How-to Make Jean Inserts or Trim

Sprucing up an old pair of jeans is easy and a great new way to bring in spring. With just a triangular insert at the bottom of some jeans, or a lacy trim around the bottom edge, you can transform drab jeans into a bit of glam. Here's what you need.

Materials

You will need to look at the pair of jeans you already own and be sure they are flare cut or boot cut. Next decide what type of material will go with the wash of your jeans. If your jeans are light you might want to go with a darker insert or trim; likewise if they are a dark wash, than you might want to go for something bright in contrast. It's up to you. All you will need is a yard of the fabric insert you want (you might need less if you have sewing experience already, but buying extra is helpful in the event that you make a mistake). If you want to add just a trim at the bottom or the pockets, than measure the bottom hems of each leg to be sure of how much you will need.

If you don't have a sewing machine, you can do this easily by hand. Find a thread that matches the thread used on your jeans so the look is more seamless. In addition to material you will need good cloth cutting scissors, a tape measure, sewing pins, and sewing supplies (i.e. needle, seam ripper, and thread).

Prep-work

To prepare for your new look, you will need to set up your jeans for sewing. If you want an insert, put your jeans on and mark where you want the inserts to come up to. Take them off and measure evenly up the outside seams of your jeans so that each one will fall in the same place. Mark with a sewing pin. Using the seam ripper, rip out the outside seams up until your sewing pin mark on both sides. You will need to start on the right side of your jeans to loosen the seam. Clean up all the broken threads from the seam by removing them and tossing them in the trash. Make a fairly solid line of running stitches at the top of the ripped seam in a line about ½" long; it should be horizontal so that it will strengthen the top of the insert and prevent the seam from ripping upwards higher than you wanted with regular wear.

Next you will need to turn the legs inside out. Measure the size of your triangle. To determine the bottom, you should estimate about 11" and put a few inches more if it is a flare style rather than a boot cut. Cut out a piece of material to the specifications plus a ½". You can either surge a 'hem' around each side of the triangle, or leave the sides raw. If you leave them raw make sure you do a whipstitch over the edges when sewing them into place. Next you need to pin the insert into place. Sew insert on the jeans by hand or using a machine. The raw edges of the jeans should be tucked in, so you won't have fraying or unsightly fibers sticking out of the front.

For a simple bottom trim, don't rip the seams open as this is not necessary. Simply pin the trim into place under the bottom hem, and sew it on using a small running stitch that won't be visible in the front.