Trendy Legs
  • Home
  • Tights
  • Leggings
  • Socks
  • Jeans
  • Shorts
  • Guides
  • Blog
What's Hot

What are Board Shorts? (2023!) : A Guide to this Popular Swimwear

What are Bermuda Shorts? (2023!) | Best Bermuda Shorts for Summer

How to Measure an Inseam for Kids? – Just a Few Simple Steps!

Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trendy Legs
  • Home
  • Tights
  • Leggings
  • Socks
  • Jeans
  • Shorts
  • Guides
  • Blog
Trendy Legs
Shorts

How To Distress Jean Shorts? : Super Easy Ways for Distressing Your Own Pair of Jeans

By Sophia Ferragni
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email
How To Distress Jean Shorts
How To Distress Jean Shorts?
“Please note that this post may contain affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward us a small commission – at no extra cost for you.” Details

How To Distress Jean Shorts In 6 Easy Steps? – (2023 Guide)

Cut off shorts are a summer staple. They seem to be everywhere in retail stores, on TV or on your favourite fans. You can turn your old jeans into a pair of cute destroyed shorts in just a few minutes by using a shape pair of scissors able to easily cut through denim and then you’ll obtain a cut-off pair of shorts without spending a penny. If you want to avoid using scissors, you can use a pair of tweezers or an old razer.

Using these very minimal materials allow you to easily distress jean shorts and customize them according to your needs.

If you want short shorts, you can create them yourself and if you want long shorts, you can also re-invent them yourself. It really depends on your goal and personal style.

With store-bought high-waisted destroyed denim shorts, you are limited to the styles you find there. However, When you cut up your jean shorts alone, you have a wider style selection. You can create them from any pair of denim jeans without spending a penny.

However, creating your own cut off shorts requires a bit of work. So keep reading our article to know how to distress jean shorts?.

Jump To Section: hide
How do You Distress Jean Shorts?
The Hem Style
STEP1: Begin Cutting Your Jeans
1/ Find an Old Pair of Jeans
2/ Cut Your Jeans Using Existing Shorts As a Template
3/ Fold Your Jeans in Half and Cut The Other Leg Equally
4/ Make Chalk Marks Where You Want Slits To Be
STEP2: Create Worn Areas
STEP3: Distress The Pockets
STEP4: Don’t Forget The Backside
STEP5: Fray The Legs of The Shorts
STEP6: Throw Your Shorts in The Washer and Dryer on Low

How do You Distress Jean Shorts?

The first step is choosing your beginning fabric. There are two basic options for creating cut off shorts.

You can grab a pair of your old jeans to turn them into shorts or purchase denim pants from the thrift store and give them a new life. Measure how long you want them to reach from your waist to where you want them to hit

  • For Bermuda Shorts, you cut them off just above the knee.
  • For Short Shorts, you cut them off one to two inches below the bottom line of your buttocks.
  • For Chino Shorts, you can cut to about mid-thigh.
  • You can turn a pair of denim jeans into pedal pushers or culottes by cutting off about six to seven inches of fabric It all depends on your goal and personal style

The Hem Style

A good starting point is to make your first decision whether do you want your frayed edge cut to show? or do you want to roll the Jeans up to create a Hem?

You can fold them under and hem them to create a Bermuda short look or you can create a one-inch fold on the outside then fold it a second time so none of the frays show, otherwise, you’ll have shorts with the cut off look.

STEP1: Begin Cutting Your Jeans

1/ Find an Old Pair of Jeans

The easiest way to create cut off shorts without spending too much money is to use an old pair of jeans that you don’t normally wear anymore and instead of throwing them away, you can give them a new life by cutting them and reusing them as cut-offs.

If you’re not willing to cut one of your old jeans as you feel bad about cutting up, you can purchase denim pants from the thrift store or from discount clothing shops and turn them into cute cutoff shorts

And if you have an intimate friend of yours who is the same size as you and she may have jeans she doesn’t use you may consider asking her to donate them.

2/ Cut Your Jeans Using Existing Shorts As a Template

To create cut off shorts, you’ll start with determining the length. It’s best to use an existing pair of shorts as a template. Straighten out your jean legs and place the shorts over top. This will give you a visual template of how length to cut your shorts.

After marking the length, try to follow these instructions. Cut an inch below the shorts template mark to give you enough material to make your frays and slits with.

  • Cut your jeans with the side seam facing you.
  • Be careful, you should pay attention to the jeans’ pockets otherwise you cut them up.
  • You can use garment chalk to help trace your cutting line properly and avoid any mistakes.

3/ Fold Your Jeans in Half and Cut The Other Leg Equally

You can use the shorts template for one leg. After that mark the length where you would like your cuts to be, using a garment chalk. Then fold the jeans over in half and use the cut leg as a template for the uncut leg. This helps ensure that your legs are both the same length.

4/ Make Chalk Marks Where You Want Slits To Be

This is the key to a great-looking pair of cut off shorts. Most tutorials suggest planning out your cuts on your denim shorts using a piece of garment chalk. before confirming your decisions with scissors or a knife, By this way, it will give you time to think before you take the final plunge and hence avoid any mistakes:

STEP2: Create Worn Areas

Before creating worn areas, you should decide where you want your worn-out holes to be

Then place a magazine in between the pant leg of the shorts (this will make sure any cuts you make are on one side)

After that make chalk marks where you want slits to be, if you have already marked them, take scissors and cut into the fabric.

Slits can be as abundant as you would like them to be start by cutting a series of small slits about a centimeter or two apart. The more slits you cut out and the longer you make them will dictate how large the worn-out hole’ll be.

You’ll notice that within the weave of the denim short itself, there are vertical blue threads as well as horizontal white threads. Between the cuts or the slits that you have already created, use your tweezers to grab a vertical blue thread and gently pull it out

Finally, remove all of the vertical blue threads within the cuts you have made to reveal only the horizontal white threads. Be patient with this process, it does seem a little tedious at first. But with some patience, you’ll succeed in leaving a perfectly distressed hole in your shorts.

All what you have to do now is to repeat the same process, with the same patience until you have created as many holes as you want

STEP3: Distress The Pockets

In order to achieve a more authentic worn-in look, it’s advisable to distress the pockets of your high waisted denim shorts.

The process isn’t hard to do, on the contrary, it’s very easy just cut up the very top of the front pockets to reveal or show the threads, then Drag your old razor against the threads to create a subtle fray – After that and as a final step use your tweezers to pull out extra threads if you really want a more dramatic fray

STEP4: Don’t Forget The Backside

We can repeat the same process that we have done for the Shorts’ front pockets to distress the pockets of the Backside by this way, you achieve a more attractive worn-in look.

STEP5: Fray The Legs of The Shorts

Now, it’s time to drag your old razor along the cut edges of your shorts much like you did for distressing the pockets.

STEP6: Throw Your Shorts in The Washer and Dryer on Low

It’s up to you, to go for this last step or not but anyway throwing your shorts in the washing machine and drying it into the dryer on low, will give your new shorts a more destroyed look, it can also help remove the marks you made and any extra threads and dirt accumulated throughout the process.

We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on this article. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.Sophia
Sophia Ferragni
  • Website
  • Pinterest

Sophia is a fashion-savvy and imaginative writer who has a penchant for staying up-to-date with the latest trends. As Trendy Legs' lead writer, she meticulously selects the most fashionable legwear and footwear for men and women. Sophia's fashion expertise and innovative approach drive her quest for the most alluring products to offer her customers.

Related Posts

What to Wear With Pink Shorts? | Best Wearing Pink Outfit Ideas 2023

What To Wear With Gray Shorts? | Grey Shorts Outfit Ideas 2023

What Goes With Blue Shorts? – Best Blue Shorts Outfit Ideas“

Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Don't Miss
Jeans

How To Cut Jeans Into Shorts at Home? – Easy 5-Step Process

Do you think that cut-off denim shorts will give your wardrobe the glow-up it needs?…

How To Shorten Jeans? #5 Best and Easy Ways to Hem & Shorten your Jeans

What to Wear With Pink Shorts? | Best Wearing Pink Outfit Ideas 2023

What To Wear With Gray Shorts? | Grey Shorts Outfit Ideas 2023

LET’S CONNECT!
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
Disclosures:

At TrendyLegs, we offer unbiased reviews based on expert research and analysis. We strive for transparency, and any commissions earned through affiliate links do not influence our recommendations, Details. Our goal is to assist you in making informed purchasing decisions. Check out our FAQ for more information and see our full disclaimer for details.

Affiliate Disclosure:

Trendy Legs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon, the amazon logo, Amazonsupply, and the Amazonsupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, INC. Or its affiliates. As an amazon associate we earn affiliate commissions from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2023 Trendy Legs | All Right Reserved.
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Disclaimer
  • FAQs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Sitemap

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.