Pants into Adult & Toddler Shorts - A Refashion Tutorial

While visiting my daughter a few weeks ago, she showed me a huge bag of clothes she no longer wanted and asked me to go through them to see if there was anything I wanted to refashion from her pile.  I found several really nice pants that she wore while in the professional working world. Knowing that she would soon be moving to a tropical climate for her husband’s work, I suggested we make those pants into shorts for her.  If she didn't like them once they were done, we really hadn't wasted any money on them (except to buy the thread).  Being nine + months pregnant at the time, she tried them on and I figured out how much to cut off – hoping they would be the right length after her pregnancy was over.

First, I pinned the pants to the length she wanted them.  Then, I added about 1" inch to that length for the new hem and marked the pants at that length.  Next, I cut off the pants along my marked line.  I ironed in a hem and then sewed the now shorts to their finished length.  She was able to wear them that first week home from having her baby... seriously, amazing!

After I cut off the pants, I was left with the lower length portion of these pants.  I thought that fabric would make great shorts for her son.  I love it when I'm right.  Check out how cute they turned out. They even have a pocket in the back. They're a little long, but he's a growing boy:

I proceeded to make two more pairs of toddler shorts, using a pair of his store-bought shorts for the pattern. To see the first pair I made, go to this POST.  Here are photos of that process: 

If you want to make a faux fly on the front of the shorts, add this step before you add the casing. Here's how I made that fake fly:

Make a fake fly by measuring  1/2 inches from the center of the shorts.  Mark & draw line onto your shorts - See image 1.

See image 2 - Stitch along the drawn line - detail 3.   Now stitch another line 1/4" inside that line - detail 4.  Next stitch another line right next to the center seam - detail 5.

I hope you have fun updating your long pants into shorts for yourself and your little one. For another inspirational short project, go to this post.

xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Treading My Way, Nap-time Creations, Crafty Allie, Jordan's Onion, Crafts a la mode, Simple Simon, 2 Crochet Hooks, Creating My Way to Success