Beach and Summer Ready Ruched Shorts

Tools and materials:

• Dress
• Scissors
• Pants that fit

Cut out the fabric 

The first thing to do is to cut off the top of the dress. Once you’re left with just the bottom, turn it inside out and place it down. Take a pair of well-fitting pants and place them on the edge of the dress (with the back facing up) and cut. Make sure to turn the pants over to get a front and back piece. 

Connect the pieces 

Pin the two pieces together, right sides touching, and sew a straight stitch down the crotch area. Next, hem the bottom of the pants if needed (I had to turn the fabric over for the front piece so one side needed to be hemmed). Once that’s done, place the pieces right sides together and line up the seams. (Seam rip the top hem of the shorts so that you can finish off the side seams). 

Insert the elastic 

Using some elastic, measure around your waist to find a comfortable fit (make sure it can also fit over your butt and thighs when stretched out so that it doesn’t get stuck). After you’ve cut out your elastic, fold the top of your shorts over twice to create the casing and sew it down. Remember to leave an opening that is wide enough to feed your elastic through and a gap to insert it. Next, insert the elastic by using a paper clip and feed it through the casing until it comes out the other end. Once the elastic comes out the other end, connect the two pieces with a zigzag stitch. Finally, remember to close the go using a straight stitch. 

Add the ruches effect 

You could stop here, or you can continue to make the shorts ruched as I did. To create this effect, cut out two strips from the excess fabric of the dress. Pin it down about halfway down the shorts and sew it with three straight stitches; one in the middle, and two more, one on each side - creating two canals. Next, cut out two more ten-inch long strips and fold them over, right sides together. Sew to secure. Connect a safety pin to the ten-inch strips and insert them through the canal. 

I’m so happy with how these DIY ruched shorts came out. They are the perfect thing to wear to the beach. Light, pretty, and summery! I paired it with a simple tube top and so excited to wear this on the sand or next to the pool!