From Your Closet: SHORTS

Raise your hand if you consider yourself a curvy girl...

Now smack yourself in the back of the head, if you just did that in a crowded room causing strangers to stare. Silly child!

I consider myself a curvy girl and most days proud of it. But I hate shorts/swimsuit season. I am not really a fan of pants in general. (alright pervs, I didn't mean I like to go pantless- I just prefer skirts).

The reason I don't like pants: I, like lots of women, have thighs. Even when I ran and danced regularly, my thighs rubbed together. Does this happen to you- don't raise your hand this time. Well if you have "thigh syndrome" you might also suffer from ripped jeans disease. 

ripped jeans disease: the act of  your jeans rubbing together until the naturally rip.

Sound familiar- yeah me too. 

Nothing worse than your jeans rubbing a threadbare spot then ripping all the way around until your ass practically hangs out. We curvy girls have no desire to allow our asses to hang out of swimsuit, much less our favorite jeans- if you do like this look -that's very slutty of you, for shame.

Therefor this weeks topic/project is gonna kill 2 birds with one stone. 

I am tackling a way to salvage those destroyed jeans by turning them into cute shorts, and I am trying out the popular pinterest activity of decorating them.  

MONDAY

Here goes nothing.
As you can see, these 2 pair of jeans fit me,
( ok I will admit they are snug, I like mine a little looser)- however they are quit unwearable.

Jeans are Buckle = more than I would ever pay for jeans, much let this happen to them.

DISAPPOINTING!!

Photobombed by the fred. 

***Still new at the blogging layout thing. must practice on yall till I figure it out.

Ok, so here is what I have. @ pairs of jeans- neither one really wearable, so lets fix that.

You will need:

sharp scissors

straight edge (ruler)

pencil or tailors chalk  
pinking shears
 

STEP ONE: 

Unlike most the pinterest tutorials, we will not be measuring how long you want them- not yet.

Button jeans and line up front and back waistband.

Lay out jeans, butt side up, as flat as possible. 

 

On one leg-Find the highest spot that the jeans are fraying, line you ruler just above that point.

Angle your ruler up following the yoke seam.

Draw a straight line along the ruler.

Now adjust the other side of your pants, and repeat first step.

STEP TWO:

Make sure your jeans are nice and flat.

Now cut along one line, cutting through both the front and back of your jeans.

Next, fold your jeans back over; the two butts should be face to face.

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT

FOLD JEANS IN HALF AD CUT ALONG ONE OF THE LINES!!!

  You are doing this to check the second line you have drawn.

If your lines match up, cut along the 2nd pencil mark.

 *** If your new shorts do not line up with the second line use the line to make a mark at the hip seam. Unfold jeans and use the ruler and pencil to redraw a line from the frayed spot to the new hip mark.

TAH DAH? Don't get excited we are not finished yet. These are way too short. And you may have noticed the outside seam is slightly shorter, don't worry we are adding a cuff the will fix that!

Step three is for those of us that might want to add a little room to our shorts. If yours fit, I suggest skipping ahead, or continue to read- you might learn something. 

TUESDAY

Now for the third step, adding a decorative panel or just a little room. 

I prefer my shorts to be sorta "boyfriend" style, there for adding a roomy panel is perfect.

STEP THREE:

Using your sharp scissors, cut a 1/2" inch a way from the seam on the back side of the jeans. This guarantees A you do not cut up the side of your pocket and B  you are not trying to cut through multiple layers of denim. Cut all the way threw the waist band.

Do this on both the left and right side using the above directions. 
Next unfold your jeans so that the outsides are facing up.

Next, using one of the discarded legs, cut up the inside seam 3/4 of the way down.
Do Not Cut all the way through the leg and cuff. You will need that area later and it will save you time. 
 

Depending on how much you want to add, this next part may vary for most of you. I am adding about an 1" inch to each side, plus a 1/2 " seam allowance.
***sewing fact: commercial patterns ALMOST always use a 5/8" inch seam allowance. However, if you make your own patterns or use a handmade pattern, a 1/2" seam allowance is needed unless otherwise specified.
Using my "straight edge" and caulk I draw out my 2" strip of denim. 

 

Before Cutting, measure your shorts to make sure your piece will be long enough. You will need 2 the length of your shorts. 

 

Now Cut out the strip.

Now cut your strip into the 2 pieces the length of your shorts.

STEP FOUR:

 

With your shorts face up, lay your new denim strip face down on the back half of your jeans; lining up the edges and secure with straight pins.

Next you will stitch along the edge at 1/2" inch seam allowance removing pins as you go.

** unless your sewing machine is a work horse and you know it won't be affected- do not run over your pins. fishing out broken pins is a pain in the ASS!

**professional sewer tip: if you are left handed,like me, thread your pins with the plastic heads facing on the left side (reverse for you poor simple righties). It will make it easier to pull out as you go and if you miss on at least you won't run over the head. Now if you are using those tiny metal pins with flat head, do yourself a favor and toss them now.

Repeat on other side.

After sewing this should be your result.

Now attach the front! Lay out the insert strip face up, and lay your front half, facing down, on top. Secure with pins and stitch. I would suggest using a smaller seam allowance if you have metal studs on your front pockets like I did. Repeat on other side.

That pretty much concludes adding the extra panel. Obviously, you can insert any fabric in the sides. But I have decorating plans to camouflage those panels later. 

 

WEDNESDAY

I know, I know, I was supposed to post all week long, but after the fourth I took a break. Like people who diet for 5 days then give themselves the weekend off.

 If it makes me sound cool you can all pretend that I needed a weekend to recover after all the partying I did on the 4th. REALITY I sat on my couch with the hubbs and the fred eating hummus and watching a 24 marathon. Can you say lame!?! Whatever I enjoyed it. 

On to the cuffs! 

Yes I did finish these last Wednesday- I had to have some fun shorts for the 4th. I did not, however, get them painted. Maybe later?

STEP FIVE:

Like with all DIY projects, try things on as you go.

otherwise, you spend hours making something that you hate. 

Try on your shorts to make sure they fit and determine low long you want them.  Mine were not as short as I expected so I only added about an inch and a half.

Next, take off your shorts and measure each leg hole. Make sure you pull them tight as you measure.

 And just like you did before, use your straight edge to draw out the right size pieces.
Now remember, you will be rolling your cuffs, so you have to do math.

I wanted my finished cuff to be an 1.5" long, but you have to add 1/2" inch seam allowance plus tucking under the raw edge.

**professional sewer tip: All raw edges should be properly finished to avoid fraying in the washing machine. You can use 

pinking shears or a serger if you have one.

Cutting your cuffs:  Using the width of your pants leg (x 2) and the legth you want your pants, we begin the math. 

example: 12" width x 2 =24 (each leg) + 1" seam allowance

1.5" length + 1/2" seam allowance = 2" x 2 (roll over)= 4"

Remember when doing your measurements, the point of the cuff is to hide the seam created by adding length to your cut offs.

*** If your pants legs are 2 different widths you will need to cut 2 different size pieces -but label them so you don't get confused.

 Using your measurements and the other pants leg, draw out a new strip of denim. Mine was a 4" x 25" strip. You will need two strips.

** professional sew tip: lay your cut out strip on top of the other piece of fabric and pin them together. Your cutting will be much less stress full if you only have to measure once.

Now that you have 2 strips take each one and fold them in half width-wise with the wrong sides together.  pin and stitch a 1/2" away from the edge. This should give you a circle of denim. 

 

With on shorts leg in your hand, take you cuff circle, with right side on the inside, slide it on the shorts leg. Pin the shorts hem and the outside cuff hem with right sides together. Stitch!

 

 

 

Almost Done!!

STEP SIX:

 

 Now we roll. Fold the exposed raw edge under about a half inch- Estimate.

Now fold one more time, with a wider fold. This will be what we see, so make it pretty. 

The cuff edge should line up with the seam along the edge of your shorts.

 I'm not the best photographer, but I tried to get some close-ups. That faint dark denim color change is my seam. I am lining the top of my cuff up with that seam.

Secure your cuff with pins.

Now thread a hand sewing needle with navy thread.
I won't go into the complicated process of threading the needle and trying a knot at the end- I'm sure you can figure it out.

Using a whip stitch, tack cuff every 4-5"; tying off after each tack. I recommend using at least 5 stitches at each tack. Be sure to tack on both side of your side seams- the fabric is bulkier there.

and VOILA!!

 

after the WORLDS LONGEST BLOG EVER! but there you have it, transforming your crappy skanky jeans into fabulous causal shorts.

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!!

later, Taters!