Make Clothes Look Vintage and Worn

Making clothes appear vintage and worn is an ongoing trend that flits in and out of mainstream fashion but clings on in many indie fashion interpretations whatever else is in season. Customizing your clothes in this manner is guaranteed to make them unique, interesting, and personalized, so making them look vintage and worn can be a great way to set your standard clothes apart from the crowd. The following steps provide numerous ways to turn your new into old, while still retaining a great style.

Steps

  1. Ensure Be Sure That Jeans Fit Properly before beginning. The processes set out in this article are not designed to change the size; they are designed to change the appearance.
    • Wash the clothes thoroughly before proceeding. This will assure that bleeding and shrinkage has taken place before antiquing the clothing.
  2. Choose a suitable workspace. Since you'll be cutting, slashing, and attacking your clothes, use an area where damage won't be an issue and where the surface is strong. Good choices include an old gardening bench, a Decorate Concrete garage floor, or outside somewhere.
  3. Size up your clothing. At this stage, decide how much damage you're willing to inflict on the clothing to change its appearance. If you're reticent, put the item away, as the changes will be permanent.
    • This is a good opportunity to plan the appearance changes that you'd like to make. Sketch or write down your hoped-for outcome and match the methods to the desired look.
  4. Age your t-shirt. An aged t-shirt is a great starter project because Make Reusable Grocery Bags from T Shirts don't cost a lot and yet can be made to look fantastic when antiqued. Some suggestions for aging them include:
    • A broken-in and worn away look: Cut away the sleeves or neckline. Once you start the cut, stop using the scissors and simply tear away the rest of the fabric. This will you give your t-shirt that "curled" look.
    • Really aged look: A more aged look can be achieved by using sandpaper.[1] Find sandpaper of about 100 grit or heavier. Rub it over the t-shirt in the places where you'd like it to appear more aged; the sandpaper will fray the fibers and make the shirt softer and more worn in appearance. An electric sander also works well and makes for faster results. Be sure to sand the edges of the shirt along the cuts, or along the neck, arm and waistline.
  5. Distress (artificially make old) denim. This is probably the best known fabric subjected to aging techniques in a wide variety of fashion styles.
    • Starting at the edges of the jeans, make small cuts along the top edges in line with the edge of the jeans. You don't need to go over every edge, just nick the fabric enough to allow it to fray during washing. A razor, X-acto knife or utility knife works best. Use caution to avoid cutting yourself.
    • Rip jeans for the ultimate distressed look. Make a small cut and then tear with your hands. Ask for help from someone stronger if this proves difficult for you!
    • For torn knees or other torn areas such as the thighs: Try on the jeans, and with a pencil or sewing marker, make a horizontal mark across the front of your knee while you're sitting. Remove the jeans and make a small hole along the line big enough to fit in a finger or two. Rip the jeans the remainder of the desired width. Knees and thighs tend to show highest wear on normally wearing jeans.
    • When grating, sanding or filing the jeans, place a block of wood inside the leg. That way, if you grate, sand, or file too hard, you won't press through to the other side of the leg.[2]
    • Learn how to "Ladder" Jeans.
  6. fabrics and soften cottons.right|220px]]Use power tools to achieve an older look on clothing. As explained for aging t-shirts, worn areas can be made by using sandpaper (100 grit or heavier) along the butt, other knee, sides or near the pockets of many fabrics. This process is much faster if you have an electric sander. Just be sure to use a fabric that can withstand this pressure; clearly a fabric such as silk or satin will respond poorly.
  7. Wash the doctored items. In many instances, the previous steps will prepare the fabric but won't necessarily fray or change the color of the item. For that, you'll need to wash them. Once you have snipped, sliced or torn, put all of your items in the washing machine and wash on medium heat with half laundry detergent and half borax or OxiClean.
    • The detergents will soften the water and assist the fraying process.
    • Dry the items completely in the dryer.
    • Examine the distressed areas. Fraying should begin in the the areas you've torn or sliced. If not, redo the above process and make the cuts deeper. If some fraying has begun and you want more, you can begin to tear and pull some of the strings to encourage more circumferential fraying.
    • A wire brush, grater or nail file can also assist in causing fraying. Alternatively, use a rasp over stones, such as stones inside a pocket.
  8. Fade your jeans. For a faded look, do not use bleach unless you know what you're doing. For best results: wash your clothes with detergent, find a secure place outside in a sunny area, hang your clothes right side out, and leave outside for up to two weeks. Make sure to move your clothes pins daily and rotate how the clothes hang, in order to avoid clothes pin (peg) lines or causing the item to become darker on one side. Your clothes will be stiff. Take your clothes inside and wash in warm water with detergent and borax or OxiClean. Dry in a dryer. Fabric softener can also be used.
    • If you want to use bleach, wear gloves and be very careful because every drip will cause fading; also, be prepared to work fast as bleach damages the fabric and the sooner you can wash it off, the better. Lay the jeans on an old towel or cloth that you don't use anymore (it will get stained too). If you don't want the back of the leg to look like the front, stuff the legs with plastic grocery bags to prevent the design leaking through to the other leg. Apply the bleach using a sponge rather than randomly dipping and squeezing. Use strokes with the sponge to create effects and avoid unwanted drips from the sponge. Work most on the areas you want to be faded the most. Turn the jeans over once you've done one side and do the other side. Then, wash in cold water using a normal cycle but exclude any other clothes. Dry as normal.[3] Other alternatives include using a washcloth or a spray bottle in place of a sponge, for different effects; if spraying, wear goggles.
  9. Think beyond the usual methods. There are a number of "extreme" methods that can be used for aging clothes. While these will take a little more strategy and should only be performed by a responsible adult, they can produce spectacular results providing that you accept that there is no guarantee of the end look nor even that your clothes will survive the punishing treatment! Some of the methods you might like to consider include:
    • Take your unworn jeans, jackets and shirts to the range for target practice. Fire a few rounds and you'll see awesome distressed looks on the garments. Just be sure to avoid the zippers. Wash them and wear.
    • Use a high power washer. Lay clothes on the pavement or against a wall and use the washer on them.
    • Use an axe. Hit clothes with the axe at varying angles.
    • Bury clothes in the yard for a few days.[1] Cotton and wool seem to respond best, and for really distressed clothing (such as for Halloween or a spooky role play), add rotten pond water and leave for a few months.
    • Use the clothes in a tug of war with your dog.
    • Lay clothes across the driveway for a few days.
    • Roll around in a parking lot or other gritty or graveled surface with soft items such as leather.
  10. Use rough repairs. If you break major or supporting threads in the fabric when aging the clothing, tacking this portion back together using a rough or homely repair can add to the distressed look of the item.
  11. Finished.



Tips

  • Try looking for shirts in some thrift stores. You may be able to find some well used items or items that you can practice on.
  • If you overdo it in a vital area, you can repair it with a fabric patch. Don't bother trying to match it. Just sew or iron on the most obnoxious patch you can find.
  • Let clothes soak in salt water for a some days. It softens the fabric.
  • The heavier the fabric, the harder it is to age it. Denim and t-shirts of heavy 100 percent cotton are the hardest but also harder to overdo.
  • For a slightly yellow look you can dip clothes into a tea bath (Several tea bags, hot water and enough water to cover clothes--add more tea bags for darker color). This is also a great way to alter the "wash" of a pair of jeans. Especially helpful if you think they are too blue, you are sick of them, a friend has the same style and wash, etc.
  • When cutting with a razor blade, cut along the edge and not against it. You can be more liberal with cuttings around the lower legs where the jeans touch the floor. You can even cut those with scissors making sure to cut only the slightest amount off and never to cut above the hem unless you wish to remove it.
  • Using a serrated blade or saw with teeth works really well to tease the fabric rather than cut it giving a great effect.
  • Try buying jeans with a lighter colored wash. Those look more natural when you age them than a dark (new) looking pair with tears and rips.
  • If distressing clothing for a play or for role playing, judicious use of paint can be very useful. Careless application of dye can also have a useful impact.
  • With sandpaper, you can use heavier grade for the tougher areas and finer grade for the finer areas of the fabric.[1]

Warnings

  • If you don't tell your friends how you did it, they won't be able to copy you.
  • Do not try washing your clothes with poker chips, rocks, bb's, etc. Doing so will ruin your washer and dryer.
  • Only use weapons to damage clothes if you fully understand how to operate the weapons and can do so safely within the law. (Ask a hunter friend to take a few items out to target practice on.)
  • Always be careful when using sharp tools of any kind.
  • In all cases, test areas first. This can limit damage that is unbecoming as opposed to damage that you'd really like to see!
  • Don't try sanding on the kitchen table or any other delicate surface. Always prefer surfaces where it doesn't matter what damage, bleaching, or spills occur.
  • If in doubt, always test it out. Buy a thrift store version to experiment on first rather than damaging something you treasure or that cost a lot more. Once you feel confident on the cheaper item, you can move on gradually to other items.
  • Children should not be allowed to use sharp cutting instruments or power tools.

Things You'll Need

  • Razor, nail filer etc.
  • Sandpaper or an electric sander
  • Washing machine
  • Dryer
  • Laundry detergent
  • Borax (optional for water softening)
  • OxiClean (optional for water softening)
  • Clothesline
  • Clothes pins (pegs)
  • Shotguns, chainsaws, power tools, etc., for the more extreme aging methods

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 LOTR Costume, Distressing fabric, http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Fabric/Distressing.htm
  2. ↑ Made Manual, How to distress blue jeans, http://www.mademan.com/mm/how-distress-blue-jeans.html
  3. ↑ Jeans and Accessories, How to distress jeans, quick and easy aging, http://www.jeans-and-accessories.com/how-to-distress-jeans.html
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