DIY High-Waisted Shorts

I just got back from a two week vacation overseas, and I returned home to realize that it is roughly one million degrees outside. And that's really great because I adore mega-heat and 1000% humidity (note my heavy sarcasm).

So, just like any other summer, I've taken part in my yearly ritual, which is to take some old and/or secondhand jeans and turn them into some shorts. Because ain't nobody got time for jeans in this kind of weather.

I've talked about making shorts from old jeans in the past (namely in this post, which goes into more detail about this process), and it such a simple activity that sometimes I think it hardly bears mentioning. But here I am, cause ya girl wanted to make a post on this lonely blog of hers.

The high-waisted trend has been around for a couple years now, and I've only been partaking in it for about a year and a half, but I can honestly say that I hope it sticks around. There's something about looking like a 90's soccer mom with pants up to her ribcage that I find completely endearing, and I mean that with complete honesty and affection. In the case of these shorts though, I don't think that my 90's mom self would really approve of rocking them because warning: I made mine pretty short.

I've found that the trick to making these shorts (or to even finding high waisted jeans) is to hit up your local goodwill and peruse all the sizes in the racks. I pay most attention to the size of the waistband and compare it to my own natural waist, which is different than shopping for jeans that will fit your hips, so just ignore the numbers. Mom jeans are much more forgiving in terms of sizing, I feel. Also, the easiest way to find mom jeans at a glance is to look at the zipper. Is the zipper as long as your whole hand? Then there's a good chance you'll be zipping those pants up to your eyeballs. Zipper only as long as your palm? Try again, compadre-- you're in weird mid-rise territory.

Once I found the pair pictured here, I started just like I would with any pair of pants that I would want to make into shorts. First, I tried them on and marked with a pin where I wanted my shorts to come down to. It's important to try the shorts on, rather  than just laying another pair of shorts on top of them and marking them that way, because the rise of these pants is going to affect the length of the shorts.

After trying them on and marking the length, I took them off, added an additional 1.5 inches of length so that I could cuff them, and chopped off one leg. I also cut them at a slight angle, just for funsies.

Next, I folded the shorts over and chopped the second leg off in the same fashion. I told you, this is a super easy project.

The last thing I did was to just cuff the shorts up, tack down cuffs with a few whip stitches, and call it a day. Simple, quick, and mildly tackily cute.

I actually have another pair of shorts that I still need to do this to, so I should probably get on that soon.... Guess that's my cue to go be productive!



Linking up:
x x

Ripped Jeans to Shorts

I love making tutorials; I love to share the things I make, and I think it's fun when people share their process. Because let's be honest- who remembers exactly what they did 100 percent of the time? [Not me anyway... I instantly forget things.]
So I thought I'd maybe put some more tutorials together this summer :]

Let's start out with something easy though, yeah?

This has become somewhat of a yearly ritual for me. At the beginning of every summer, I recycle my beat up jeans into some more modest shorts [because I'm not entirely a fan of all the hoochie length shorts that stores try to shove on girls my age...].

Also, am I the only one who annihilates jeans during the winter? Because I feel like whenever I rip jeans, it isn't just a little tear. It's like they freaking went Titanic and destroyed themselves. Go big or go home I guess?

And I've learned that over time, covering the hole up with a cat simply does not work.... unfortunately...

So here is what I do! It's really common sense, but I just wanted to get back into the whole tutorial thing with something easy:

1. Chop off the wreckage just above the top rip... or to a little longer than your desired length. Mine were [clearly] ripped pretty high, so I cut right above the rip to salvage a little more length.
2. Fold them pants up and amputate the other leg.
3. Fold the bottoms of the legs up twice on the outside and pin down, though I suppose you could do it on the inside too. I just like the looks of the outside hem better.
4. Tack the hems down with a few stitches on the outer and inner existing seams. 

And there you have it! A brand new [old] pair of shorts from those ratty ripped jeans! Whoop whoop!

I'll be linkin' this puppy up HURR and to Savvy Southern Style, yo.