Guest post: DIY with Freshly Given: Flipped | Men's Jeans to Vest

Hello all!

I am delighted to write a post for this beautiful blog and its followers. I look forward to making these bloomers Sally repurposed for the fall, paired with tights.

My last two DIY projects (including this one) have involved men's jeans. My husband is hard on jeans, so I'm the grateful beneficiary.

You will need:

- Men's jeans (I'm using a pair of Gap 1969 size 34x34. Make sure your pair is large enough. Men's skinny jeans should also work)

- Scissors
- Seam Ripper
- Sewing Machine (Although the STRONG-fingered can pull this off with needle and thread)


Steps:

1. Lay jeans flat, open inner seams, and re-pin shut so that the bottom of the pant leg overlaps and forms a straight line. You should end up with a flap at the top near the crotch area.

Here is the flap I ended up with.

2. Cut under the back pockets to remove top of jeans. You should have something similar to the image on the right.

3. Fold the top of the pant over, about .5 inch, and top stitch. You are basically covering up the messy cut (or is that just me). Then top stitch down the center so that the pant legs are attached.

4. Arm holes: Simply open the left and right seams. I began about 2 inches from the top and opened the seam about 5 inches down. This all depends on your taste. Just make sure it's wide enough for your arm.

5. Optional: I wanted to add a belt so I removed the waistband of the pants, opened another seam below the arm holes, and voila!

6. There you have it folks; eazy breezy. Play around with the lapel. You will see there are many options there. I also shortened the vest a tad bit.

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Author's Bio:

Whitney is the creator of freshlygiven.com where she documents DIY - Repurposed Clothing and Vintage Style Inspiration. She enjoys wearing big hair and snapping pictures of the TV screen while watching TCM.

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