Step 1: To make the skinny leg, align the jeans with a comparable pair of skinny's you already own. This will ensure the proper fit without all the guess work.

I took an old pair of express skinny jeans, turned them both inside out and aligned them together. The extra material left on the original jeans is what you'll be cutting.

Step 2: Pin where the jeans match up. Meaning, pin where the excess material shows on the jeans your altering.


Step 4: Begin cutting outside (about 1/4 inch) where you placed your pins to get rid of the extra material and then begin sewing.


Had it not been for my stupid sewing machine that kept jamming, I probably would have been done with this portion in 10 minutes.

Step 5: Now here's probably the most time consuming part (if you don't have a stupid sewing machine that continuously jams of course.) First, cut the jeans (horizontally) in the areas you want distressed. Keep in mind the idea here is less is more with this look.

Here's what I spent:

Jeans, Joe jeans from the thrift = $5.50

Sand paper= $2.00

Total cost: $7.50