How to make a blue jean skirt

Re-purpose your jeans into a BOHO BLUES SKIRT

Instructions for the basic double-ruffle style


1. CHOOSE THREE COLORS OF COTTON. Search your fabric stash or pore over your old, well-loved cotton clothes. Choose coordinating colors. The best color combinations can be clashy, clashy. Plaids and florals, paisley and polka dots, stripes and what-have-you. This is one of the most exciting parts of the process. Don't be afraid to piece fabric together to get the amount you need.

2. PREP YOUR OLD JEANS. Lay your blue jeans flat on a cutting mat in their natural shape. The goal is to cut the legs off while keeping as much of the jean hip as possible. For most blue jeans, this means you cut just above the crotch seam. (In some jean designs you may need to cut the leg part longer then cut out the triangle area of the crotch and piece left-over jean material to fill in.) Cut jeans straight with a cutting wheel or scissors.  

3. CUT STRIPS OF FABRIC. Decide how long you want your skirt to be and add an inch for seams. FIRST, cut one strip the length you want to add to your current cut-off jeans. (If you want your skirt 9 inches longer than the cut-off jeans, cut a 10 inch strip of fabric.) The strip should extend 1.5 to 2 times the circumference of the jeans to allow for gathering. The broader the strip, the denser the gathering. If need be, sew together strips to achieve the needed dimension. If your jeans measure 15 inches across (30 inches around), cut a 10 inch strip that extends 45 to 60 inches. CUT YOUR SECOND strip a couple or a few inches shorter (in potential skirt length) that extends the same distance, 45 to 60 inches in this example. Adjust the (skirt) length of that ruffle to suit your eye with your fabric print. The denseness of the gather can be different in each strip, if you prefer (or if you run out of fabric!)  
 
4.  CUT A COORDINATING STRIP OF FABRIC. For
embellishment to your skirt, use rick-rack, ribbon, special trim or make your own from whatever fabric scraps you have. If you have enough fabric to do a bias cut strip, about 1.5 inches wide, that's ideal. If not, piece what you have and cut a 1.5 inch strip of contrasting fabric long enough to fit around the blue jean bottom plus some for seams. 

5. SEW YOUR TWO MAIN STRIPS INTO LOOPS AND FINISH THE EDGES. Sew so you have one continuous loop of each of your two main fabric colors. Then finish the hem edge. We recommend using the zipper foot as guide and sewing 1/8 inch from the edge. Turn that edge in and turn once more to offer a clean finish and stitch again, using a 1/8 inch guide. 

6. GATHER THE UNFINISHED EDGES. 
Using a long basting stitch, sew 1/4 inch from the raw edge of your fabric loop. Leave long threads hanging at each end. Next, sew a second basting stitch about 1/8  or 1/4 inch out from the first line of stitching. Leave long threads at each end. Gently pull the threads on one row of stitching until the fabric gathers and work the gathers around the loop until it is uniform in fullness. The key is pulling the thread gently; some fabrics are easier to gather than others. You don't have to be a perfectionist as gathers are somewhat forgiving. (The second row of stitching is insurance if your first thread breaks so you won't have to start over!) Repeat with your second loop of fabric.

7. POSITION YOUR GATHERED LOOPS TOGETHER. Place the shorter loop atop the larger loop, the way it will be positioned on your skirt. 

Adjust gathers of both loops so the width of your skirt's loops are equal to the 

bottom edge of your jeans.  

Position gathered loops together 

Baste first, double-check, then sew

8. THEN FLIP your work so the RIGHT side of your fabric will lay against the right side of your blue jean. For pinning, the ruffles should be positioned upwards toward the zipper area, instead of hanging down. Pin carefully then baste on the sewing machine. Take out the pins and double-check the stitching. When satisfied, sew with a smaller stitch. 

 

 
9. ON THE INSIDE of YOUR SKIRT, PRESS THE SEAM UPWARDS TOWARDS the zipper.  Under stitch so the skirt will will lay flat. You are sewing the seam allowance to the blue jean. (You can skip this step if the weight of the jeans and fabric seems to lie flat without.)

10. THIS IS WHAT THE STITCHING WILL LOOK LIKE ON THE OUTSIDE:

11.  FINISH YOUR SKIRT.  Cover the stitching by sewing on trim or ribbon of some type. Or make your own trim. Take the fabric strip from # 4 above and fold and press under roughly 3/8 of an inch from each side. That leaves you with about 1/2 inch strip to sew on. Position so you cover the stitching that shows on the blue jean and so the bottom edge of your contrasting strip dips slightly beyond the edge of the denim.  

12. Strike a pose, then repeat, starting with #1 above. Have fun!