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Yes! I am so happy with how this re-fashion turned out. I have been longing for mint jeans (along with the rest of the English speaking-world) all spring. So I decided to do something about it. And that something was not spending $60 on up for the available options. See my tutorial below!
First I bought a pair of white jeans for $6 at Savers. They weren't skinny jeans, just plain old straight leg.
So I quickly fixed that problem with seriously basic sewing. Which I'll explain:
I bought them because they fit in the waist and that's about all I cared about. To be clear: I did not alter the waist at all. Just the legs from mid-thigh down to the bottom.
All I did was turn the white pants inside-out, lay a pair of skinny jeans I had that fit well on top of them. I pinned the white ones right on the line of the inside where I wanted to sew them up. I sewed the straight line along where I had pinned. Then cut the excess fabric off, and they were skinny.
After that was done I used Tulip brand dye in the shade 'Green Vert' to turn them mint green.
The dye was $2 after coupon at Hobby Lobby. Just follow the directions on the package... Instead of putting in a sink or bucket like the package told me, I soaked them in my washing machine. No mess! I opted for a lighter mint so I only kept mine in for about 15 mins, but you can go pretty dark if you want to, just by leaving it in longer. And, no, nothing else turned green after that - the washing machine rinsed out on it's own.
Cue angels singing.
Here I am, uneasily taking pictures of myself with self-timer so that I can show this to you all. I am truly happy to do it. I just don't know what faces to make? Where should I put my arms? Etc.
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Update: This doesn't seem to work exactly the same for everyone. Some people report having their jeans turn lime green, and some of them have countered that by re-dying with a small amount of teal blue dye. I have not tried this personally but hopefully that helps if yours do not turn out as minty! :) Also, I am happy to answer questions, but if the answer is written in the post above I will not answer it in the comments. Please read the entire post before asking questions.
Natasha Buckner
I want to make these...does the dye come off onto your legs or things you sit on?
UtterlyConfused
I dont understand how you "pinned and sewed" a straight line?? Could you do a video please?
*Utterly Confused*
Mar
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Darien
LOVE THESE!!! HAVE TO TRY!!!!:) but just 2 questions. 1. Can you use different colors instead of mint? 2. Can you use denim skinny jeans and bleach them then dye them? THANKS :)
Mia
Thank you for an awesome tutorial! I followed it and my jeans turned out perfectly. Here's a link to the ones that I did: http://miaa-moore.blogspot.com/2012/07/diy-mint-skinny-jeans-from-thrifted.html
I linked to your tutorial as well. Yay! Thanks again :)
- Mia
http://miaa-moore.blogspot.com
Anonymous
Can you explain how to make them skinnies more clearly? It was a little confusing. Could you make a video?
Brooke
Can you make a video on how to make them into skinny jeans? I have no idea how to do that part :)
Anonymous
I did this yesterday, and my pants turned out perfect! I filled my sink with enough hot water to submerge the pants, and squirted in about half a bottle of the Tulip Green Vert (which I found at my local Michael's store in the tie dye section) and let my pants soak for 15 minutes, checking them continuously. The color is amazing! Such a great idea!
Anonymous
Washing machine safe? Did you wash them yet? And if so, did the colors fade?
Anonymous
For everyone out there that can't find the packets....( I was one of you!)
I found the Green Vert in a small pouch not in the tie dye section. A.C. Moore has them close to the T-Shirts and not by the RIT dye.
Abbeney
After you sewed it, did you cut off the excess? Also, did you sew up both seams, or just the in-seam?
Alana
In a response to a previous post, she answered that yes, she did cut off the excess and only sewed up the in-seam
Anonymous
What if u have white skinny jeans then what?? Can u skip one step??!
alexandria
you are a life saver. I'm basically broke but reallllllyyyyy want to make some cute jeans/shorts for the summer! this is amazing. Thanks so much! I really love the resizing tip. it helps so much when buying cheap jeans that don't fit well.
Lauren
Very awesome!! You are very pretty as well. :)
Anonymous
You are so awesome & crafty!!!
I have an extra pair of white skinnies already,
I can't find a mint pair that I love even though it seems like everyone is wearing them! I'm so doing my own this weekend.
Thank you :):)
Liz
Thank you so much for the idea!! Where I live there is no savers so, do you know anywhere else you can get white jeans for less?? Also, where did you get the dye???
Thanks
Liz
Anonymous
AMAZING!!! THANKYOU-THANKYOU-THANKYOU!!!
Adventures in Dressmaking
Cool! I did the exact same thing with some jeans I turned yellow, here: http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/2012/04/weekend-success-dyed-jeans.html
And I recently did some mint dying too, with Dylon blue and green! Posting on it soon...
Kelsey B. Nielsen
Sorry I know you've had a lot of questions about these, but I'm just wondering how did you clean up the mess in your washer when you were finished? where did all the water go? Also is the dye permanent or do you have to be careful washing them? Thanks! :)
Amanda Dotson
So my mint jean experiment was a huge fail.
I searched high and low for the exact dye, tulip green vert. I followed the directions exactly, steaming water, 1/4 cup salt, stir constantly for 15 minutes. They turned lime green...yikes, not mint.at.all.
I then read this comment section for tips. I ran out to get 2 packs of rit color remover. Did the process detailed on package directions....same exact lime green color.
In a last ditch effort I attempted to bleach them and after 2 cycles with a ton of bleach....they are yellow-gold.
Luckily I just saw mint skinny jeans at Target for $25...money well spent.
Amanda Dotson
@angelinamarie - thank you! Mine turned out lime green not mint. I am getting the color remover now and hopefully I can fix mine!