Cutting jeans into shorts (7 easy ideas)

When you think of making a new garment – you know it is work! Buying fabric, prepping it, measuring the body, marking the pattern, cutting and then sewing it – all this without making a mess of the whole thing. What if you can get an item of entirely new clothing without all these hullabaloos. Just cut something and you have an absolutely delightful new clothing- introducing the cut off jean shorts.

As if a cut off jean shorts needs an introduction! Everyone knows how to cut old jeans and make them into shorts. But I have something different up my, ahem, jeans hem.

There are some nice ways to jazz up the cut off jeans to make it look slightly different than all the other same-old-indigo-coloured-jeans you are cutting. You don’t want to seem as if you are wearing the same shorts everyday.

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Related posts : Denim jean jacket decorating designs; Jeans modifications; How to fix tight pants. ; How to adjust clothes ; How to take up jeans; How to make jeans skirt from old jeans ; How to rip knees in jeans ; And finally What to do with jeans that are too big that it is useless – Old jeans recycle ideas.

How to cut up jean shorts

You can choose to make the simplest pair of denim cut-off shorts – just cut off the legs of a jeans – choose jeans which is not the slim fit kind – slightly loose-fitting ones will make comfortable summer shorts that the tight-fitting jeans. Loose fitting Boyfriend jeans are ideal for this because their loose fit makes for relaxed and comfy shorts.

If the shorts are very short you can even use the slim fit jeans to make your cut off shorts

Cut straight or at an angle – it is your choice. A very short one is better cut at an angle.

The easy Ideas for cut-offs that I claimed I know are as follows:

• Cut off Shorts with Fringed hem

  
  

The fringed hem is the most common finish seen in jean shorts – for one, it is easy to make; next thing is it looks very cool and casual.

To bring out this easy hem, you have to cut the jeans at the length you want, plus some 1 inch extra or so for the fringe. Now make a stitching line along the area where you want the fringes to begin.

The below given is a store bought fringed jean short- here the stitching line is made with the same orange topstitching thread of the jeans

I have made my stitching line in a black colored thread. Now use the seam ripper to take out the white thread that lies horizontally across the jean hem – the blue vertical thread remaining will form the fringe.

The horizontal stitching line will prevent over fraying beyond the line – even with repeated washes.

You may want to loosen the side seams of the jeans at the bottom edge after the stitching line to make the fringes at the side seam- or even cut it off if you are lazy to do this part or just leave it as it is. After a few washes and tumbles in the washing machine the fray will start to look as worn out as you want it to be.

• Denim cutoffs with Eyelet hem

  
  

This is a very easy way to roughen up your girly jeans – simply add metal hardware. So easy to insert.

Make the smallest hole you can make to insert the eyelets or grommets and use a rubber mallet or special grommet tool to fix it in place.

Here is a tutorial that explains about the tools that you can use to attach the metal grommets on fabric.

Leave the hem as it is for a rough look.

You may want to add some rips here and there for a tougher look. Use the seam ripper to take out the vertical thread in places leaving the white thread of the denim intact.

Make more vertical rips like this.

The girly look is totally gone – what to do with the pink button?. Replace the jeans button to a rugged one.

• Cuffed hem

  
  

This involves making a separate cuff or a self cuff with the hem turned to the front and stitched in place.

To make a separate cuff attach a printed or contrasting coloured fabric strip along the bottom edge and turn to the front and stitch in place.

Instead of stitching the cuff in place just make a bar tack stitch at the side seams after folding the hem.

• Bleached to a lighter shade

  
  You can use bleach to turn the boring (I don’t think so, but maybe you do) indigo colour of the jean shorts to a lighter one – Just dilute the bleach with water and keep the shorts in it for some time.
• If you want an uneven bleached effect on the jeans shorts, you can spray more bleach on selective places.

As an alternative just make the bleach marks in selective places in the shape you want by stamping the shorts with stamps dipped in bleach. Learn more about using bleach on jeans.

• Lace attached hem for the cut-off jeans

  
  
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Here lace is added to pretty up the hem of the jeans cut off shorts.

• Ribbon on the side seam

  
  

Add an interesting strip of fabric or grosgrain ribbon along the outer side seam of the shorts.

• Seriously mangled ( I mean ripped) shorts

  
  

Roughen up your jeans a lot more and you have this very distressed jean shorts. Check out this post “Achieving the Distressed Jean Style” and “How to rip your jeans without removing the white thread” for some ideas on how to do it.

For a vacation trip to a beach resort, we needed some shorts – what better way for a lazy person like me than to cut off old jeans which have all gone short or out of fashion or just tired of being the same color as the newly bought jean. Many birds with the same stone.

Which one is your favourite?

Related Posts : All types of shorts; Men’s Boxer Shorts – Pattern & tutorial; History of jeans – a timeline; How to embellish your jeans – 18 different ways; Embroidered Jeans – DIY tutorial – and the best positions for embroidery.