Saturday, March 23, 2013

DIY: Jeans To Shorts

 
Geez Kid's are expensive!!! 
 
 How can anyone spend so much for a pair of jeans and the kid only wears them for a few months
and not be upset about it?
 
 The seasons change and by the time it's cool again for jeans they are too tall.
Having 3 kids I have had to come up with some frugal solutions to all this unnecessary spending.
 
I usually donate my kids old clothes to goodwill when they have outgrown them but sometimes I feel like they could get some extra use out of them so I can really get my money's worth.
I have decided to try to stretch these jeans out for another season of wear. These particular jeans still fit great in the waist and since warmer weather is coming I thought I would chop them off into shorts.
Instead of the ragged look I thought I would try to make them a little neater.
 
I started out with 2 pairs of skinny jeans . They have a little stretch to them but I don't think that will make a huge difference in anything I will be doing.
 

I first had my daughter try them on and I just simply marked just below the knee with an ink pen.
 
This marks where to cut.
I chose just below the knee because I would like these shorts to be just above the knee to accommodate school dress code.
 
Fold the jeans front facing inward where you can make sure the lines match up on each leg. 

 
 
 
I just cut both legs at the same time making sure to keep them as even as possible.
I am never perfect at anything so it is just as fun to be uneven sometimes!

 
 
 
 I folded each leg up 2 times and then ironed it down to hold the fold down for me.
It worked perfectly. Do I need to remind you I am no crafter?
I am probably not doing this the best way but whatever....
So I used a little piece of stitch witchery - I think that what its called-
for the long part of the hem. It looks like tape... but you iron it.... Is that what it's called?
Anyway... so I used that for the long part of the hem and ironed it down. Maybe it will stay for a little while. I put just a couple little stitches on the edges just to keep it from unfolding.
 
 
See Where I tried to hide the stitches under the seam?
 
So I did both pairs exactly the same. Here she is trying on the blue ones. They fit perfectly above the knee. I don't think the teachers will have a problem with that!
 
  
 
 

Looks like they lined up nicely and the hems are laying flat very well.
She loves them and says it is just having a new pair of shorts.
My kids are so easy to please! 



So 2 new pairs of shorts for the cost of a couple piece hem tape stuff....
What is that stuff called????


So what do we do with these arm warmers?
 



3 comments:

  1. Funnily I do craft and sew and usually I just cut my kids ragged! Hahah...I always mean to hem them and never do! Great idea to extend there life and give your daughter some more time with them!

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  2. Yes kids are soooo expensive! What a cute idea! How did our parents do it?

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    1. I have no idea how my parents made it. I was the youngest of 5!!

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