Making Your Own Distressed Jeans; Wardrobe Refashion Long Sleeved Blouse To Peasant Top

Once I read the blog post over at Made By Lex on how to distress jeans, I knew which pair I was going to practice on....a nice pair of very dark blue-like brand-new-got from Freecycle-Levi's for my granddaughter. They look exactly like the $300 (yep...$300!!!) jeans in the stores.
I used these nice dark jeans, but next time I'll use older jeans, which will be yard sale or thrifted or freecycled items. And next time I want to drip some bleach, or try the bleach stencil technique. Wouldn't that look great?? (Okay, I guess you can tell I want to bleach stencil SOMETHING!! and I'll get back to you later with that, as soon as I remember to buy some bleach gel or soft scrub... haha!

Now gather up:
old jeans that fit, or are slightly loose- yours or your ex's or your cousins or brothers
a pumice stone
sandpaper
cheese grater
scissors or craft knife
bleach-if you want

Follow the how-to's at Lex' blog. It's very easy and quick! Here's something extra I did: I used the edge of one of my scissor blades to go along the pocket tops. And-after I washed them, I took them out and while still damp, used the pumice stone again, which worked even better on the wet fabric for making lighter patches on the jeans. Next time I might just keep the jeans on while I work on them! The sandpaper works great for this while the jeans are dry, it sands off some fabric to soften it, so be careful when you do that part.

The next pair I try, I'd like to use bleach. I think I'll take the jeans out of the washer and drip some bleach on them while they're damp. Wash them again after you finish bleaching them.

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I also refashioned a long sleeved button down blouse into a peasant top. A very easy project. Just trim off the collar, then trim it into a scoop shape in the front, leave some hem allowance,too. Trim the sleeves also leaving enough to hem. Now put some elastic thread in your bobbin and sew just below the neck hem and sleeve hems. Pretty! Add a bow if you like, at the neck and maybe on the sleeves.






And...I'll wear this one now! It was free, Twin gave it to me; so even better!

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I had trouble finding time to sew or craft, but one day decided to pull out the sewing machine and get going. BUT...found out quickly the puppies had chewed through the cords on the foot pedal. Luckily it was unplugged, and luckily my nephew was here and fixed it. I have other machines, this is just my favorite, lol!

Pieces that I could find of the cord...crazy silly puppies!!

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oh!! and another pic of new baby Zach! he's 2 weeks old now...