We all love a good pair of distressed jeans. What we don’t love is paying $90 for them at Urban Outfitters. So it’s time to break out the scissors and do it yourself! This super easy (and super free) DIY will give all your old denim a much needed makeover!
Step 1: Gather the materials
All you need is a pair of jeans, some scissors and a tweezers. It’s best to use an old pair of tweezers so you don’t dull them out.
Step 2: Put them on
Try the jeans on and figure out where you want the rips to be. Make a mark with a pencil or chalk so you have a guideline when you make the cut.
Step 3: Make the cut
Once you take the jeans off, make a horizontal cut across the mark. I made mine from seam to seam, so the hole was pretty wide, but you can do it any width you like!
Make a few more cuts, both above and below the first, changing it up in width for a more uneven pattern.
Step 4: Tweeze away
Take your tweezers and start pulling out the strings that run vertically through the jeans. The first few are tough to pull out, but once you get going they loosen up.
Go all the way across the cuts, pulling out the little blue strings. DISCLAIMER: the strings will go everywhere and stick to everything.
Step 5: Break the strings
Rip off a few of the white horizontal strings to break it up a bit, or leave them hanging if that’s the look you’re going for!
Step 6: Fray the edges
Run your scissors across the top and bottom cuts to fray the edges and give them a more distressed look.
Step 7: On to the next
Do the same exact thing on the other leg, or wherever else you want rips on the jeans!
There you have it! Distressed denim is super easy, and once you start you will literally want to destroy every single pair of jeans you own. Try it out and tag @HerCampusUCF on Instagram so we can see your creations!