High Waisted Jean Short Cutoff DIY

Who's ready for another Weekend DIY?! If you saw my last post, you know I went thrifting with Aaron while he was up here last week, and I found the perfect pair of high waisted jeans for $4! I was actually really surprised to find so many pairs of jeans at the thrift store, but these were the only pair that actually fit comfortably and since this was my first time making cut offs, I thought 1 pair would be a good starting point.

The jeans I bought from the thrift store were $4 Faded Glory jeans. The problem I didn't think about when I bought them was the fact that they're stretch jeans. Now, this isn't a HUGE issue, but the end result will be slightly altered. Since they're stretch jeans, the elastic woven into the jeans make it harder to tear up AND once you cut them off, they sort of suck to your legs and roll. BUT like I said, not life altering! In my case, I've been losing so much weight in the past few months, that in a week, they won't suck to my legs! :D

Now then. I did some research before I just took a pair of scissors to these jeans. I wanted to make sure there wasn't some magical PERFECT way to do this before I just went all hackjob on it. But the truth is, there is no perfect way to do this. 

What you'll need:

High waisted jeans from a thrift store
Scissors
Tweezers
Xacto knife
Marker
Grater
Patience. Lots and LOTS of patience (you'll see why)

First off - Put them jeans on!

Wearing the jeans while you measure will ensure that you don't cut them off too short! I mean, we're trying to make some Daisy Dukes here, but we don't want a redneck thong. . . 

NOT WHAT WE WANT!!

When you have the jeans on, take the marker and lightly draw how short you would like your shorts. I kept mine a little longer in the back and shorter in the front. A good rule of thumb that I found when looking for some help on this was to keep at least 2 inches of fabric from the seam in the crotch region. Down the outside seam, I measured about 16 inches.

                                    

My marks for measurement (2 inch inseam 16 inch outer-seam)

When you cut the majority of the jeans off, cut a little below your measurements JUST TO BE SAFE! Put the jeans back on and draw the exact lines you'll want to cut for the actual shape of the shorts you're wanting. 

After you've got the measurement you want, take the shorts off and grab the scissors. Cut along your measurement lines and be sure to keep to the lines! Pro Tip! If you're worried about the shorts being even, cut one side and fold the shorts over to copy the line onto the other leg. BOOM! Even lines for both legs of the shorts! 

BEHOLD! You made it through the hardest part! Now we get to move on to the fun part! Distressing the shorts! Now, I won't lie, this was something I'm COMPLETELY clueless on. Luckily, there's plenty of hacks on the internet that helped me make it through! Like this American Eagle guide to distressing I found on Pintrest!

The two methods I used in this process were the Xacto knife method and the Grater method. 

The Grater Method:

Enjoy this poorly done video! 

This is just to show the "method"...if you can call it that? Basically, gather the raw ends up in your hand, kinda layer it randomly in you hand like so...

Once you've got a good grasp on it, run the grater over it in a semi rough manner. You'll see the ends start to fray. Now, don't go overboard! Remember, with time and laundry cycles, they'll become more and more distressed. 

With grating (left) vs. raw cut (right)

The Xacto Knife Method:

This is where the required patience comes into play...

To use the Xacto method...well, it will challenge your sanity. . . 

First, pick the spot you'd like to have that classic "rip" in your jeans. For me, I placed it on the back butt pockets. The jeans are pretty short and showing enough skin for my taste, but I still wanted some rips in them. SO, for this method, you'll need to make two slits. This will make up the length of the rip you're wanting to make. 

Once you've got the slits made, use the tweezers to pull out the woven blue threads. Like I said, patience is KEY here. depending how large you made or want your rips, the longer you'll be pulling threads. . . and it's not as easy as you think! Very time consuming and irritating!!! But it's worth the end result! 

Here's what my rips turned out looking like! 

This is where I pretty much called it quits for the day! I roughed up the label and thick seams with the grater, but never went crazy anywhere. I saw somewhere that throwing them in the dryer for a couple minutes would help fray the edges up nicely, so I might try that and post an update about it...But as of now, I think they turned out pretty great! I'm looking forward to thrifting some more and finding another pair! Maybe some thicker denim?? If I could get my hands on some old school Levi's, I'd be ecstatic! I'm excited to wear these when it gets warmer! Just putting them on with my boots made me ready for music festivals! HURRY UP SUMMER!!!!! 

Are you planning on making your own cut offs? Excited for summer?! Lets start some comments down below y'all!!! :D