DIY Criss-Cross Shorts ⋆ Lily Sparkle Creations

How to turn old jeans into cute criss-cross shorts

Having a cute pair of shorts or daisy dukes for the summer is a must! It is even better when you have a set pair of shorts to wear over your swimsuit when going to the pool, or if your lucky, the beach (what I wouldn’t give to live by a beach). There is a beauty to making your own pair of shorts. You can control the length, style, and even the wash! With the gap you create on the side of these shorts, you can even control the fit.

In this tutorial, I will show how I took an old pair of jeans and transformed them into a cute pair of beach-ready shorts. ll you need is a pair of jeans that you don’t mind cutting up – or go get some second hand at your local goodwill store, a few basic sewing

supplies, and about an hour to spare.

Supplies:

– Pair of jeans

– Scissors

-Measuring Tape

-Sewing machine or thread and a needle

– Tan or white thread

– Seam Ripper

-Chalk (Optiona

-Pair of shorts for comparison (optional)

-Serger (optional)

Step 1:

The first step is to measure how long you want your shorts to be. A good way to do this is to pull out your favorite pair of shorts and measure both the inseam and the outer seam to the bottom of the shorts. Then on your pants, mark a line with chalk to those same measurements, or stick a pin in. Do this on both sides.

Step 2:

Next you will want to draw the line to make the shape that you want. Shorts generally look better when they slant up from the inner seam to outer seams. I took my same shorts to help me align the slant that I wanted and traced with chalk. Make sure to trace 1 inch longer for seam allowance. Also make sure the lines match up on the inner and outer seams.

Step 3:

Time to cut, you can use scissors or a rotary cutter and cutting mat. I just used scissors. Make sure to keep the 1 inch seam allowance while cutting. Always cut longer just in case. Remember, you can always cut shorter but you can’t undo a cut too short! Try them on and adjust if necessary. Don’t worry if it feels tight on the leg, we will be cutting the sides anyways! Don’t throw away your scraps! You will need them for the criss-cross later.

Step 4:

Now take your seam ripper and rip out the seams on the outer leg seam. My pants had serged pockets on the seam. I ripped those out too. Rip it all the way to the bottom of the waistline and stop. Do this on both legs.

Step 5:

Next, turn your shorts inside out, fold a half inch under and hem using a straight stitch. My jeans seemed to have a dark tan color hem before, so I used the closest color I had that I could find and it matched pretty well. Use a thread that closely matches what is already used on your jeans. I serged my pockets back but just to the front side of the pant leg first, if you don’t have a serger you can use a zig-zag stitch. On the front part of my jeans, I had those metal rivets, so skipped over that part with my machine, and hand sewed as close as I could get to it.

Step 6:

With your shorts still inside out, hem the bottom edges. Fold over a half-inch, iron, then fold over a half-inch again, iron, and sew. My jeans seemed to have thicker stitching, so I tested different stitches out on a scrap piece of fabric and found that the 2nd setting on my machine most closely matched. It is the one with 3 dashed lines, it may be different on your machine. If you are going for more of a daisy dukes style, just sew a line about a half-inch above the bottom raw edge, then pull out the white vertical strings to make them fray.

Side note: I just did a single fold hem, but would recommend a double fold hem.

Step 7:

Now it is time to make the strips for your criss-cross. With the left over fabric scraps from cutting your jeans, measure out a 2-inch wide strip, and make it about 22-inches long. Make 2 of these. Don’t include the hem.

Step 8:

On one of your long sides, fold down 3/8 of an inch under and iron, then fold again the same width and press. Do the same thing on the opposite long side. Pin, and sew both hems with about an 1/8-inch seam from the middle. So you should have 2 folded hems on this strip. Do this on both strips and cut both strips in half so you now have 4 strips. Mine came out to be about 3/4 inch wide when done.

Step 9:

Now it is time to sew those strips on for the criss-cross part of your shorts. I started from the top and measured about a half inch from the side hem, and about 1/8-inch down from the waistline. Make sure you sew it down on a diagonal so it can cross to the middle section. Fold it over and make the “tail” about a half inch long, and make the hem to a quarter-inch. Cross down to the middle, how long it is and where you place it is really your preference, but I did about 2 1/4 down from the waistline, and folded it down so it would be straight on this hem, still about a half-inch from the side seam, with a quarter-inch hem. The strip going from the middle cross to the bottom shows the other side of the strip. My bottom strip was sewed down at a diagonal also, like the top, just slanting the opposite way. Do this on both sides of your pants.

Step 10:

On the other side, the back side of the leg, I had a belt loop right where I wanted to put my strip so I had to put my strip a little further just right past the belt loop. If your jeans are like mine, do it like so, and finish the rest the same way as the other strips.

I still was looking for something else to update these shorts, there was just something missing. I finally realized that I wanted a lighter wash. So I whitewashed (how to whitewash jeans tutorial here) them and they were the color I wanted.

Done! Now you have a cute pair of criss-cross shorts or daisy dukes you can wear to the pool, beach, or anywhere!