Old Jeans to New Shorts

Hi everyone! I live in the San Francisco/Bay area right now (I'm going to be moving to New York City in the Fall) and it has been a pretty hot summer over here. I have a few pairs of bell-bottom and boot cut jeans that are too short or are just so out of style that I'll probably never wear them again, even though they fit just fine at the waist. So... today I'm going to be taking a pair of old jeans and shortening them into Bermuda shorts! This was super easy to do an I hope that you try it if you have some old, out-of-style jeans laying around.


Materials:
- Old pair of jeans
- Shears
- Sewing Pins (you can use some other kind of marker or even eye-ball it if you don't have these)


(Do you like my hedgehog pin cushion? I made it in middle school for a Home Economics class!)



Here's a picture of the jeans I'll be using, the pant legs flare out a lot and I swear I haven't worn these in years! Let's get started!


1. To start, try on your old jeans again. If they still fit fine and you're absolutely sure you won't wear them again the way they are then move onto step 2. Otherwise this DIY project isn't for you!



2. With your jeans still on, see how long you would want your Bermuda shorts to be in terms of length. Make sure you check out your front and backside. Then, an inch below that spot, pin it! Pin both pant legs (careful not to poke yourself!) and make sure they are even with each other. If you don't have pins, you can use a white colored pencil or other markers.



3. Carefully take your jeans off and lay them out on a flat surface. Find the threads that go across in your jeans next to your pin and start cutting across using that as a guide. By following along the natural thread lines, you won't have as many strings hanging off when you're finished cutting.




4. After you're done cutting both pant legs, I would try them on again. They should be longer than you wanted with the extra inch (where you pinned). Instead of hemming the bottom, I just rolled and cuffed mine to the length I wanted! You can also sneak a safety pin inside the cuff or even iron the cuff to make sure it stays put.


And.... here's my new pair of Bermuda shorts, perfect for summer! Who knows, maybe when I get tired of them, I can make a cute pair of cutoff shorts. ^.^

What I've learned:

- When you're cutting across your jeans, if it's a little off that's okay since you're just going to tuck and cuff the ends anyways!
- Having a good set of shears helps a lot... struggling with the scissors isn't fun.
- If you want to be safe about the length you're cutting, give it an extra 2 inches instead of one, you can always go back and cut off more or cuff it a little tighter.


I hope you enjoyed this and found it to be an easy way to update your old jeans! Now I just have to think of something to do with the extra denim fabric the we cut from the bottom of our jeans... Don't throw it away! I will think of something for next time!


Alison <3