Outdated Denim Refashion

30 Comments

I scored these jeans a couple of Saturdays ago for $4. The tag said $6, but come on – the button was missing. I knew these would be a great pair of pants to refashion since they fit really well in the waist & thighs, they just had an outdated cut in the legs. I’ve been looking for denim that has more give in the thighs, because my pre-Felix skinnies don’t fit. Sure I can pull them on, but I’m the wicked witch of the west whenever I wear them because feeling like a stuffed sausage makes me angry. It’s time to move on from those pants.

Like I said – the cut in the leg was just outdated. they were too short to be cool bell bottoms & MUCH too wide to be worn with flats. I felt like I had stubby legs when I tried them on. Do you ever feel that way with pants?

Hello, missing button! I love these slanted pockets & the cheery blue stitching. Not necessarily anything that’s on trend, but I like those little details.

I didn’t do much besides take in the bottoms. I took my super skinnies & laid them wrong side out on top of these pants & marked lines just outside of the super skinnies to mark the tapering. I took in about 4 inches on the bottoms. YIKES. I feel like the skinny really lengthens my leg. One of the many reasons why the skinny jean trend can never go out.

After I was done adjusting the bottom & adding the button, I noticed that the back felt a little loose & a bit too low for me. So I added two darts (the denim was thin enough) on either side of the back seam. That made all the difference in the world! The fit of these jeans is perfect. They’re my new go-to pant. Now I don’t feel bad that I don’t fit into my pre-Felix skinnies.

To view more photos & the outfit details, click here

Thorough tutorials on how to skinnify your pants can be found here:

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    1. Amy says:

      You look fabulous in them. Go you!

    2. Barbara says:

      I feel the same way about skinnies making me look taller. These are really cute (:

    3. Katie says:

      Adorable. You are too clever. I keep wanting to thrift more. I’m sure there’s lots of goodies to be found.

    4. Emily says:

      These jeans look great on you! And your text is hilarious. Anyway, I must be the only person in the world who thinks that skinny jeans make me look shorter, something I don’t really need.

    5. Samandra says:

      You’re awesome Melissa!

    6. Laura Noble says:

      you’re so clever, they look fantastic!

    7. Bmerry says:

      So much better! Flare legs make everyone look awful.

    8. ashlee says:

      Love it! I did my own bootcut to skinny jeans back in Jan/Feb (with a tutorial on my blog). I am SO happy with them, I did 2 for me, and one for my daughter, love love LOVE the change!

    9. Shaela says:

      Super cute! And although YOU wear skinny jeans well, 90% of the people who do wear them, SHOULDN’T, lol – so I will be GLAD when the skinny jeans go out of fashion!!

    10. Gretchen T says:

      What a great idea! I never would have thought of that. You make it seem so easy and they look so good!

    11. great idea!!! Ive thought aboutit dozens of times but never followed through. FOr example. Next time I have a baby…I will probably make all my maternity jeans into strait leg jeans bc its been so long bootcut isnt what I want anymore.

    12. Ooooh love! Nice work, yet again. I’ve got a pair in mind for this project now. Thanks for the inspiration. :)

    13. Heather C. says:

      I did the same thing with some jeans that were in the bottom of my drawer. I never wore them because of the flare look. I’ve never altered clothes like you do but I just went with it and it worked! I was worried that I’d be able to see where it started to taper in but it’s really hard to tell.

    14. Joy says:

      That’s so funny! I have a bunch of maternity jeans that were *just* given to me and are all similarly an awkward length, and I was thinking about turning them into skinnies, as I did with a pair of wide-leg pants early last year. The reason I was waiting to do this was because last time I cut all the way up the leg and accidentally shortened the rise, so I only wore them once or twice. I’m trying to figure out how to bring in the leg without making the inseam look weird or having to go all the way up again.

    15. Susan says:

      I like that idea of refashioning them. They look really good! I have a pair I am consigning too that I’m just tired of squeezing into. Have to look for more to refashion!

    16. trish says:

      your refashions truly amaze me. i wish i had the same motivation to sew on loose buttons on my blouse. :P i’m a fan!

    17. Libby K. says:

      amazeballs. those look so cute on you. definitely worthy of the “go to” title. and the darts in the back-very clever, indeed!

    18. i LOVE! i have several pairs of pants that i want to turn into skinnies! these are darling on you. such a great post!

    19. Bellesme says:

      nice! I actually like boot cut or a slight flare, they look best on me. I can’t wear super skinnies with flats I feel like my feet stick out soo much and they look awkward. But I think I’m the only person who feels that way…
      Bellesme

    20. Emily A says:

      Lets just talk for a sec about how stinkin thin you are! No fair! AND talented. I want to do that to some of my jeans!!

    21. ashlee says:

      your too cute! what a doll adding links to tutorials! Leanne and I were talking about how we need to do this to a few more pair of jeans!

    22. Jen says:

      you’ve inspired me to go to DI today and makes something new out of something old. i’ve never done it before, but I’m excited. wish me luck. :)

    23. I saw a 5′ petite girl at Gap on Saturday trying on skinny jeans and she was complaining that the skinny fit made her look shorter than she actually was. My jaw about hit the floor. Keighley and I promptly corrected her and said, “the bell bottom cut makes one look shorter than skinny jeans”.

      Pointless story.

    24. Jessica says:

      Darn, and here I was thinking I was still okay in my pants, but alas apparently I’m outdated. I definitely can’t do skinny without looking exceptionally wider in the hips area. :(

    25. […] when I’d wear them, I’d roll up the bottoms. I was visiting one of my favorite blogs, Melissa Esplin and saw her blog post with a pair of re-fashioned jeans. She provided links to tutorials, I took a […]

    26. […] took me a few hours. For my first attempt, I laid my favorite pair of skinnies on top of the denim (similar to these), marked a line and sewed. They were much too tight. From there I decided to figure out the fit of […]

    27. […] Outdated Denim Refashion at I Still Love You Filed Under: Pants · Tagged With: denim refashion, jeans refashion, pants refashion, refashion denim, tailor jeans DIY […]

    28. […] First up: How to take bootcut (or wider) jeans and create skinny jeans from I Still Love You […]

    29. charlene says:

      OK, I’m ready to try this…did you make them straight legged on the inside seam or the outside seam? I’m wondering if I do it wrong if it might pull the seams crooked, etc.

      Thanks for your help!

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