Ripped jeans are a huge trend this season, but not everyone wants to spend $200 or more on a pair of designer destroyed denim. Save your cash and turn an old pair of jeans into a chic new pair with these easy steps:

Do some research. Look online and in fashion magazines for the best-looking rips. Many designers place them in areas that you wouldn't naturally tear.

Decide upon the jeans. Use old or new. Try jeans from a thrift shop for practice.

Decide upon the size and shape of the rip. It's best to start small, it may enlarge each time you wash your jeans.

Draw a cutting line or pattern on your jeans with a pencil. It's best to do this while wearing your jeans to ensure proper placement.

Gather your jeans and some tools including: coarse sandpaper, pumice stone, wood file, cheese grater, utility knife, scissors and a small, flat block of wood.

Place your jeans on the floor or on a table and insert the block of wood "inside" the pant leg beneath the area you plan to rip.

Rub and scrape the fabric in several different directions weaken the denim. Use sandpaper, a pumice stone, wood file and/or grater. These will help to fray the fabric.

Loosen fibers further by scraping with the blade of a utility knife.

Using a scissors, cut a hole through the loosened fibers.

Retain all of the loose fibers. They will progressively fray each time you wash your jeans. Use a dryer for fluffier fray.

Tips:

For exact rips, use a sewing needle to pull out individual stitches from the fabric.

Use scissors to increase fraying. Cut small snips into the edges of the rip.

Add stitching along the edges of a rip to keep it from fraying or ripping more.

You can always add more rips, but you can't remove them once made, so progress slowly until you get the look you want.

(tips adapted from wikihow.com)