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| A great weekend project. Cut off shorts decorated with leftover trims from other projects |
DIY embellished shorts. I've been wanting to do something like this since Dolce and Gabbana, came out with those beautiful embellished jeans. Just do a search in the internet and you will see millions of design ideas. This is just my version, in shorts and made with scraps. So the cost was low. I just went to a second hand store and found a "boyfriend" jean, the cost was $6, and the rest I had at home from previous projects.
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| Fast and not difficult at all. Best of all there is still lots of warm days to show off and wear your new creation. |
You will need:
a "boyfriend" jean or shorts
different trimmings, patches, rick rack, lace, embroidered patches, quilting scrap
rhinestones and shiny metal (optional)
embroidery thread in different colors
embroidery needles
scissors
fabric glue
sewing needles and thread
sewing machine
pins
chalk
Kitchen grater, or zester (for aging fabric, optional)
I chose a jean that already had some metal decorations on it, lucky me that's a bonus. The first thing to do is cut the jean at a desired length, so you want to cut it on an angle, from the inner thigh to the outer thigh, then try it out and adjust the length. I like mine a little longer, but that is up to you.
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| Cut the jean at an angle moving from the inner thigh up towards the outer thigh |
If you have a sewing machine you may want to stitch a zigzag to the bottom of the shorts. Or finish with a nice hem if you are looking for a more glam look. Next, lets decorate! Get your fabric glue out and your trims...
If you want to distress the jean you may do so now, it may be easier before you glue your trims. I cut little holes in the jean and then used a pin to fray the holes. I also used a kitchen grater to "scratch" the surface of the fabric. Now place the trims. Once you have a design that you like glue or hand stitch your trims. I did both, first I glued them and once they were dry I hand stitched them with your regular needle and thread. Decorate stitching will come later...
When living in Spain, friends and I would laugh because we all loved the store "Desigual" (which actually means uneven, not identical), but it is pricey, so we would go to the gypsy market and get knock-offs for €12-15. We would be so proud of our finds, and when someone asked, "is this from Desigual?" we would answer, "no, this is from Casi Igual "(which means almost identical) and laughed (Andalusian sense of humor). Anyway, my point is, that this store, and Pinterest are other sources of inspiration.
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| I aged and ripped the fabric with a kitchen grater and scissors then frayed the edges with a pin. Now I was ready to try different layouts with trims I had at home, one was long enough to go around the short's waist. |
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| Decisions, decisions... I went for the color red since I had more of these trimmings. |
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| Once I applied the trimmings, I began the decorative stitching. I drew circles and began stitching |
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| One word of advice, pick colors that actually stand out, as you can see here blue does nothing for denim.You can barely see it. |
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| Recognize the red and cream trim? It was from another DIY project. The red embroidered patch came from a cheap manton bought at a Euro store. |
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| Decorative stitching over a patched hole. |
