DIY Month: How To Turn Jeans Into Shorts

What I like the best about this project is there is no sewing involved! Although I love to sew, sewing takes a bit of time. These shorts you can whip out in about 20 minutes!

What you'll need:

1. A pair of jeans you swung off the rack in a Thrift Store

2. Highlighter or Sharpie

3. 4 safety pins

4. Scissors

5. A ruler or measuring tape

Step 1: Start by trying on the jeans and figuring out how short you want them to be. Place your finger on the highest point you want them to be, and put a quick mark there with a marker.

Step 2: Put the jeans on the floor, and starting at the mark you made on them, draw a line across the leg. (A ruler is helpful to keep the line straight.)

Step 3: Don't cut yet! Take out a measuring utensil and, starting at the line you just made, go down 4 inches and make another line. That is where you are going to cut. You'll roll the jeans up afterward to meet the line above.

Step 4: Take out your scissors and cut across the lowest line.

Step 5: Now measure how long your shortest pant leg is. Mine measured 24 inches.

Step 6: My shortest pant leg measured 24" so, starting from the belt line of the jeans, I measured 24" on the other pant leg, and made a line.

Step 7: Cut across that line you just made.

Step 8: Now, starting from the line you just cut, measure 4" up. Or, start at the belt line and measure the length of the jeans minus 4 inches. Make a line across the jeans there. On the other pant leg there were two lines. These are the same exact measurements for the lines on the first pant leg.

The picture below is how it should look. You can't see the two lines because the highlighter I used was rather faint, but they are there right about where the knee-wrinkles are. :D

Step 9: Take one of the pant legs and roll it up 2 inches (halfway to the line, which is 4 inches above the cut.) Now roll it again to just above the line, so it isn't visible. Repeat on the other leg.

Step 10: You may be tempted to try them on, but if you do, the roll will most likely fall out. So take your safety pins and pin the roll to the jeans from the inside of the jeans. Put one on each side of each pant-leg (there's 4 sides) so the roll doesn't fall out.

Voila! You're done! You've just made a pair of shorts for the summer for probably under $5 instead of spending that much time searching for them at a store and paying $40 for them. Plus, you can make them as modest as you wish. If any of you try it, please let me know!

If these instructions were not clear, please contact me and ask me any questions you have. I am very happy to help!

XOXO,

Kina

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