How To Make Shorts From Jeans

If you love wearing shorts, why not learn how to make shorts from jeans? Store-bought jean shorts seem to come in two kinds: cheap and ugly, or gorgeous and pricey. But when you make shorts from jeans you already have at home, you can have it all without spending a dime. The only thing to decide is whether you would like to have cut-off shorts with frayed legs or jean shorts with a hemmed finish. So here’s everything you need to know to make shorts from jeans for a sexy addition to your wardrobe.

To make shorts from jeans, you will need:

• An old pair of jeans
• Sewing chalk
• Sharp scissors
• P-220 grit sandpaper and tweezers (if you’re making shorts with frayed legs)
• Sewing pins (if you’re making shorts with hemmed legs)
• A ruler or measuring tape

1. Decide on the length of your jean shorts. The most important part of making shorts from jeans is to get the length right. Put your jeans on and stand before a mirror that shows your whole body. With the sewing chalk, mark one leg where you would like your jean shorts to end in the front. Then, turn around, and mark where you would like your jean shorts to end in the back. Most likely, the front and back lengths will be a bit different.
2. Prepare your jeans for cutting. Lay your jeans on a table that accommodates their full length and width. Rest them in the exact way that they would sit on your body, with the front top sitting lower than the back top, and make sure the side seams of the legs are parallel. Compare where your length mark appears on the front and back and mark a compromise point between the two. This will be the finished length of the jean shorts you are making, but not yet the cutting length. If you want to make frayed shorts from jeans, add half an inch to the length measurement. If you want to make hemmed shorts from jeans, add one inch to the length.
3. Cut your jeans into shorts. With the sewing chalk, mark the final length line across one of the jeans' legs, then cut along the line starting at the other side of the leg. As you cut, rest the bottom of the scissors’ edge on the table and keep a firm hold on the jeans' leg to prevent the top and back fabrics from sliding apart. Repeat for the second leg.
4. For frayed jean shorts. If you would like your cut-off jeans to have frayed legs, rest them on a towel to protect the table, then rub the pristine cut you just made with sandpaper to start fraying the edge. When you make shorts from jeans you can decide just how frayed you want the edge to be. As the fibers loosen, use tweezers to pull them out. You can cut the loosened fibers off, or twirl them together for a sexy edge.
5. For hemmed jean shorts. If you would like your cut-off jeans to have hemmed legs, turn them inside out and rest them on a table. With the ruler or measuring tape, mark a chalk line around each leg, one inch from the bottom. Next, make a half-inch fold at the bottom of the first leg, then a second half-inch fold over it to enclose the cut-off area and prevent fraying in the future. Secure the fold in place using sewing pins. Once both legs are folded and pinned, use a sewing machine to sew the hem line or sew it by hand with stitches no longer than a quarter inch. Be sure to use a thread color that matches the rest of your jeans.