Jeans are commonly distressed at the knees, back pockets, upper thighs, or at the sides. Mark which area you want to distress. For example, if you’re distressing your upper thigh, think about where you would want the rips to show when wearing your jeans. [2] X Research source If you’ve never distressed jeans before, it is not advised that you distress the sides. Side seams are necessary to hold the jeans together so these areas can rip easily. If you do distress along the sides, only make a few tears. If you plan on distressing your back pocket, it is probably not necessary to try the jeans on first.

When distressing your back pocket, you can put a deck of cards or block of wood in the back pocket to protect your jeans.

Keep your cuts half an inch to three quarters of an inch apart (about 1. 3 to 2 centimeters). [7] X Research source Remember, only make a few cuts if you’re distressing the sides of jeans and stay away from the side seams.

You will not be able to remove all the colored portions of the thread. There may be some fuzz leftover around the edges of holes when you’re done as well. However, these come out in the wash, so do not worry if your jeans are not perfect the first time.

The weight should be written somewhere on the label.