Tie-Dye Bleached Denim DIY: Make Your Skinny Jeans Trendy

Today I will share with you one of my most favourite DIY projects: tie-dye bleaching. It is very easy to do, and the result is always cool and unique! That makes this project fun is that the pattern you get in the end which is difficult to predict. It depends on the way you tie the item before bleaching it, and this opens endless possibilities for experimenting! This time I have chosen the rubber band technique. I found the instructions on the Internet and decided to use them as a guide. But you know these instructions rarely reveal all the tricks and hidden catches of the DIY process. My goal here is to give you the full picture! I want to show you that it is possible to be creative and not being afraid of trying, failing, and trying again.

Tie-Dye Bleached Denim Result

This is the result I got. In this outfit I combined the bleached skinny jeans with a Tommy Hilfiger coat and a second hand pleather bag by H&M. I found the bag at one of the clothing swap events organized by the SWAP Team.

This is the original skinny jeans I bought at a thrift store. They cost me about $5.

Supplies You Need For Tie-Dye Bleaching

• a pair of jeans
• rubber bands
• domestic bleach (not pictured)
• a plastic bucket (not pictured)

Tie-Dye Bleaching Instructions

I started with the trouser legs, trying to put the bands symmetrically on each leg.

Then I tied up the top part.

Time to bleach!

I mixed one part of bleach and one part of water and put the jeans into the liquid. The item spent there about 25 min. In the original instructions it was said that the garment should be taken out of the bleach as soon as it starts changing the color. I followed the instruction precisely. However, the bleaching time really depends on the fabric and its original dye. The thicker the fabric and the darker the dye, the longer it takes to bleach. As you will see a bit later, in my case 25 min was not enough.

Since the bleach has an intense smell, after bleaching I rinsed the jeans with a perfumed detergent.

As I said, the 25 min was not enough to get the result I wanted. The jeans got some bleached spots, but I wanted a bolder and reacher pattern. Well, no problems! I would just repeat the same steps again.

Here is the result of the second bleaching. The pattern had become more bright. However, I found an unpleasant surprise. Both times I missed the same spot on the top of the right leg. It stood out of the overall ornament and looked like an obvious flaw.

And again, it was not a big deal. I simply tied up a knot at the spot…

..and put it into the bleach!

Here is the final result. The jeans have become simply perfect!

Bleached Skinny Jeans Outfits

The jeans has soon become one of my most favourite items! They perfectly fit my style and the most of my outer wear. This is an outfit I made with the items from a Montreal store Quartier Mode that sells Canadian designer clothes. Read my post about the outfit here.

In this outfit, the jeans are accompanied by a second hand leather coat. I really like how the rich brown colour of leather goes with the blue hues of the jeans.

Early autumn I wore the jeans with a second hand jeans shirt and a scarf I made out of three shirts. Stay tuned: I will blog about the scarf DIY project soon!

Tommy Hilfiger coat and a second hand pleather bag by H&M are perfect companions for new new bleached skinny jeans!

This is it! Happy experimenting!

Disclaimer: Yup, this post may contain affiliate links! If you buy something from me, I get some margarita money (not enough to buy a pair of shoes). Read more here.