4 Ways To Distress Your Own Denim

Have you always wondered how to distress your own denim?

We all love ripped jeans, but you probably don’t want to break the bank to get them. Whether you want to reinvent pairs you already own, or do this for your fashion line, we got you covered on becoming a distressed pro for all your denim items. There’s many ways and many tools to do this, as the distressed denim you see in stores is actually super simple to do. Here are some easy ways on how to distress your own denim – saving you both time and money!

1. Distressed Denim With Scissors

This is the most common way to achieve rips in denim. Just cut holes into your jeans, or cut off the hems, right? However, just using a scissor to any part of the jeans doesn’t give it the “worn” look. It’s best to use scissors if you’re changing the length of a pair of jeans, creating distressed shorts, or adding an edge to the hems.

If you’re looking for a more unique design, then look no further. You can simply create a tassel style in seconds as well. After cutting the hem off the bottom of your jeans, cut vertical strips at your preferred width and length. Then finally, shake the tassels out and separate them with your fingers. This look is perfect for keeping legs warm while still having some distress.

2. Cheese Grater Distress

After cutting a few parallel lines in the denim with your scissors, you can move onto another household staple – a cheese grater! Yes, you heard that correctly. Simply rub the surface of the cuts you made, and you’ll instantly give them more texture.

This style is actually more challenging to do, and you have to be careful of your fingers. However, it’s a great starting point for distressing denim, and it will continue to wear overtime.

3. Sandpaper & Razors

If you’re looking for an even more distressed look, then grab a piece of coarse sandpaper. All you have to do is choose where on the denim fabric you want it to look worn. Then, rub the sandpaper over your desired area to soften the top layer of threads. This is definitely the quickest way to make your jeans look more worn, instantly!

Another easy way to achieve a frayed look is using a shaving razor on certain areas of the denim. Both the sandpaper and razor techniques can be used before or after you cut slits with scissors, creating an even more realistic look.

4. Distressing With Tweezers

The great thing about cutting jeans is that you’ll already have extra threads present, which makes pulling them out easier! Tweezers are your best friend when it comes to distressing denim. With this tool, you can manually pull out the threads to get what you want to show.

You can keep manipulating with the denim piece until it is to your liking. Just keep in mind how sturdy the threads are. Overtime they generally wear down, so it’s best to tweeze in small sections to avoid larger holes later on.

The most important part of distressing your own denim is to be creative. Each cut and fray won’t be same, which will make you unique and standout. Decide to bleach some parts of your denim after you distress, or even patch something onto the fabric for a bolder look! The possibilities are endless, and it’s all up to you to be the fashion designer here.

How do you distress your own denim? Let us know in the comments!

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