Tag Archives: jean

June 23, 2013
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Jean + Leather Short DIY

My love affair with leather is nothing new to those who have followed this blog for a hot second, so it should be no surprise that, once again, I’ve added leather to another object in my life. It can be a bit difficult to wear leather in the summer, it’s not exactly the most breathable fabric, but adding a bit to accent a pair of jean cuttoffs adds some rock ‘n’ roll edge and satisfies my longing for leather.

I took an old pair of jean shorts that I don’t wear anymore and cut them off to my desired length. To get the frayed edges, I machine washed and dried the shorts and the edges were perfectly frayed. For best results, you’ll want to choose a pair of shorts that are a little loose on you to start with- the leather pieces don’t allow the jean to stretch as much as it normally would once you put them on again, so you’ll need to compensate for that a bit by starting out with a looser fit.

Next, I cut out two pieces of leather (real or faux will work fine) that met up with the side seams and waistband and mimicked the curve of the pockets. If you have belt loops, you’ll want to use a seam ripper to carefully undo the bottom attachment of any loops that are in the way of where the leather will go so that you can reattach them later on top of your leather pieces. I also did my back pockets, so I cut two more pieces of leather that were the same shape as those pockets as well.

Once my pieces were cut, I used fabric glue to glue the leather onto the appropriate spots on my jean shorts. I wanted to make sure the leather/jean combo was extra secure, so once the glue dried, I used my sewing machine to sew around the edge of each piece, getting as close to the edges as I could. If you do this step, make sure to first pin the pocket linings out of the way on the front of the shorts (so you don’t sew the pockets shut), and leave the top opening of the back pockets unsewn (again, so those aren’t sewn shut either). Also, make sure to sew your belt loops back on if you took those off too.

I was a little unsure of how these would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Now I can have a way to show a little edge this summer without having to risk heat stroke in my leather leggings. A win all around!!

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