Distress Your Jeans in True JunK GyPsy Style

Distress Your Jeans Junk Gypsy Style

A do-it-yourself tutorial I followed from the 

Junk Gypsy Book

My obsession with the Junk Gypsy's style started back in 2010 when I was a junior in college, after having discovered them through Miranda Lambert. I fell in love with the Junk Gypsy designs, their passion for all things old, their unique t-shirts, fun jewelry and their fearless fashion sense. Every paycheck, I would browse their "sale" page looking for a deal on a t-shirt or jewelry piece I couldn't live without. 

The Junk Gypsy style photo with "Mama Tried" tanks and distressed jeans. Gypsyville.com

I did my best to rock the junk gypsy look. I bought a black button up vest, cut the tops of my t-shirts off to make a more off-of-the-shoulder fit, layered my jewelry and wore my boots. I rocked everything but the pantalones department. I VIVIDLY remember googling "junk gypsy jeans" and "what jeans do the Junk Gypsies wear". I was obsessed with their jeans, and their distressed look they always had. 

Amy and Jolie. Photo from the Junk Gypsy Book.

And unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how we look at it) I never found an answer. I remember searching in the chain store called Buckle for distressed jeans like Amy and Jolie's, couldn't find em. Eventually I came across a photo of the Sikes sisters and realized they were wearing the American Eagle brand jeans. So I ran to the mall and searched their jeans too, but no luck. All the distressed jeans I kept finding were high fashion jeans and their "distress" look was NOT that of the Junk Gypsy style distress I was looking for!

But fast forward to 2016 and the release of the long-awaited book, Junk Gypsy: Designing a Life at the Crossroads of Wonder and Wander, and there it is, in bright bold colors and easy-to-follow 9 simple steps to achieve the peRfeCt distress jean in true juNk gYpsy style. Hallelujah!!!

Even it being 6 years after my jean hunting obsession, I still want the junk gypsy distressed jean look. So I opened to page 167...

Then started by gathering the essentials tools needed...

Step 1- gather your tools
Jeans, a sharpie, scissors and a piece of cardboard.  I grabbed an older pair of BKE and Wrangler jeans I owned. So for step #1- I put the jeans on. Step #2- Using the sharpie I marked on the jeans where I wanted the distressing, then took them off. 

step 3
Step #3- I took the jeans off and laid them on a solid surface (our kitchen island butcher block). Step #4- I placed the piece of cardboard into the leg, below the marked area of where I was going to distress the jean (to make sure you don't damage the back fabric on that particular pant leg). 

Step 4
Step #5- Then the damage was made. I used a pair of scissors and scraped the fabric back and forth to cut through the denim. And I scraped, and scraped, and scraped (step #6).... my left hand which was holding the denim flat got to be very sore. 

Step 5

Step 7
A ta-da! The hole was achieved. I did this on each leg, on each pair of jeans, but each hole was in a different spot. One was above the knee, one was directly on the knee, one was far below the knee and I also distressed a pocket (step #7).

For step #8, I washed and dried my newly distressed jeans. 

Step #9 declared me a bonafide Rock Star. BOOM. 

Here is my "before" and "after" proof. 

Before: a standard pair of BKE jeans. After: BKE jeans distressed (at home) following the Junk Gypsy how-to

Before: a standar pair of Wrangler jeans. After:  a badass pair of Wrangler jeans that were distressed following the Junk Gypsy distressing how-to 

This Do-It-Yourself project is rated EASY AS PIE. Its fun, simple and easy to follow. 

The Junk Gypsy book is filled with awesome do-it-yourself ideas such as this project. Make sure to pick up your copy today and start creatin'.

XOXO- Sarah Beth