lovalafashion: DIY Shorts In A Matter Of Hours

All thanks to Charlie from instagram for this wonderful tutorial! (To find Charlie on facebook and/or instagram keeping reading below.

The sun has finally started to make a presence in the past couple of weeks; the high street is stocking the top summer trends, so surely its time for a wardrobe spring clean? I think not! Why should you pay £10 or more of your hard earned cash on a new pair of shorts when the answer is lying right there in your old jeans that you’ve just put in a bin back. Dig them back out and see how within the hour they can be transformed into shorts that are as good a new.

Choose your victim: Realistically any pair of jeans can be successfully made into shorts but it all depends on what kind of fit you are wanting. Skinny jeans make a good pair of skin-tight shorts but I have found that they can be a little uncomfortable when it’s warm. From experience I have found that a pair of jeans that have been worn in, maybe with a few holes in the knees and faded colour are the best as the fabric is suppler and therefore far more comfortable.My victims for today are a pair of boot cut jeans that I have had hidden at the back of my wardrobe for longer than I can actually remember. They are a little bit big around the waist but its nothing a belt can’t fix.

2. We Like Short Shorts: So this is where you make the decision of how short you want your shorts. Around 3cm from the crotch seam is usually the average length but it is entirely your own choice. Once you have made your decision this is where it is best to get a helping hand. Put your jeans on and grab yourself a ruler and place it and the length you would like your shorts. With the marker pen draw a line across both legs using the ruler as a guide. Having somebody else to draw the line for you helps to ensure that both legs match up so you don’t end up with one leg longer than the other. You only need to draw a line on the front and slightly on the side of the jeans as this line will act as a guide for the back too when cutting the fabric. By wearing your jeans whilst drawing these lines you can see how the fabric fits to your body so that you know how your shorts will fit.

3. Make The Cut: Once you have drawn your lines take your jeans off and lay them as flat as possible on a flat surface. Using a sharp pair of scissors follow the line drawn on the front of your jeans and cut through both the front and back at the same time.Once you have cut out both legs you can either throw the off cuts away or you can do what I do and store them away in a box as spare fabric for if I ever need to patch up a hole.

4. Rough Around The Edges: Now’s time for the boring bit. I find it’s best to sit and do this whilst watching the TV in the evening. To get the frayed edge look all you need to do is simply unpick the stitching along the edge of the cut.

The effect of the frayed edge is entirely up to you. You can leave some of the unpicked cotton in order to add to the messy look or you can cut it off entirely just leaving the frayed edge. I chose to snip the excess cotton off and leave a clean frayed edge.

5. Fray the edges in both legs and there you have it; your finished result is a new pair of DIY shorts, in a design that is completely individual to you. Now grab your sun cream and shades and go try them out.