How to Turn Jeans into Shorts
Mens Jean Shorts
To turn your jeans into shorts you first want to pick a pair of jeans that fit best for the job. Keep in mind baggy jeans will make baggy shorts, while skinny jeans will make skinny shorts. Pre-wash your jeans and then put them on to make parks with chalk on where you want to cut. Once cut you can hem, cuff, distress or fray to your personal preferences.
This is How to Turn Jeans into Shorts: Men’s Guide.
Welcome to our article that will take you step-by-step through learning how to cut jeans into shorts. Once you have created the basic jean shorts, there are a handful of options to alter your shorts even more by scuffing, bleaching, grating and other forms or distressing your jean shorts.
How to Turn Jeans into Shorts
- Choose a pair of jeans to turn into shorts. The best jeans to choose will fit you comfortably on the hips, butt and thighs. Baggy jeans will become baggy shorts, and tight jeans will be tight shorts.
- Suppose you’re converting a pair of jeans you’ve barely worn or that have never been washed, run them through the washer and dryer before cutting them off. This will pre-shrink the jeans so they won’t end up shorter than you want them to be.
- Put the jeans on and use chalk or a safety pin to mark where on the jeans you plan to cut them off: at the calves, knees, mid-thighs, or upper thighs. Remove the jeans before cutting once you’ve marked the spot.
- Lay the jeans on a flat surface. The kitchen table, sewing table or floor will work.
- Align a ruler with the cut-off mark that you made. Tilt it slightly up toward the outer part of the jeans. Lightly trace the cutting path with chalk. Repeat with the other leg.
- Carefully cut in a straight line along the path you traced.
- Try the shorts on. Consider that an extra inch or a few inches will be shorter once you have hemmed & cuffed them.
- Your jean shorts are ready to wear.
How to Turn Jeans into Shorts: Tip
If you need to put on a belt to keep your jeans up, I wouldn’t suggest using these jeans for your jean shorts.
Tailoring your Jean Shorts
- If you want to prevent excess fraying or prefer not to have a line of fringe around the bottom of the shorts, you’ll need to hem the jean shorts to prevent the fabric from unweaving.
- If you want to cuff the jean shorts, you should still stitch around the edge to prevent them from fraying too much.
- If you’re going for the classic fringe look, it’s time to throw your shorts in the wash. Put them through the regular wash and dry cycle to produce a nice line of fringe.
- Distress your jean shorts using sandpaper, a cheese grater or steel wool to “destroy” them.
- Cut slits in the front of your jeans with a pair of scissors or an Exacto-knife.
- Bleach your shorts and make a bleached pattern to lighten certain areas, or bleach your new shorts completely white.
- Fray your jean shorts by grabbing a razor, sandpaper and tweezers and follow the articles steps.
- To soften your jean shorts you have multiple options from washing them in vinegar to wearing them 24/7.
How to Turn Jeans into Shorts FAQ
Yes, you can cut your jeans and turn them into shorts. We call these jean shorts. It is a simple DIY process that only needs a pair of jeans, chalk and scissors.
There are multiple lengths you can cut your jeans. It all depends on what style you are going for? The two most common for men are the Bermudas that go to your knee and Classic jean shorts that are 5-7 inches long.
