Making Fuzzy Jeans From Scrap Fabric

Have you ever had a pair of denim pants that were too tight around the legs? Well have no fear! There is no reason to throw out a perfectly good pair of denim that doesn't quite fit right. Why not use some fabric from another pair of old pants to widen the legs and create the coolest looking pair of fuzzy pants ever?

This Instructable will provide you with the know-how to create a unique and fashionable pair of blue jeans, with a fuzzy inseam!

I had a problem: My favorite pair of pants didn't fit anymore because they were too skinny.

I found a solution: Re-purpose some old fabric to widen the legs.

If you're worried about the scary sewing machine with all the magic moving parts, don't be! I was a very novice sewer when I started this project, and if I can do it then so can you! But if this is your first time sewing, I highly suggest heading over to my Instructable on the Juki Sewing Machine to get some tips.

By the way, I will be entering this into the Warm and Fuzzy Contest so if you like what you see, feel free to vote for me! : )

For this project you will need two main pieces:

1. Your favorite pair of skinny jeans that doesn't fit (or a pair that you want more leg-room in)
2. Denim scrap fabric.

Boom! That's it for the materials. However, you'll need some tools too. Here are my recommendations:

• Sewing Machine
• Seam Ripper
• Fabric Scissors
• Rotary Cutter
• Thread
• Acrylic Ruler (transparent)

Above are the tools that I used and recommend, but you don't necessarily need to do everything exactly as I did. Part of creating an awesome project is making it your own, so just use what you have and find a way to make it work! : )

For my project, I actually took fabric from a different pair of jeans that was FAR too small to fit me. I may want to replace the fabric I pulled from the jeans in a different project in the future, which is why I chose to de-stitch instead of cut out my scrap fabric. If you happen to have one or two longer pieces of denim hanging around then you could just use that just as long as they can be cut down to the correct length and width!

Again, de-stitching is not necessary, but I chose to do so because I wanted to make a pattern to be used in a future project.

If you choose to de-stitch, make sure that you are breaking the thread that is holding the fabric together, and not the fabric itself!

Pro Tip: When de-stitching, I would suggest using gloves or some type of hand protection because the seam ripper is sharp and will cut you if you aren't careful!

After de-stitching the panel from my old pants, I decided to trace it on a large piece of paper to make a pattern.

I folded the pattern down to a three and a half inches wide strip because I wanted to add three inches in width to my legs.

I cut out two half strips that will be sewn into one long strip.

Notice that when I'm pinning, I do NOT have the right sides together! This is very important because these raw edges of the fabric are what provide the fuzzy effect! Putting the wrong sides together when sewing/pinning may be a bit uncomfortable for those of you that are used to sewing because it is not the standard practice, but don't worry, using a really secure stitch will make sure that the fabric never frays too much!

Because I am widening the legs of my pants, the width of my strip is very important. If it's too wide then my pants become baggy, but if the strip is not wide enough then they are too skinny which brings me back to where I started!

To measure, I first roughly fit the pants around my legs and figured out how much wider I needed them to be. I ended up deciding that 3 extra inches would give me a comfortable width, so I need to cut the strip to be 3.5 inches wide so that I can have about 1/4th an inch for seam allowance.

After cutting out two strips 3.5 Inches wide by about 33 Inches long, I sewed them together to make one long strip that was about 65 inches in length! This gave me plenty of room for error, and because I sewed the strip from the middle, (starting at the crotch area and working my way down) I was able to just cut off the extra length down by my ankles in the end.

Pro Tip!: When sewing, be sure that you are stitching the "wrong sides together". This means that you need to put the insides of the denim (the side of the fabric that does not show) against each other when you sew.

Don't forget to watch my video for a visual example : )

Now that you have one long strip of denim fabric, it is time for the very crucial step of sewing it into the inseam! WOOHOO! We are one step closer to rocking some fuzzy pants : )

This is going to be very simple! We will start with pinning the strip into the inside of the pants, to do this I am going to flip the pants outside out and begin pinning! (wrong sides together)

When pinning the inner strip, I found that it is best to start at the middle most top point of the pants (crotch area). This is so that there will be a little bit of extra fabric hanging down on each side near the ankles, rather than having a LOT of extra fabric hanging down on one side!

Here's a Pro Tip when pinning: Placing the pins horizontally will ensure that you don't need to take out each pin when sewing. Because the pins are so thin and pointed horizontally (left to right as opposed to up and down) the needle of the sewing machine is able to sew right over them without skipping a beat!

Once you're done pinning, just run it through the machine! This should be easy because your pins are in place and everything is lined up. When sewing, I first used a very wide straight stitch. I did this because using a wide stitch makes it easier to take out with a seam ripper if you make a mistake. After I tried it on and found that it fit the way I wanted, then I went over it with a zigzag stitch to lock it in!

Again, be sure to watch my video or ask a question if you need something cleared up!

Woohoo! Congrats on completing your awesome new pair of fuzzy pants! I have been wearing mine for two years now and absolutely love them. There is nothing like walking around with a custom made pair of clothing that you absolutely feel great wearing!

Remember, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to leave a comment or send me an email!

Also watch my video! It is on the YouTube for all to enjoy : )

Lastly, please don't forget to vote for my entry to the Warm & Fuzzy Contest!

Much love,

Robert Bettis

Robert.Bettis@unt.edu

@RobertDBettis on Instagram : )