Customised jeans

It’s New Year’s’ Eve! How will you be spending it? Dressing up I hope. We are eating out tonight, by the Red Sea (Aqaba, Jordan)! Anyway this post is about jeans – special, embellished, customised jeans. Since I made a pair of Birkins, I have been dying to try out a second pair. This time in lighter, home dyed indigo denim. With a few additions.

Alas, as I have decided NOT to feature some jeans in my sweet pea SWAP. However I am keen to make some for the summer, but perhaps after I have finished the 11 SWAP garments.  I have been thinking about how I could dye, or bleach, my hand made jeans. Or how they might be embellished to create a unique, customised pair. Here are two looks from TopShop – both of which appeal. Floral embroidery (although my colours would be softer and hand sewn). Or metallic spray paint or foiling.

Or maybe both together. I also have some inspiration from two young women I know. These artistic girls have just painted their jeans. I don’t think their jeans can be laundered, but I am not sure that is the point. What do you think?

Similar looks are available from Traid the textile recylcing company. What about these two items by Alex Noble at Traidremade?

I find all these ideas very exciting. I want to try it. So if I get bored with sewing tiny hand stitches on my vintage vogue Pucci pants you may see me going crazy with the paints.

What do you think?

14 Responses

  1. Demented Fairy

    I love the embroidery, and the paint splattered ones, but must admit to being horrified by the shredded pair! I’m a child of the 70s, and had a much loved white pair splattered in red and black during my punky days, but even as a biker chick [strictly pillion] I could never go for the ripped look. I like patches!
    This will be an interesting project.

    • fabrickated

      I wouldn’t wear ripped myself DF or even red/black/white spattered actually, but I liked the unconventional approach. I get sick of seeing ten girls in the same skinnies from Gap with grey or black sweatshirts. I long to see experimentation and daring on the youth.

  2. Jay

    I like the embroidery idea, the paint splatter would need to be fabric dye for me to be comfortable with putting it in my washing machine. I know its nearly impossible to get paint off when you don’t want it there, but I bet it would be happily clogging the filters and sticking to the rubber seals if it were intentional embellishment. Ripped and frayed denim can be fun, but I’m not a fan of the huge knee and thigh slash version. Something subtler?

  3. Sox

    The paint-splattered ones are interesting but I too am not keen on ripped jeans. I don’t really like the look and it’s just not practical here; the winters are too cold (and long underwear showing through the tears would be a whole new fashion statement) and the mosquitos would just have that many more places available to bite you in the summer.

    • fabrickated

      Very funny Sox. In fact the idea of leggings (or thermal pants) under jeans is an interesting idea – a bit like the Tudor approach to slashing. Well worth considering.

  4. mrsmole

    By all means, do some embroidery but what about making the threads clump together to look like paint splatters and not do flowers and leaves? Even painted jeans can be washed by hand and hung up to dry if that is the plan. I’m with Jay about the exposing of skin in ripped jeans…it just says, “I don’t care” as indeed so does sticking out your tongue in a photo…cute on a youngster but tacky on a refined educated lady. So glad you escaped the rain and flooding to enjoy some time in the sun!

    • fabrickated

      Thank you for your wise counsel, as ever, Mrs Mole. A great thought on the embroidery of paint splatters! Actually while Jordan was an amazing country with so many interesting things to see and do the weather was disappointing. We had rain and snow as well as sunshine and we were pleased to get home to our warm little basement by the end of the week! It really was a case of being prepared with proper outdoor wear (which we weren’t!).

  5. Lynn Mally

    My plain Jane aesthetic does not move me in the direction of big embroidery or splattered paints…but I must admit that I am drawn to the foiled pair. With a light hand, I think that you could make them fit in with the sweet pea ensemble. Happy New Year!

    • fabrickated

      Thank you Lynn. I actually admired the young women’s verve and enthusiasm, although my version will undoubtedly be much more restrained. And I didn’t have you down as a plain Jane actually!

  6. Stephanie

    Happy New Year , K. I think I am too conservative to embrace this look although I had a cool pair in my 20s on which an artist friend painted a portrait of Coco Chanel and a portrait of James Dean (one on each leg). Fun project though! Enjoy you NY celebrations.

    • fabrickated

      Well, well, well. They sound like the coolest jeans imaginable Stephanie. How I envy you! New Year for us was actually spent, with a bunch of singing Scots, in a Bedouin camp site at Wadi Rum. It was freezing but quite good fun. How was yours?

  7. Anne

    Happy New Year 2016, Kate. I hope you’re having a great and relaxing break in Jordan. I’m afraid I’m way too conservative (or too old) to consider jeans like the ones you show – they were popular in the 70s and don’t they say if you wore something first time around, it’s not for you this time around? We didn’t wear ripped jeans in those days – they’re something I just don’t like, whether painted or not.

  8. Amanda

    I used to paint my jeans when I was a teenager – all kinds of graphic designs and shapes, usually on white jeans LOL. My mum thought I was nuts 😛 At the time fabric paint was pretty scarce but I used it when I could find it. Otherwise I used acrylic paint, which you can wash but the opacity of the painted design changes in somewhat unpredictable ways 😛 Nowadays there are so many fabric paints available, you could do a veritable masterpiece! ^_^

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