Jeans redux

I guess last winter I ordered this pair of jeans after trying some on in the store.  The ones in the store fit great but this pair was always just a tiny bit tight.  So if I wore them I always had a muffin top and was uncomfortable.  I thought about getting ride of them but this weeks challenge on Sew Weekly was to redo something and I thought of these. 

All I did was cut the sides open about 1/4 inch from the side seam to avoid the pocket rivets and add a strip of patchwork down each side.  I also put a bit of elastic in the back so they would stay up as they stretched out during the day.  I don't think I'd want more then one pair but I'm really like having this pair.  Its only too bad I didn't have them at any point during the 90s because I 1990 something me would have killed for these.