Refashion | Upcycled Too Small Vintage Jeans Into Shorts

by Thee Kiss Of Life

refashion upcycled too small vintage jeans into shorts

I bought these DKNY jeans on Ebay because I wanted some higher waist, mom jean looking jeans lol. I failed to realize most vintage denim is smaller than sizes today. They ended up being too small and with almost no give to the denim. It's that thick real denim that barely stretches. The rise is nice though, it's high but not too high.

So I thought I'd make them into shorts and by adding material on the sides, they should fit. While wearing them, I marked with chalk where I wanted to cut for length.

I opened them up on the sides.

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I didn't have golden colored corduroy but I did have a small remnant of black corduroy, just the right length. I really like the textural contrast but my corduroy doesn't stretch so this was not the thing to do...

I found a pair of black stretch jeans and cut panels from the legs. Totally stretchy and comfortable now.

I didn't serge the edges (too thick) I figured it would be okay. I just folded them back and sewed them in place.

They turned out pretty cool and with a much better fit. To further spruce them up I bought a pair of embroidered floral patches to sew on.

I had added floral appliques to a top a while back and I liked the result a lot.

I pinned the applique on where I wanted it or so I thought I wanted it...

I didn't end up sewing it on just yet. I figure I can add them on after I've worn the shorts plainly a few times. Honestly there's a lot you can do with sort of setup/refashion. I've seen people do multiple stripes with ribbon or inserting floral fabrics. You can get really creative with it but most importantly they'll fit much much better.

☮♥♻

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Rachel Jonas on Jan 17, 2021

Such a great idea, even if your jeans are not too small :)

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Refashion | Upcycled Too Small Vintage Jeans Into Shorts

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