How to Make Shorts Into a Skirt - Easy & Fun DIY Tutorial

Tools and materials:

• Shorts
• Fabric chalk
• Scissors
• Denim fabric scraps
• Sewing machine
• Pins

My denim shorts have seen better days. Girls, can you relate? I know I’m not the only one who suffers with this problem! So, this is also a great hack of how to fix holes in jeans’ inner thighs by turning your jeans or denim shorts into a skirt.

1. Mark the new end of the jean shorts

First, put on your pair of denim shorts (this could also work for a pair of jeans) and mark roughly around your crotch area. This is where the top part of the skirt will now end.

2. Extend the marks

Draw a curved line to extend the original marking, and use a measuring tape to check that it’s even on both sides. Also, check the back because you don’t want to cut through the back pockets.

3. Cut the fabric

Cut along the line you just marked.

4. Create a circle of fabric

Next, find a strip of fabric to use for the ruffled bottom part. It doesn’t matter if your scrap is a lot longer than the circumference of your skirt top, as you’ll be gathering the fabric to create ruffles.

I used some denim from a different pair of jeans, but you could use any fabric for this. My piece was about 80 inches long and 6 inches wide. Sew the ends together to create a circle of fabric.

5. Attach the circle of fabric to the skirt

Turn the top skirt inside out. Pin the circle of fabric to the top of the skirt, right sides together, starting with the two side seams. That way, there is an equal amount of gathers at the front and back.

6. Create the gathers

I create the gathers as I sew, by pinching the fabric and holding the gathers down with my hand. You could pin them first if you prefer.

7. Press and topstitch (optional)

Finally, iron along this seam and topstitch for a clean finish. I didn’t feel like adding the topstitch, so I just ironed to press the seam.

DIY denim jeans to skirt tutorial

Here is my finished DIY denim skirt with a ruffle! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make shorts into a skirt. Let me know your thoughts on this tutorial and the final product in the comments below. Thanks for joining!