Upcycling a Pair of Stained Jeans

In my quest to use inject pieces in my wardrobe with more personality, upcycling pieces has been one of my favorite ways to upgrade pieces I already have.

One of the easiest ways to add some oomph to pieces, or to cover stains like I'm doing, is applique. No sewing machine required for this one, all you need is basic hand sewing skills.

I bought these jeans in a Paris thrift store a few years ago. I accidentally got some bleach bathroom cleaner on them a couple of months ago and have been hiding them in the back of my closet ever since. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them, but I didn't want to just turn them into a pair of 'cleaning-day' jeans to ruin more, so I held on to them until I had the idea to just cover up the stains with applique. Literally so easy.

So, I grabbed some lace fabric from my stash and cut it out with some applique scissors and started layering and pinning pieces in place. It took about 20 minutes to get it cut and placed in a way I liked.

Lace pinned in place over the stain.

Then, I put on my new favorite show Drive to Survive on Netflix and began the process of sewing it all in place. One thing is for sure, hand sewing on denim is not painless. Especially when you are doing lots of tiny, invisible stitches. But it was so worth the pain.

The whole project took only a day and love the way they turned out. I can't wait to wear them out with a crisp white poplin top and sandals.