DIY Side Stripe Boyfriend Jean

I saw some ‘boyfriend’ jeans with a side stripe sort of like these……but I wasn’t so crazy about those huge holes. Maybe if I was 18 I would wear them. But not at my age. Luckily knowing how to sew means you can interpret trends to fit your own style and also be appropriate to your own taste.

Why do they call these boyfriend jeans anyway? It’s not like they were even really even fit like men’s jeans. But Boyfriend Jean seems to be what non skin tight fitting jeans are called. Why not make some from Boyfriend Jeans from some real men’s jeans? An interesting idea !

One Teaspoon jeans (148$)

Then I saw these jeans by Glory which I liked more, ( $248)…..

I went to the thrift shop !

I found some men’s jeans that looked pretty cool. Actually, they were by Diesel so that was a real score for $ 5.99. I took my tape measure and made sure they were going to fit with some ease in the waist and hips. I liked the fit, and have always liked wearing guys jeans, but I did have to do some adjustments to make them a little less manly. It was easy enough to do to get the right look, baggy at the hips, but then tapered in at the ankle with a little cuff.

I took them home and did some distressing . I sewed darning stitches all over them to make them look like they had been mended. There was actually one hole but it looks like several have been patched now.

Then, I dunked them in a really watered down black dye bath while they were dry. They came out sort of mottled. I’d probably skip that part if I made them again.

They were too long, so I would have big thick cuffs when I rolled them up. They would need to be hemmed to my ankle. Then when I rolled them up they wouldn’t be too bulky.

Also, the bottom of the pants looked too, well, boyish! I would need to taper them a little to get the right look when I rolled them up.

I cut off the excess length. I drew in a new side seam making sure it wasn’t going to be too tight. I measured my calf and added 1.5 inches ease so it could still be rolled up. I drew the side seam up until just below the knee.

I sewed the new side seam, unpicked the old seam and pressed the seam flat.

I used my serger to trim and finish the new seam allowance. But a zig zag stitch would also work.

Then I folded the hem over 1/4 inch pressed it, then folded it over another 1/2 inch, sewing it.

Of course being the trim hound I am, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had some trims from the theater lying nearby, so I used a little on my side seams. It reminded me of Mariachi pants. I love Mariachi pants!