How to Make 90s Grunge Inspired Knee Ripped Jeans

Last Updated: October 21, 2021

Knee-ripped jeans were a staple of grunge fashion back in the early 1990s. Twenty years later in 2011, ripped jeans came back in style full force, and these days many women and men wear ripped or distressed jeans in the grunge style. If you are wondering how to make the ripped knees, you won't have to wait two years for your jeans to rip and fray by themselves. This article will teach you how to create the look in just a few hours.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Preparing the Jeans

1
Find an old pair of jeans that you're happy to distress. The jeans should be 100% cotton, as other fabrics won't work the same. They should be baggy, straight, or boot-cut in order to make a true 90s look, but they can be any color.^{[1]
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- Prepare your tools at the same time. These can be found below, under the Things You'll Need.
2
Decide what shape you want the rip to be. The most common shapes used to make slits are diamonds, circles, or rectangles. If you're not sure, start with a diamond shape, which tends to turn out well.^{[2]
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3
Turn your pants inside out. Then use a ruler, and mark out two slits in the middle of the leg, going crossways across the knee area.
- To look like true-90s style ripped knees, the slits should go across the knee, stopping 2 centimeter (0.79 in) from the seam on both sides; if you want the rip to be smaller, then mark it 4 centimeter (1.6 in) from the seam.
4
Mark two more, slightly shorter slits a ruler-width (or so) from each of the first slits, moving away from the center of the knee. These slits should be about 2 centimeter (0.8 in) shorter than the first.
- Then again, make two more slits each a ruler-width each from the top and bottom, again making them about 2 centimeter (0.8 in) shorter than the previous ones. Repeat until your last slits are only 1 centimeter (0.39 in) or so long.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Cutting the Slits

1
Take a knife, or a needle. Poke into the center of the markings of the slit, so the scissors will get into it with greater ease.^{[3]
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2
Cut with a pair of scissors along the lines. Do the same on all the other slits.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Distressing the Jeans

1
Slide the cardboard under the cut slits. This will prevent any damage to the backs of the knees as you distress the jeans.^{[4]
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2
Use the tweezers to pull white threads out. Using your hands is possible too but takes much longer.^{[5]
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- If the tweezers cannot pull white threads out after more than five to seven white threads on each side (2cm away from the slits), turn the jeans right side out and use a razor to distress the edges until you see white threads.
- If you get two to four threads left after pulling without using a razor, if the slits are small as 1 centimeter (0.39 in), you can pull the blue threads using your hands.
3
Pull the blue threads out. If you cannot get them out, pull the white threads to get the blue threads out, since the blue threads may be stuck inside the white threads. Then you can pull the blue threads out very easily on the top of those edges.
4
Pull the blue threads until you hit the dead end where the cut of the slit ends.
5
Repeat the distressing process on the other slits.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Adding Finishing Touches

1
Use scissors to cut the middle of the slits, where the white threads are, so it will be separated.
2
To look even grungier, take a razor and scratch the cut the ends of the white threads. Cut very gently, to make it appear more worn.
3
Distress the square edges from the white threads, where the slits get smaller. Use tweezers, and distress the blue ends from the white threads where it looks square, to lessen the square effect.^{[6]
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4
Wash and wear! If you have done everything correctly, then congratulations, you can wear your new ripped jeans outside! Wash then dry the jeans before wearing, to make those white threads to look fluffier.

Community Q&A

Question

Where can I buy/get blue denim jeans to do this?

Community Answer

You can get jeans at pretty much any clothing store, but since you're going to be cutting them up, I'd suggest you check out thrift stores so you're not spending too much money.
Question

Can I make knee-ripped jeans of skinny jeans?

Community Answer

Yes. In the new trends, ripped-knee jeans looks better on skinny rather than total raw denim jeans.
Question

If ripped jeans in general will fray in the wash, would hand stitching will help slow the process at all?

Community Answer

If you have or can borrow a machine, you can zigzag stitch right on the edges, which should help prevent fraying. You could also try stitching around the edge with a loop technique of some kind.

Warnings

Do not wear the jeans while distressing, because it can cause injury to your knee.

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If you forget to use cardboard, you may cut right through to the other side of your jeans, so be careful.

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