How to Rip Your Own Jeans

Acquiring an awesome pair of ripped jeans can be expensive - unless you know how to make them yourself. It may require a little patience, but it's quite simple:

1. Do some research. Look online and in fashion magazines for the best-looking rips. Most jean companies seem to place them in areas that you wouldn't naturally tear.
2. Decide upon the jeans. Use old or new. Try jeans from a thrift shop for practice.
3. Decide upon the size of the rip. It may enlarge each time you wash your jeans.
4. Decide upon the shape of the rip. You may wish to extend a rip in several different directions.
5. Decide which techniques to use. You may wish to let the fabric become thin on its own. A few techniques, to begin the process, may be all that's needed.
6. Gather your jeans, coarse sandpaper, pumice stone, wood file, grater, utility knife, scissors and a small, flat block of wood.
7. Draw a cutting line or pattern on your jeans with a pencil.
8. Place a block of wood "inside" the pant leg beneath the area.
9. Rub and scrape the fabric in several different directions. Use sandpaper, a pumice stone, wood file and grater. These will fray the fabric.
10. Loosen fibers by scraping with the blade of a utility knife.
11. Using the scissors, cut a hole through the loosened fibers.
12. Retain all of the loose fibers. They will progressively fray each time you wash your jeans. Use a dryer for fluffier fray.
13. Wear colored nylons or stockings beneath your ripped jeans.

Tips
For exact rips, use a sewing needle to pull out individual stitches from the fabric.
Use scissors to increase fraying. Cut small snips into the edges of the rip.
Add stitching along the edges of a rip to keep it from fraying or ripping more.
Repair a rip with a colorful fabric patch.
Be more active. Sooner or later, your jeans will rip on their own.

Warnings
Use caution with sharp tools.

Things You'll Need
Jeans
Coarse sandpaper
Pumice stone
Wood file
Grater
Utility knife
Scissors
Small, flat block of wood