Excuse the cheesy title, but I really didn't know a better way to describe this post. As some of you may know, I am not the DIY (Do It Yourself) type of person. I actually suck at it. Which gets frustrating cause as a creative, aren't I supposed to be good at that kind of stuff? The arts and crafts?
Truth be told, I have failed numerous times. I think that it's just that I don't have the patience for it. For example, I have two sisters; one is great at cooking, and the other is great at baking along with all her artsy Pinterest crafts she can do. And then there is me... When I bake, I forget that there is a certain process you're supposed to follow and I kind of just end up throwing all of the ingredients in together thinking it will come out just the same, cause duh, I have all the right ingredients so why wouldn't it? But then my cookies come out of the oven looking like deformed pancakes...
So when I wanted to get artsy with some DIY idea for clothes, I of course went to someone who knew what they were doing, someone who wouldn't let me down. I went to my mom. Side note though, she actually did let me down the first time, she cut the shirt before I could explain to her what I wanted done to it *eye rolling emoji* BUT she redeemed herself cause moms are the best and they ultimately know what they are doing... I think.
When I came to her with an idea for my pants, she got super excited and showed me just how to do it because she used to do the same back in the 70's. (FYI I really really really like the 70's.) I wanted to fray the ends of my jeans to get a stringy look, and although this is time consuming, (I stayed up until 5AM watching One Tree Hill while working on them) it was so worth it. I loooooove the outcome.
So since I have been getting lots of questions and comments on my pants and top when I wear them, I decided to do a DIY post explaining how we (my mom and I) accomplished the desired look. I am going to do my best to explain it in a step by step process, and of course if you have any further questions or I don't make sense, message me! I would love to help however I can.
For the shirt... This style has really become a big thing lately. The first time I saw it was last Spring in a boutique in Beverly Hills. The cost as I am sure you can guess was ridiculously high. I looked at it and thought to myself, I can totally go thrifting for a $5 shirt and do this myself, a/k/a, my mom can totally do this for me. So, here is the process that I have now learned from my mother.
1. Lay the shirt out flat on a counter or table
2. Make sure the seems on the sides of the shirt are straight
3. Decide how low you want the cut to go, mark it with a pencil (works best if you are wearing it)
4. Using a ruler, find the center of the shirt, and mark it with a pencil at the depth you wish the shirt to be cut at
5. Using a ruler, find the center of the shirt just below the neckline. mark with a pencil
6. Use the ruler to connect the pencil mark from the neckline to how low you want it to be cut, and draw a straight line using a pencil
7. Make a small snip with fabric scissors and begin cutting along that line
8. Try on the shirt to make sure it is at the depth you want the cut to be at, while still wearing it, decide how wide you want the neckline to be cut at (it is best to underestimate, you can always cut more off so start small)
9. Take the shirt off and starting at the open center slit just under the neckline of the shirt, cut along the neckline to the desired point for both sides
10. at this point you should have two flaps of fabric on either side of the shirt, try the shirt on again and fold the flaps in to see if the cut is wide enough. If you want the cut wider, then follow step 9 until you have it as wide as you want.
11. Once the shirt is cut how you want, lay the shirt back out on the counter, flat with the flaps of fabric laid flat as well. Take the ruler and connect the end of the cut from the neckline to the end of the deep center cut using a pencil, cut along that line and do the same for the other side.
Woahla, your shirt should be "chestless"! Now, it is your turn to get creative and make it your own. I cut the seems of my sleeves off so that they roll once I wash it. I also have splattered bleach on this particular shirt. So have fun with it, snip the sides and lace them up, cut the bottom seem so it rolls too. Whatever you want!
For the pants... the pants are a much simpler process, just much more tedious.
1. Start by cutting the pant of each leg, cut however much you want
2. Now get comfortable because you're going to be working for awhile
3. For the fraying, I used a seam ripper, they are super cheap you could find them at Joann's or click here and I have found a cheap one for you!
4. Take the seam ripper and start ripping the seams at the end of the pant leg, what actually makes the pants fray is the vertical threads, not the horizontal threads.
5. Wash the jeans once you have ripped the seams (haha that rhymes ) to the desired length, washing them will help them fray on their own a bit too.
I hope I explained it all well enough, but like I said if there are any questions don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me a message by clicking the "contact" option in the drop down of the "About." Best of luck to you DIYers and Non-DIYers. If I can do it, so can you... seriously, you can.
Photos x Kelsey Marie Photography