How To Cut A Pair Of Jeans

Learning how to cut a pair of jeans is a useful skill. Not only can you turn long pants into shorts, you can turn boring jeans into fashionably worn one’s. Cutting jeans is an art, and unless you’re willing to pay a fortune for designer jeans that already come cut in all the right places, you’ll need to learn how to cut a pair of jeans on your own, then fray it for a stylish, natural look. You can salvage a pair of jeans that got accidentally stained, or a pair that’s too wide or too narrow, and depending on the cutting technique you use you can achieve different fashion styles.

Here’s what you’ll need to learn how to cut a pair of jeans in different ways:

• Marker
• P-40 grit sandpaper
• Sharp scissors
• Tweezers

1. Cut a pair of jeans into shorts. If you have a long pair of jeans that is too narrow or wide in the legs, why not cut the jeans into cool shorts? Simply wear your jeans in front of a mirror and use a marker to draw a line half an inch below where you would like the shorts to end. Next, turn around and draw a line for the back of your legs as well, which is likely to be lower than the front. Take your jeans off and cut them along the lines. You can leave the front and back to end at different heights at the side seams, or create a curved cut along the back leg to gradually diminish the difference in length. For a tailored finish, fold the cut fringe inwardly and sew a hem in a thread that matches the rest of the seams in your pants. For a cut-off look, fray the end of the jeans with rough sandpaper then pull the cross fibers out with tweezers.
2. Cut a pair of jeans for a distressed look. If you want to add a chic edge to your clothes, why not cut a pair of jeans to give it a distressed, modern look? Begin by fraying your jeans selectively with P-40 grit sandpaper, rubbing the fabric at the pocket seams, crotch, buttocks, knees and bottom hem. Keep rubbing until you begin to cut into the jeans fabric, exposing the cross fibers. Snip these fibers in half with the tip of a sharp pair of scissors then use tweezers to loosen them further and create a frayed cut in your jeans. This method of cutting a pair of jeans for a distressed look is especially appealing when artificial cuts are made to look natural, like the wear and tear of time. Transition between using the scissors, tweezers and sandpaper to gradually cut your pair of jeans into a distressed pattern.
3. Cut a pair of jeans for a destroyed look. Whether you’ve overdone the distressed look or simply want a truly daring fashion item, cutting a pair of jeans for a destroyed look is easy and awesome. Begin by using P-40 grit sandpaper to rub different areas of your jeans and distress the fabric. Imagine what the jeans would look like if you were to cut them at these points. Once you’re sure of the areas you wish to cut, fold the jeans vertically at each of these points then cut the jeans with a sharp pair of scissors. For a destroyed look, cuts from seam to seam are ideal, especially over the knees or below the front pockets. Fray the cut by sanding it up and down with the sandpaper. As white cross fibers come loose pull them free with a pair of tweezers, then keep sanding around them to increase the fraying. To create a pattern of sagging horizontal fibers, sand the cut from side to side then pull the white fibers free with the tweezers, grabbing a cluster at a time to avoid accidentally ripping individual fibers.