How to Properly Cut Jeans into Shorts

Here’s another fun way to up-cycle your clothing!!  I can’t count how many times this trick has saved me. Just to give you an idea let’s just say last year I didn’t go shopping for shorts all summer long. Our little guy just wore the shorts I made from the jeans he grew out of.  In my case I don’t grow out of clothing much but, I feel like it’s easier for me to find pants that fit nicer around the top then it is shorts.  With that said I’ve used this trick not just on worn out jeans but on pants I specifically bought to turn into shorts as well. 😁

LOL Can you tell they’re just a little short on him!

I feel like once he hit age 6 I can’t keep up with his closet! He’s growing way to quick. His t-shirts from the beginning of the school year literally look like crop tops on him. THANK GOD for walmart! I get the best deals on their basic tees.

You can use this trick on any fabric. If you have a cute pair of trousers you want made into shorts. Give it a try! 😊

Before we jump into this tutorial. If you want to learn more about sewing this is a 5 part series where I teach you the most basic clothing alterations coming from a professional seamstress. Here’s what else goes in this series.

1. How to hem a dress
2. How to hem sleeves
3. How to hem pants
4. How to fix ripped jeans
5. How to cut jeans into shorts

Here’s the quick 7 minute video to teach you all five

What to watch out for

I’ve seen many tutorials on shortening pants. Some of these tutorials showed cutting each pant leg separate. All I can say is throughout the whole time I worked as a professional seamstress at a fast paced dry cleaners I’ve never seen or was trained to do that.  In fact I got in trouble for trying to do that once. LOL🙈 (first day on the job). Keep in mind the only time you’ll be cutting the pant legs separate is if  you know for sure the customer or you have different length legs.  Most pants come factory made almost identical in length so the best and easiest way to shorten pants is to cut them both at the same time. If the fabric is to thick than you can cut one pant leg at a time but it would need to be marked the same before cutting. Also there’s an important key factor on how to lay them properly before cutting. To get the most accurate cut follow the instructions below.

What you’ll need

• Scissors
• ruler or yard stick if you’ll be working on adult jeans
• chalk
• sewing machine
• pins
• pants

To mark how long you want the shorts make sure and pin your length while he/she is wearing them. As you can see these pants were in rough condition. The knees are worn out and they’re full of stains. Perfect for summer shorts around the house.  LOL I know the pin is a little to high but, Oleg insisted he wanted them that short. 😐  Once you have your length pinned use some chalk to mark it.

Step 1 – Lay it them out right!

This project should take about about 10-15 minutes to complete. Okay let’s do this. To begin start by lining up your side seams.

Step 2 – Marking your Length

To mark your length use your ruler or yard stick to measure from the bottom up.  Where ever you pinned and marked previously should be the amount you need to mark on both sides.

Then connect both markings to make one solid line and add an additional 3/4″ for the seam allowance.

Step 3 – Cutting your Jeans

Following that cut your jeans at your seam allowance line. (bottom line) My scissors were strong enough to cut two layers at once. If your scissors aren’t heavy duty you’ll need to cut one at a time but make sure they’re marked to insure accuracy.

Step 4 – Completing your shorts!

Okay and the last step is finishing off the edges. Fold the edges in twice about 1/2 an inch and give them a stitch with your sewing machine like shown in the photo below.

That’s it! Pretty easy right?

I hope this tutorial taught you something helpful.  Feel free to ask questions in the comments below! 😀

If you want to learn more about sewing this is a 5 part series where I teach you the most basic clothing alterations coming from a professional seamstress. Here’s what else goes in this series.

1. How to hem a dress
2. How to hem sleeves
3. How to hem pants
4. How to fix ripped jeans
5. How to cut jeans into shorts