Student, Seamstress and Member of Silver Spring Sewing Sisters recently completed a restyling project. When we met last month Xtine brought in this fabulous pair of jeans she picked up at a local thrift store which were about two sizes too big and way too long. She decided to tackle slimming them down and shortening them for a better fit. Take a look
The few weeks following the class Xtine got to work and slimmed down those jeans and replaced a rather challenging cuff. See below her before and after photos and her review of the process.
YAY!! Xtine, great job!
Xtine- I love the fact that anything goes with jean styles right now: skinny, wide, high-waisted, hip slung, dark, light – you name it. On my last few thrifting forays, I’ve been keeping my eye out for a pair of wide-legged jeans to wear with platforms. On the plus side, I scored a great pair at my nearby Value Village, made of a lightweight denim with a nice dark wash, full legs with bells and cool cuffs. On the minus side, they were too full in the legs and too long; fortunately the waist and hips were a good fit.
After some discussion at our Refashion session, it was clear a few simple changes would make them the jeans I’d been searching for. I put them on inside out and pinned them on the inner and outer legs from hip to knee to take in the extra fullness. I wanted a definite bell at the bottom, so from the knee down I only took out about an inch of width. After noting how the cuff was made ( a neat finish that hides the raw edge at the hem and creates a faux cuff with a simple pleat on the outside of the jeans), I took out the hem, marked my jeans and sewed from hip to hem. I trimmed and finished the seams with my serger.
After taking in the excess fabric I did not need to shorten them as much as I had initially thought – only an inch & 1/4 shorter, since I want to wear them with platforms. With the unusual hem finish, I only needed to turn them up a half inch, trim a 1/4 inch from the raw edge and use the same pleat to create my cuff, which was slightly narrower than the original. Since I’m only 5 foot 3, that’s probably more in proportion to my frame. After adding buttons to the back flaps to keep them closed, and a little gold topstitching to match the other stitching on my jeans, I have my great summer flared jeans!
Finished Product
