DIY- Jeans into Bell Bottoms

This weekend my friend had a 70s themed birthday party.  I shopped extensively to find just the right outfit.  Sadly, there wasn't a lot to be found.  Of course, I managed to find clothes for my husband, but it seemed like the ladies options were fewer and further between.

So, I made the decision that I would just make my own!  I went to Jo-Ann's and found some great fabric.  I was determined to make jeans into bell bottoms and to make a matching shirt.  I am not one to use a pattern- they make me crazy. Instead I looked at various DIYs online and came up with a hybrid mix of these to suit my needs.

I found some cheap jeans at a thrift store- this particular pair began their life as skinny jeans.
The first step was to rip out the outside seams up to the knee- about 20 inches, depending on the length of jeans you have.  I also ripped out the hem as well- this was so I could hem the added bell fabric to match the pant hem exactly.  In this case it also lengthened the jeans a bit.  The seam ripping was only difficult in that there were three sets of stitches in this seam, so it took more time than anticipated to get through all of the stitches!

The next step was to cut the fabric to insert into my open seam.  I measured the opening on my jeans- 20 inches.  I decided to cut the fabric longer to make sure I had plenty of fabric.  I cut a triangle 24 inches long with the top being about 2 inches wide and the bottom being 10 inches wide.
The fabric I chose was a little on the floppy side which gave me reason to question if the leg would just fold in on itself making the bell disappear.  To avoid this, I used a fairly stiff interfacing on my fabric- cut to the same size as my triangle.

Once I had these two fabrics fused together I turned the jeans inside out and pinned the pants and fabric together.  All that was left was to sew!  I went up each side and then made small adjustments at the top of the triangle to try to make sure there wasn't a pucker at the top.  This is just something you have to fiddle with.  Some people hand stitch this part, but I was able to do a pretty good job with the machine.
Lastly, I put a hem back in the bottom of the jeans.  I chose to leave them a little longer so that I could wear them with taller wedges.

I don't have a picture with them on- I forgot!  But I will post one one I have a chance to put them on again.

I also made a shirt- actually 2 shirts.  The first one I made from a pattern- it turned out super cute, but was snugger than what I prefer.  Since I wanted to have a good time I decided to make a second shirt.  This time I avoided pattern usage.  I cut out a square of fabric and worked it into a halter top with the help of my mother!  With a little elastic, a couple of darts, and some ingenuity, I had a shirt!