DIY Drop Hem Capri Jeans

A New Look for an Old Favorite

Hi friends! If you’ve been following Seams Like a Story, you know I often turn to sewing when I need a creative break from writing. https://seamslikeastory.com/writing-and-sewing/ Today I’m getting inspiration from my closet, and a fun, no-sew project.

It’s that in-between season. I’m ready to shed my heavy winter clothes but not quite ready for summer styles. Today I raided my closet and found an old pair of capri jeans and a tee shirt, ususally an outfit reserved for stay-at-home days. The jeans are pull on “jeggings” that I’m pretty sure are out of style. They’re comfortable, but I feel kind of dumpy in them.

Before tossing them in the donate pile, I did some research on Pinterest and found that with a no-sew, simple modification I could easily update them. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/485896247291178984/

What you need to make your drop-hem capri jeans:

The old outdated pull-on capri jeggins and a seam ripper. Pretty simple, right?

Step 1

Use the seam ripper to pick up one stitch of the hem at a time being careful not to puncture the jean fabric. (Because I was holding my phone in one hand to snap the picture, the point of the seam ripper in this photo isn’t in the right place. Make sure the pointy end is picking up one thread of the dark blue stitching at the top of the hem.)

Step 2

Continue until the entire hem is released. ( I found the process of ripping out the hem strangely therapeutic. Ususally I work to get nice, neat edges. It was kinda fun to let it all loose.)

When completed, use your fingers to pick out any thread bits. I cut off the white stringy bits, but when looking back at the Pinterest post, they are part of the look. (I’m sure the stringy bits will come back after laundering. Maybe I’ll still cut them off though…we’ll see.)

Step 3

Iron the hem flat. The color variations of the denim along with the fringey bottom edge are what makes the look.

The finished look

I love the updated capri jeans and they go nicely with the two linen shirts I found at a local thrift shop for $2.50 each! I also love how I was able to repurpose this outfit in an effort to reuse and recycle clothing to do my part to help eliminate textile waste. ( a topic for a future blog post)

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Threads of Thought

Have you been able to transition into Spring clothing yet this year?

Take a look in your own closet! You may be surprised at what you can do with what you already have!

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