DIY Ripped Jeans: How to Rip Jeans and Leave The White Thread
Jeans are very comfortable. That may be stating the obvious but they are. One way people make them even more comfortable is by ripping the denim themselves. This is not hard to do and helps people bring life to old jeans or feel part of the ongoing fashion trend.
The easiest way to do this task is to just be a hard-working person who wears jeans while they work. The denim will naturally start to wear and eventually rip leaving the white threads in place. The drawback to this method is that you have little control over where the rips go.
To learn more about ripped jeans and how to do it yourself, just continue to read our article. it has the information you need to know about so you can do a great job when you are ready to rip those jeans in your closet.
How to Rip Jeans And Leave The White Thread
One method has already been mentioned and its biggest drawback is that you are stuck with where the rips naturally come. You have little to no say in placing those rips or how big they will get.
To have total control over where those rips go and how large or small they will be, you will need to add them yourself. The first method is to take a large pair of very sharp scissors, a pair of tweezers, a seam ripper, and a little patience.
The first step will be to practice on an old pair of jeans first. That way when you do a better pair you can correct any mistakes and improve on your technique and placement of the rips.
Step two is to put the jeans on and mark where you want those rips to be. While some people take out large patches, they just do not have the legs for that style so make sure you mark the size of the rips carefully.
The next step will be to take them off and fold the jeans in a way that the side seams are up and down. Then take your scissors and make your cuts. If you are doing parallel rips make sure to leave about 1/2 inch between the cuts.
Step four has you taking your seam ripper or tweezers and removing only 1 or 2 horizontal threads. You then take the tweezers and remove some of the blue threads but be careful as the white threads are more delicate than the blue ones.
Step five has you repeating this process for every cut you have made on your jeans. You also have the option to cut any loose threads or leave them where they are. The whole process is up to you but as we said some people go too far and create something that only looks good to them.
In addition, when you rip jeans, everything is up to you. There are no rules to follow, except for modesty, so you have quite a bit of freedom to create a look that appeals to you even though it may not be appealing to the public.
Distressed Jeans Without Holes
Most instructions for distressed jeans come with the holes added to the process. But there is a way to get that distressed look without exposing any skin. Or you can still leave some threads in place and expose some skin but technically, that would be creating a hole.
The way to lose the color without creating holes would be to wash the jeans frequently. You will get rid of the dye but the distress area may be larger than you want with this method. You have little control over this process as well.
Another way would be to take some medium to fine-grit sandpaper and rub the areas you want to look distressed. You do not have to rub too hard or you may create some holes anyways. Be firm but do not press that hard.
If you do not want to use sandpaper there are little tools like fabric scrapers or graters you can use to distress your jeans and look cool. The grater does the same thing as sandpaper but maybe a little quicker due to the sharp blades.
You have to be careful when using any type of blade as they can cut quickly and create holes. Any time you cut or pluck threads, you are basically creating a hole so your options for this method are very limited.
How to Fray Jeans at The Knee
This is not going to be a difficult task to perform. It will take a little skill and a lot of patience as you do not want to cut too long or too short. The first step would be to measure where you want the fray to begin.
You will need a back and a front hemline so measure for two lines at about 1 1/2 inches apart. Next, cut the bottom line first and use a seam ripper to cut the threads at the seam. You want to cut from the bottom line to the top line.
After that take a pair of tweezers and wiggle the threads left and right to loosen them up. You don't want to pull them out and pulling down will create ripples. Use the same method for both the front and the back hem.
You can also use a cheese grater to do the fraying. It is not difficult either. This tool is great for fray pockets and it should work on your knees as well. The drawback to using this tool is that there is little control and it doesn't give you perfect fraying every time
Making Ripped Jeans Without Sandpaper
Sandpaper is better used when you do not want to make holes in your jeans. You have a lot of control over the sandpaper and can go as light as you want in order to avoid creating those holes. But if you want a better method than the cheese grater and make holes, sandpaper is a good method to use.
You do not have to use sandpaper if you do not want to. The go-to method would be to use your scissors or a sharp razor blade. These two tools will make sure you get large holes if you want large holes. You have to be careful if you only want small rips.
When you start, you need to place something like a block of wood, some thick cardboard, or a magazine in the leg and underneath the area you want the rips. These items will protect the other side of the pant leg as you cut or work.
It doesn’t matter if you go vertically or horizontally when you make your cuts and some people say to just rub the scissors etc., across the threads until they start to loosen up. Then take some tweezers and create your frayed look.
The amount of pressure you use will influence the size of the fray or holes. A gentle rub will keep everything small while a more vigorous rubbing will make the fray larger.
How to Make Ripped Jeans With Just Scissors
This is the most normal way of ripping jeans as scissors are usually everyone’s first thought when they want to put cuts in the fabric. The first step will be to measure where you want the rips to go.
Having some style and design to the rips will make them look natural if you do it right. Make sure to leave about a 1/2 inch of fabric between any parallel rips you want to create.
Next, you can rub the line you drew for the rip’s location or you can cut along that line. How you want to do it will be up to you. Just be patient and go slowly to make sure you do not cut more than you want.
Once you get the threads loosened up, you can wiggle them back and forth to do that, you can start pulling some threads out if you want clear holes and not thread-covered ones.
How you want the holes to look will also be up to you and you should experiment on some old jeans to make sure you get the look you want before trying the process on your good pair. Practice makes perfect and spares you from wasting the money you spent on the good pair if things do not go well.
Ripped Jeans with Fabric Underneath
Obviously, the fabric was not there to begin with and you will have to put the design that you want under your jeans so that they show through the distressed area. One way to do this is to follow the above methods to create the rips you want, where you want them, and the size you want them.
Next, you will need to pick out the fabric that you think will look good poking through those distressed and frayed holes. Some people pick a leopard fabric but you have the freedom to choose whatever design you consider to look good.
Once you have the frayed look at the size you want, turn the pant legs inside out and measure the size of the hole. You want the fabric underneath to cover the hole and extend past it about 1/2 inch but no more.
Once you get the fabric cut, you can use fabric glue, permanent if you want the fabric to remain forever, and adhere the fabric to the denim. Or you can stitch the fabric in place with a simple straight or zig-zag stitch. Make sure you have enough fray to cover the stitches when you are done.
The stitches can be used for double duty and stop the exterior denim from fraying further. This will be up to you but basic sewing skills will be all that you need to make this work. Just choose a complementary fabric to cover those holes and make the jeans look great.
How to Make Big Holes in Jeans
This is not a difficult task to do. If you are using scissors or a razor blade, you have to put a little more pressure on either one and rub a bit more vigorously than you would if you want smaller holes.
Rubbing keeps you in control and allows you to stop quickly if you think you are going too big or making a mistake. Or you can cut the denim to the size of hole you want. Both methods require accurate measuring and marking.
However, large holes do not look good on everyone and even when it does look good questions come to mind like why buy the jeans if you are going to cut all the material away? To most older generations, it seems to be a waste of money and not a fashion statement.
But they are your jeans and you can do whatever you want with them. Just make sure you have the legs for large holes. Some leg styles just do not look good even in regular shorts and they look even worse in ripped jeans.
The key will be patience. This is not a task to do quickly or as a spur-of-the-moment decision. Some work and thought need to go into creating large holes and you have to get them in the right spots to look good.
Some Final Words
DIY ripped jeans are far better than buying fashion designer ripped jeans. Not only do you save money but you get to pick the location and the size of the holes. That freedom makes your ripped jeans look even better.
Just make sure to take your time, measure carefully and find the right locations for those holes or frayed look. Once you are done, do not worry about what the older generations think.
