legs of the jeans are cut off and the seams are ripped out (as described above). The sundress is cut into two parts: a bodice and a skirt. There is no need to throw away the cut parts; they will be useful in your work.
• The legs cut from jeans are cut lengthwise into thin strips, which will later become a frill for a new skirt. The same is done with the lining fabric of the sundress. After the required number of frills have been prepared, they are sewn together by machine or by hand into one wide fabric.
• The frills are sewn to the hem of the skirt, which is sewn to the denim part, and a fashionable boho-style item is ready.

Advice! You can wear boho clothes with your usual blouses and jackets and with clothes that are completely inappropriate in style. You are allowed to wear high heels, open sandals and heavy combat boots with thick soles. A layered boho skirt looks great with a matching denim jacket, a short midriff-baring top and pointy-toe cowboy boots.

Things in a similar “boho” style can be created using the “patchwork” sewing technique.The ancient technique of sewing from scraps allows you to use every piece of fabric remaining after any process to your advantage. Previously, only things for home use were sewn from scraps: rugs, blankets, bedspreads for upholstered furniture, floor mats, bedding for pets, etc. Today, it is not uncommon to find items of clothing made using this technique, which are distinguished by their original appearance and quite impressive price.

Unnecessary jeans, perseverance and a little imagination will help you master the patchwork technique and create an original skirt. The first thing you need to do is decide on the style of the skirt. It can be mini, maxi, midi or a flared model, long to mid-calf. For sewing, it is recommended to first prepare a pattern, according to which the hem sewn from pieces of fabric will be assembled.

The upper part of the denim trousers is cut off and ripped out along the crotch line. The remaining trouser legs are cut into squares or rectangles of different or equal sizes, from which the lower part of the skirt is then assembled according to the pattern. After the bottom is ready, it is connected to the top.

Advice! To make the skirt even more original, you can use denim of different colors. Models that combine fabrics with different textures, such as Jeans and velor, leather or suede, look especially interesting.

Options for altering old jeans into a skirt

Denim skirts with a wedge and a seam look interesting and stylish. Depending on how long it should be, you may need one or two pairs of trousers for work, one for a knee-length skirt, two pairs for a floor-length maxi.

In addition to jeans, you will need the same set of tools for work as for sewing a miniskirt.The step-by-step process looks like this:

1. Once the appropriate length has been selected, both legs of the trousers are cut off.
2. On the upper part of the skirt, the step seams (entirely) and mid-seams (partially) are ripped out.
3. From the remaining fabric, cut out two pieces in the shape of a triangle.
4. One triangle is pinned to the front of the skirt, the second at the back.
5. Sew the triangle along the remaining seam lines.

Advice! To make the new skirt look more interesting, the wedges inserted in the front and back can be made from a different fabric. Inserts made of knitwear, tulle, lace, velvet or satin will look great. The back section can be made multi-layered by sewing several rows of lace or satin ribbons.

For true adherents of business style, the idea of ​​transforming denim trousers into a tapered “pencil” model, which is great for work or school, will come in handy. This skirt will perfectly highlight the beautiful shape of its owner and visually lengthen the silhouette.

Important! To work, you will need two pairs, which should perfectly match each other in color. It is advisable that they be high-waisted or high-waisted. Hip models are best left for mini or maxi.

For crocheters and knitters, the idea of ​​turning jeans into a skirt can also help get rid of unwanted yarn. The combination of rough Jeans and delicate and thin crocheted openwork fabric looks very feminine and romantic.