Dyeing for a change

I'm in need of some new playing out jeans and unearthed a pair in my wardrobe that I'd never worn.  A friend gave them to me years ago but they were too small for me at the time.  They fit me now but are slightly too short.

They're also very dark and new looking so I thought I'd have a go at at tie dyeing them with bleach. 
I used Tesco's thin bleach which is 29p for two litres, and used about 15p worth in a bucket of water.
  
I absolutely loved how they came out, so much so that I decided they looked too good for confining to gardening and painting!  With this in mind I lengthened them to be worn with heels rather than flats.
I unpicked the hems, using scissors, because my seam ripper disappeared in mysterious circumstances a couple of weeks ago ....... I was using it at the computer and when I'd finished I took it, and whatever I'd been unpicking, over to my sewing machine at the other end of the room.  When I got there (which is only nine steps away)  I didn't have the seam ripper!  It's a laminate floor and I didn't hear it fall and I searched for it to no avail.  Spooky!

Anyway back to the jeans... 
I ironed out the bottoms and overcast the raw edge.  To lengthen them I had the great idea of cutting a couple of inches off the bottom of my old jeans so that I could use the existing hem, and sewing them to the new ones on the outside.  I thought if I then frayed the raw edge in would act as an edging between the old and new and look as though it had always been there.  

The concept seemed like a good idea but in practice the old jeans fabric is an entirely different shade and looks quite drab compared to the vibrant tie dyeing.

So now I'm wondering if they should be relegated to playing out status or if I can remedy it.
Here's what they look like now

What I'm thinking is that I could put something brighter in the 'extension'.
Such as ric rac, but I've only enough of this blue for one row

or I've got this bias tape which just fits nicely

So what do you think?  Are they good enough to face the public as they are or with the extra decoration, or should they be confined to house and garden?  
Be honest, I don't mind if you say I should keep them for playing in - after all I've just cut the bottoms off my old ones!