Creative Ways to Customize Jeans

Custom jeans are not only stylish, they can cost big bucks if there's a designer name attached. Taking a pair of simple denim jeans -- old or new -- and customizing them yourself won't break the bank and you might end up creating a trend of your own. From embroidery to beading, bedazzling, dying and patching, the more creative the better -- if your goal is to turn heads.

Vintage Flare

Old, worn out vintage clothing and accessories like scarves can make great creative embellishments for a simple pair of jeans. Cut the pieces to make patches, which can be sewn or glued on with fabric glue. For savvy sewers, panels of the vintage fabric can be cut and sewn on the bottom of the jean to create a cuff or sewn along the side seams to create a colorful side panel.

Dye Job

Good old-fashioned RIT dye and coffee can be used to over dye a pair of jeans and create a whole new color and style. The lighter the denim, the more saturated the color will be. You can also add some custom fabric paint into the mix and paint designs and patterns right on the jean.

Embellish

Beads, fake pearls, sequins and trim can be added in quantity to create a really over-the-top pair of jeans, or a few simple embellishments can be added to keep the jeans simple, but stylish. The embellishments can be sewn on with a needle and thread or they can be glued on with fabric glue.

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