Skinny Jeans

Despite all the dresses you normally see here, I am actually a regular jean wearer.  Unfortunately jeans don't alter that well, and they are probably an item worth buying new.  But as I pledged to not buy 'new' clothes this year, when the weather started showing signs of getting cooler a few weeks back I realised that my pant size was a couple of sizes different than it was at this time last year, so I headed off to the op shop in search of jeans.  I must admit the pickings for decent second hand jeans are pretty slim, but I was lucky that the first two pairs (one black and one denim ) that I took off the rack actually fit quite well and being JAG and Calvin Klein seemed better quality than most of the other pairs on offer.  However both pairs were a straight cut, and I wanted 'skinny', or a 'relaxed skinny' style, so this is a straight cut to skinny jean refashion (or alteration if you prefer).

Well, this photo isn't actually that good at showing what I'm working with, but these jeans are actually a straight leg jean.

This gives a better idea of the jeans looked like before I started. 

I started by turning them inside out, and made the outer leg seam lay flat.

Then I got my old jeans a laid them over the top.

And I very roughly traced the cut of my old jeans onto my 'new' jeans in chalk.

Then using a large stitch (so it would be easy to unpick if I got it wrong) I sewed about a centimeter in from my chalk line.

I tried the jeans on to make sure I hadn't taken them in too much before I chopped off this bit.

After this it was just a matter of trying them on and taking them in a little bit at a time over and over again until they were how I wanted them.  Generally I really dislike alterations, and this was no different, but this is a handy little alteration if you are wanting to reinvent the cut of your jeans.


Jeans are so versatile, and can be dressed up or down, but I personally like them dressed down for everyday living.

 Like going to the beach in Autumn.

Running around with my kiddos.

and hangin' out.

Not my jeans, but I'm loving my mothers day present.  This silver pendant was designed and made by my talented husband.  

Thank you Shane, I LOVE IT :-)

In the evening we even got to play with fire... and camera exposure.

Again, you can't see the jeans but I just thought this photo was cool.

Although it might do these jeans more justice if the after photo were more 'styled', but in all honesty these jeans are for to me to wear on a regular basis around the house and doing things with my kids, so I'm not going to pretend I wear them with heals or expensive tops.   As pictured here, they will be worn with my wardrobe basics, and for this reason I'm not even going to bother pricing this outfit because aside from the $4 I paid for these thrifted jeans (and the recently aquired thrifted scarf that appears in the fire photo) all the other items have been in my wardrobe for years.