Sew Shorts From Jeans

My kids always get new jeans as part of their school clothes and they usually last up until right before Spring. When I say they last, I mean the knees finally give way to holes by that time. I don't know why but we are rough on the knees of our jeans, especially the kids. So for years I have used the springtime as my time to sit down and cut those jeans off and make Bermuda shorts out of them. I usually get three pair of shorts for each child and those become their "play" shorts so that the new shorts I buy them stay looking 'fresh' until the fall. This is a great way to get the most for your money and make something cute that your kids will love. I enjoy sewing so it's good for everyone. This is so easy I don't even need to measure them or have them nearby to do this. They always wear out the knee so I fold the jeans over so that both legs are stacked on top of each other and make sure the ends all meet. Then I cut straight across the knee just slightly above the hole in the knee. I use those denim scraps to make cute hair bows or patches for other things. Now that I have the jeans cut off I warm up my iron and fold the hem up to sew. I either roll the hem up on the outside of the jeans (like cuffs) two times and iron the cuff down smooth to make sewing straight easy. The other option is to turn the jeans inside out and fold a hem down one time and iron that hem flat. This type of hem leaves no cuff on the outside and looks like your usually Bermuda shorts. It is also easier to sew through on the sewing machine if you happen to use a standard needle for most of your projects and don't want to change out needles. I don't like changing needles. :) I did some of both for the girls. My youngest girl just looks cute in the cuffed shorts and my oldest likes the sleek easy hem on hers. Once I have ironed those hems flat, I just sit down at my sewing machine and use the marked plate with lines on it to make sure I am sewing straight and sew around the hems to finish off the shorts. And that is really it! I decided to make some little belts out of the cute scrap leftover materials I have so many of and in the picture above you see the red belt I made for Willow on her cuffed shorts. She was so happy with these especially because I made them out of a favorite pair of jeans she could not wear anymore. I have all of their jeans hemmed into shorts now but over the next few days I will make several different belts for them to change out. I had planned to sew the fabric around the bottom cuffs of the shorts to make them cute but then that would make them less versatile depending on what shirt they were wearing so I decided to make several belts and let them mix and match everything. Girls like doing that. So don't throw those old holey jeans out, make cute shorts out of them!! You can do this for yourself too. Everyone looks good in a pair of Bermuda shorts.

#sewshortsfromjeans #repurposejeans