How to Make a Jean Skirt With an Asymmetrical Hem

To make a jean skirt you shouldn't have to buy a scrap of material.

Creating a jean skirt is a suitable project for beginner sewers to embark on as it's extremely simple and quick to make. For everyone else, it's an easy way to reuse clothes that you might ordinarily give or throw away. For this project, you not only decide how long or short you want your skirt to be, but you also decide how drastically asymmetrical you want your hem length to be.

Things You'll Need

• Jean skirt
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Needle and thread or sewing machine
• Fabric chalk

Instructions

1. Lay your jeans out in front of you and determine how short you want the skirt to be and how severe you want the asymmetrical hemline to be. Cut the legs off at 2 to 4 inches below that point. Set the legs aside.

2. Turn your jeans inside out and carefully cut away the inner seams of your jeans, cutting along the seam line. Don't waste time or energy ripping the seams open as you already have plenty of fabric to work with. You now have cut-off jeans that have an upside down "v" shape in the front and back.

3. Cut open the legs of the jeans that you set aside so that they are each flat pieces of fabric.

4. Lay the cut-off jeans in front of you and insert one piece of jean fabric just underneath the front of the skirt, where the top upside-down "v" shape is. Pin it into place inserting several pins along the perimeter of the upside down "v" shape, making sure there aren't any puckers or wrinkles. Turn the skirt over and do the same thing to the back of the skirt.

5. Turn the skirt over and sew the front panel of fabric to the skirt, making small tight stitches along the perimeter of the upside-down "v" shape. Remove pins as you secure the panel in place. Turn the skirt over and repeat with the back side.

6. Turn the skirt over and with a piece of fabric chalk, draw a diagonal starting from somewhere beneath the right pocket and extending to the bottom left corner of the skirt. The steepness of your diagonal depends completely upon how short you want your skirt to be and how severely asymmetrical you want the hem to look.

7. Cut along this diagonal line. You now have your asymmetrical hemline. If you don't hem it, the skirt will continue to fray, giving it a distressed appearance.

References

• "Jean Therapy: Denim Deconstruction for the Conscientious Crafter;" Scatha G. Allison, Marla Stefanelli; 2008

Resources

• Not Martha: Jean Skirt
• Savvy Seams: Jean Skirt