It may seem silly to have a tutorial on how to make jean shorts. Of course you can always just cut them straight off. But in case you want them to fit more flattering than here is a tutorial for you. You can finish this is under 30 minutes, plus it involves no sewing! 

What you’ll need: 

•Old pair of jeans (baggy is preferred)

•Favorite pair of shorts that you love 

•Chalk or marker 

•Scissors 

•Ruler 

First find an old pair of jeans that you don’t wear anymore. My mom gave me these hand me downs and the style of them wasn’t very flattering on me, plus I live in a warm climate where pants are not often needed.  If you don’t have any old jeans but are interested in trying this, go check out the thrift store or a clothing swap. Look for jeans that a little baggy, you don’t want to use skinny jeans here (unless you like your shorts really tight). 

 

Fold your jeans together so the front is facing you. Then place your favorite shorts (also folded in half, facing front) right on top of the jeans.  Make sure to align the inseam crotch together here.  My jeans are very high waisted and my shorts aren’t, so you’ll see in the below photo that there is a few inches at the top of the jeans – thats ok. 

Measure down an inch from the bottom of your shorts all the way across. You want to measure an inch down because you want to have more fabric to work with in case you don’t like the length of shorts. If you cut too much you can’t take that back. Fill in those marks with chalk using a ruler. Shorts will naturally have a longer inseam than the sides. So you’re going to be drawing your line at a bit of an angle.  

 

Now cut all the way across your chalk line. If it’s to hard to cut through do one leg at a time. Just be careful not to cut through the pockets on the inside.
Now try them on. Do you like the length? If not add your favorite shorts back onto the jeans and trace another line shorter. Or until you find the length you like.
Now to get the frayed look. Throw them in the wash with your next laundry load. You can also pop them in the dryer to get some of the fray.

If any little threads are not to your liking, just cut them off.

Over time as you continue to wear and wash them, the more the fray will start happening. If you want an immediate fray, take your scissors and run them across the hem. Use
caution here to not injure yourself. Alternatively you can use some sandpaper on the hem as well.

Now enjoy your free pair of shorts! Time to celebrate summer!

Wondering what I did with the cut off portion of the pants? Nothing goes to waste here! I made them into a long pillow stuffed with my old fabric scraps.  One side even has a zipper so I can add more as needed. You can check out the video on my Instagram.

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