Okay, I admit that we’re prob not wearing as much denim as we did pre-pandemic, but speaking from experience, putting jeans on is a simple way to “dress up”—if you can even call it that—these days when you’re tired of your go-to leggings and sweats. But if your old jeans don’t really do it for you anymore and you wanna switch things up, there are a ton of makeover and DIY ideas that can change your denim situation.
In general, if you’re a lil bored at home because you’re social distancing, a DIY project is a great way to keep yourself busy and you (hopefully) end up with something super cute to wear at the end.
Jeans are so versatile when it comes to makeovers: You can bleach them, cut them, distress them, and even turn them into totally different pieces like a skirt, top, or dress. Here, we rounded up 20 makeover ideas for your denim, all varying degrees of difficulty and expertise.
But just a heads up that you don’t have to have a sewing machine to pull them off! Though it takes a bit longer, you can opt to hand stitch these transformations, and some don’t require any sewing at all if you don’t trust yourself with a needle.
Crop them and keep the original hem
Sometimes you wanna make your jeans shorter, but you don’t want them to be frayed at the ends. This vid shows exactly how to crop your too-long denim while still keeping the original hem using some sewing. You can do this by hand as well, but a sewing machine helps it go faster.
Crop and fray the hem
If you don’t mind the frayed look, an easy way to crop jeans is just by taking scissors to the ends and then using tweezers or your fingernails to pull the threads at the bottom. This will give them that edgy look, and you can make the ends as distressed as you want.
Speaking of distressing, here’s a vid that shows how to give your jeans that all-over hole-y look. You can also choose to distress them in just a couple spots using this YouTuber’s same methods if you’d rather not take scissors to the entire pant leg.
Bleach half your jeans
This trend went viral on TikTok for a reason because it’s actually a pretty simple way to transform any pants. Using a combination of water and bleach, simply brush the liquid on just one side of your pants (front and back), wait for them to dry and lighten, throw them in the wash, and you’re done! The two-tone effect looks so cool, right?
Bleach your jeans a couple shades lighter
Have a pair of jeans that are a little too dark for your liking? You can lighten them as much or as little as you want depending on how long you soak them in bleach. Watch the vid above for this YouTuber’s tips on how she achieved her results.
Bleach jeans in a pattern
Taking a sponge brush, dip it in a bleach solution and paint it in a swirled pattern (or really any other shape or design you like), for a fun effect that switches up any plain ol’ denim.
Make criss-cross jeans
The asymmetrical zipper and button look has been a popular style for a couple years, and the good news is you can totally DIY it! Watch this video above to see how this YouTuber pulls it off.
Make patchwork jeans
Wow, the end result of these patchwork jeans is so incredible?! Take bits and pieces from other bottoms in various colors and sew them all together to create these amazing franken-jeans.
Make bandana jeans
Take a collection of bandanas in various colors and attach them to your jeans using fabric glue or by sewing them on for a different kind of patchwork effect.
Combine them with track pants
At first glance these look like two-tone pants, but the back material is completely different from the front denim piece. Split the side seams of your jeans and transform them into these funky half-track-pants-half-denim bottoms by watching the easy-to-follow video above.
If you have artistic flair, get some fabric paint and go all out on any of your jeans. You’ll make them truly unique by adding a creative, personal touch to them and everyone will compliment you on your skills.
