DIY Long Jean Shorts

I’ve been seeing a lot of girls wearing longer jean shorts around this summer (a trend I am happy to support). I noticed my sister sporting some the other day when we went out on the boat, and I fell in love. I’ve never been a fan of short-shorts, and capris have never looked good on me (they make my short legs look even stumpier – not attractive).  So when I saw this new “in-between” trend, I knew I had to give it a try.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an endless supply of money to spend on a new wardrobe every season (and quite honestly, I refuse to pay over $40 for a pair of jeans or shorts). After looking around for these long jean shorts in stores and online, I decided that I could just make myself a pair, thus saving myself the money and aggravation of finding a pair that fits you just the way you like them.

These are the exact shorts I am talking about (I’m not sure if my sister got this brand, but they look like carbon copies, so I went with it). These are called Bushwick’d Jean Shorts from Edge of Urge and run around $58 (not including tax and shipping). If you would rather buy the shorts than make them yourself, you can find the ones above at www.edgeofurge.com.

If, however, you want to try making your own like me, this is how I made mine:

Find a pair of old pants you don’t wear anymore or that you don’t mind cutting up. After putting them on, make a mark just above the knee on one of the pant legs.

Lay the pants out flat and use a ruler to extend the mark into an even line across both pant legs.

Trim off one pant leg at a time, using the line as a guide.

After you have trimmed both pant legs, roll the ends up two times, making a small cuff.

Use a needle and thread to secure the cuffs at four spots around the leg: front, back and once on each side next to the seam (position the needle and thread towards the top of the cuff, it prevents it from unrolling over time).

Finished product! I made a slit on the outside of each pant leg near the seam to allow for more room since the original style of these jeans were “flare” and became restricting around the thy after rolling the cuff. If you also choose to do this, I would recommend using another stitch to hold the edge of the cuff securely against the pant leg.

If you want to give your new shorts a distressed look (assuming the original pants didn’t come that way, like mine), use a pair a scissors and cut a few small incisions strategically on each leg. You can pull at the incisions to open them up more and give them a “ripped” appearance. I’ve also used a small square of sand paper before: run the sandpaper along the incision to rough up the fibers and create more fringe.

The whole process didn’t take me more than an hour. Let me know if you try to make your own as well, what you might have done differently and how they turned out. Enjoy!