DIY: Cold Knee Jeans

These jeans were in the Goodwill pile but only because when I got new jeans the other day I thought I should go thru my old jeans and get rid of some...this was the only pair I'm not crazy about so was willing to let go of them (unfortunately I still can't fit all of my jeans in the drawer and am going to have to downsize further!).  But then I've seen "cold knee" jeans everywhere lately and I wanted to see if I could make them... didn't want to cut up any of my jeans...remembered the Goodwill ones and...voila, cold knee jeans!

It isn't hard AT ALL to distress your own jeans and totally not necessary to pay top dollar for someone else to rip them up haha! If you're chicken to take a knife to your favorite jeans, experiment with a pair you don't love or are willing to cut into shorts (or buy some inexpensive ones) in case it doesn't work to your satisfaction!

For these I wanted the whole knee removed, you can also just do "regular" distressing using the same techniques (minus removing the knee part!). I put the jeans on and marked where my knee is with pins, then cut a big square out (I used the first square as a pattern for the second knee but they didn't end up being exact - which I like). Then take a razor (box cutter or craft knife also works) and make horizontal slits above and below the hole you just made. NOTE: if you don't want to have the knee out and just want them distressed, only do that last step of cutting slits along where you want them ripped - knee, thigh, pockets, hems, etc...). Once you've made the cuts, wash and dry the jeans two times - that creates the worn frayed edges where you made the cuts.

There is a good video on blog.freepeople.com that shows you how to distress your jeans if you want to watch.

I removed about a 3" square from each knee, making sure to not cut all the way thru to the back side!

insert a piece of cardboard or something thick (to protect going all the way thru) before you cut the slits 

end result after washing and drying.

I also released the hem by removing the seam with a seam-ripper - I've worn them both down as shown above, and rolled up into a cuff.