What You’ll Need:

Supplies:

A pair of old jeans 1/4 yard of the fabric of your choice

Tools:

Measuring tapeScissorsSeam ripper Sewing machine or sewing kit

Once you have gathered all your materials, you’re ready to get started. Next, we will un-do the bottom hem. The best way to remove hemstitching is with your seam ripper, but scissors will work if you’re careful not to clip the fabric. Once your legs are both swinging free, it’s time to measure the bell-bottom fabric. Measure the height of your opened seam on your pants, and add two inches. Don’t feel limited by one kind of fabric. You can patch together lots of pieces of fabric to create your panels or even cut up another pair of jeans to make matching denim panels. Once you have cut your two panels, we can stitch them in. Lay the triangular panel face-down on the open seam and align the edges of the fabric. Make sure that about 2" of the triangle panel extends above the top of the open seam in the thigh or knee area. This is because we will be crisscrossing the seams at the top. Straight stitch from the top of the triangle to the bottom hem. When you sew on the other side of the panel, cross over the first stitch as shown above. This will help the top of the triangle come together.​ Finish the raw edges on each seam with a zigzag stitch to prevent the fabric from unraveling. Sew the other side of the panel onto the leg. When you’ve got both legs done, it’s time to re-hem the bottoms.