If how to distress denim patience isn't your thing, nor is the idea of mass-manufactured holes, we put together an easy step-by-step guide on how to distress your jeans at home. Denim (you can distress the fabric prior to cutting out your pattern, distress the cut out pattern pieces or distress the sewn or retail jeans) i started my project with pre-shrunk denim so i was not concerned with shrink issues when washing and drying my pieces after the distressing was completed. How to distress your denim. by bethany on may 14, 2020. lately, i’ve been getting great deals on awesome vintage denim on ebay. the other day, i found a great pair of vintage relaxed fit levi’s, but when they arrived, they were this weird in-between length!. For our diy project, we decided on a heavy distress at the knees with patches of softer distressing around the pocket hems for a very worn-in vibe. according to sikhounmuong, what distinguishes madewell’s distressing process from other denim labels’ patter...