DIY BLEACHED AMERICAN FLAG DENIM

Denim like this has been popping up all over lately and stores are charging outrageous prices for something that all of you at home could DIY very quickly and easily with supplies that you probably already have lying around! Read on for the how-to!

American Flag Jeans - $68.00

Supplies:

- pair of jeans

- bleach

- water to dilute the bleach

- sponge brush

- bowl to put diluted bleach in

- a ventilated place to work

- tape (painters tape or masking tape works best)

- iron

- cardboard (cereal boxes are easy to work with)

- some way to make a star (sponge stamp or stencil) 

- gloves while handling bleach

Directions:

1. first you need to set up your work area. lay out your jeans on a nice flat surface. place the cardboard in between the 2 layers of denim inside the jeans so the bleach doesn't bleed through to the other side randomly. dilute your bleach with water in a bowl. don't dilute it too much. check bottle for diluting instructions.

2. tape away stripes down 1 half of the jeans. to make sure it's a very crisp line, iron over the tape with an iron (no steam). this just melts the sticky stuff on the tape a little more so it makes the seal better)

3. use your sponge brush to fill in the stripes between the tape.

4. figure out how you will do the stars. i would say a sticky stencil of some sort so you can get crisp edges. if it is a sticky stencil that you use, remember to also iron it down so you can get the same crisp edges as the tape! :) fill in with the bleach. 

5. i would let this sit over night. if it's not working as well as you'd hoped. add more bleach with less dilution. let sit again over night. 

6. carefully remove the stencils/tape that you used and hand rinse the bleach off. wash by itself in a washer (or wait to do a whole load of hand bleached things so you don't accidentally bleach things you wouldn't otherwise want bleached).

BOOM! you have a custom pair of flag jeans! :)

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DIY Neon Bias Tape Hem Denim Shorts

I found these here at topshop.com for a ridiculous $64.00

I think I can do a lot better than that! :)



Supplies:
- denim shorts or pants that you'd be willing to cut into shorts
- scissors
- sewing machine
- thread (contrasting or matching)
- bias tape in the color you want on the bottom. neon looks sweet!
- measuring tape
- pins

Directions:
1. cut your denim to your desired length (shorts or pants). try not to fray it.
2. measure out the length you'll need around each leg hole with your measuring tape.
3. cut the bias tape for each leg.
4. pin your bias tape to the bottom of each leg hole.
5. sew it with a sewing machine carefully.

say hello to some brand new one of a kind shorts!

a pair of these in black with neon accents would look sweet for even a spring/summer casual going out look!

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DIY Printed Denim

There are a couple of ways to go about this.


- You can paint on a design using fabric paint/pigment. The best bet would be to buy commercial quality pigment (aka something you have to order).



Or...


- You can sew on a full pattern over top of your denim. For jeans this would take a decent amount of fabric, time, and perfectionism, but would totally be worth it in the end.



1. find some fabric
2. lay a piece of paper over the denim where you want your fabric and trace a pattern.
3. tape/pin it to top of fabric and cut out your pattern. leave extra if your fabric frays so you can hem it or use no-fray.
4. pin the fabric on and sew your printed fabric on your denim.

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DIY Pocket Appeal

Rather than dying or bleaching your denim, sometimes you just want something subtle.
Changing up the pockets is the way to go.



1. Find some cute fabric that you want for your pockets. The remnant pile at hobs lobs or jo-anne's is usually a good place to find some for cheap and you don't need like a whole yard or anything like that.
2. check your pocket's shape on the inside of your shorts.
3. free-hand a shape that's slightly bigger than your pocket and cut it out.
4. if the edges of the type of fabric you are using fray, cut enough off so you can hem it so there are no frayed edges, or put some of that no-fray stuff on it (available at hobs lobs, jo-annes, wal-mart, etc)
5. if you want your pocket to seem larger and stick out the bottom, cut the bottom of the pocket a little longer/bigger than your original pocket.
6. pin the pocket over the old one and sew it!
*you don't need to sew a whole new pocket since you are only trying to achieve the look of a printed pocket*
7. distress the jeans where the pockets are so the pattern can show through.
8. add studs if you desire.

enjoy :)

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DIY Chain Pocket Jeans

Again with the constant need to have random chains and old necklaces laying around! haha

1. Cut off the pocket of a pair of jeans you're willing to do it to.
2. start at the top of where the pocket used to be. String chain from one side to another. make 2 little holes (for the chain to attach to) on each side. Attach the chain with jewelry pliers or small needle nose pliers.
3. continue doing this all the way down using less and less chain to match the shape of where the pocket used to be.
4. make sure you don't leave the chain too tight. if you put them on and your butt stretches out the back too much your chain could look weird or even break. -> to prevent this, after the first couple of chains, put the jeans on and see how it looks on your butt. you could have them perfectly taut, or you could have them hanging a little loose. i prefer the hanging slightly loose look. :)

Good luck!








Courtesy of 80spurple

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What my Safety Pin/Studded/Random Jacket kinda reminds me of

Mine is a jean jacket, like the one below. A way darker wash though. && has WAY more stuff on it. Prolly too much. but w/e it's my first go and I like it that way :p



Courtesy of cryystalballer

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DIY Studded Back Pocket

I did this to a pair of my acid wash jeans that I am constantly deconstructing, ripping, and studding.
I've been doing this in my random free time for about a year now. Taking out the blue thread strand by strand can get kinda tedious. Anyways, I did this to the back pocket.

Grab some studs and a seam ripper/scissors.
Just rip the seam that attaches the left side of the pocket to the jeans down just the left side. Or you can do what this girl did and cut very close to the edge of where the pocket meets the seams and then fray the edges.
Stud the pocket :)

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DIY Sequin Jean Pockets

So I freaking L O V E this!!!
I've always loved the longer than shorts pocket look but now that i've found this, I think I might have to DIY this asap!
Take some ribbon sequins (it's on a roll like regular ribbon. WAY cheaper and easier to work with than loose sequins) and fabric glue, sew, or industrial glue (i don't think this is washable?) and cover your pocket! If you want something simpler just do the bottom of the pocket :) or outline the bottom and sides. If you wanna get really creative, do a design!



Courtesy of: christeric

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DIY Slashed Jeggings

If you are lucky enough to find a pair of cheap-ish jeggings that you are willing to destroy yourself, do it. It's better than paying an upwards of $60 for pre-slashed stuff.



Courtesy of: christeric

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