The Refashioners // Deconstructed + Reconstructed Levi 501s

I was so happy when Portia asked me to participate in The Refashioners challenge this year; my contribution is on the Makery blog now. It really brought me back to my sewing roots since modifying thrift store finds was one of the early ways I learned to sew. My favourite thing to do when I was 14 and in my deep hippie 90s revival period (it happened, I regret it, let's move on) was to buy old Levi 501s and make them bigger (and baggier) by sewing in strips of brightly coloured fabric to the side seams. Basically I did that again, but with tone one tone denim and a little more skill, minus the bongos and patchouli essential oil (I said let's move on!)

Since I had a stack of too tight Levi 501s in my research bin, I decided to make one of them actually  fit me. I wanted 501 butt but without the dated straight leg. I also wanted to experiment with some of the beautiful jeans deconstructions techniques I've been collecting on Pinterest lately.

It was a super fun project and I'm delighted to add these beauties to my denim wardrobe. You can get all the construction details (and a lot more photos) over on the Makery.

Have you ever deconstructed jeans? Are you participating in the Refashioners challenge this year?