Thrifted jeans turned maternity shorts

Rather than cutting up a pair of good jeans from my closet, I shopped the local thrift store for a pair that I could make into shorts. I gotta say, it was pretty nice saying to myself as I tried on the first pair I grabbed, which happened to cost $4, "Hmm... these jeans are too short, and I can't button them- I can't even zip them all the way up... they're perfect!" I love how they turned out! They were just perfect for a morning at the park.

 

I marked how short I wanted my cut offs to be and cut the jeans a bit longer than that so that I could add a cuff. Adding a cuff is easy. I start with a zig zag stitch around the jean raw edge to minimize fraying in the future. Then, it's just two folds under while the jeans are inside out, iron- iron- iron! And then one fold under after flipping the jeans right side out. I like a lose stitch around the top to hold the cuff in place, but I suppose a couple hand stitches onto the side seam would hold the cuff in place without a noticeable stitch. Note to self: get off your lazy bum and get the fabric chalk to mark how short you want your shorts. Even if it is in the other room, because when you use the permanent marker that happens to be right next to you, the mark will be there... permanently, assuming it doesn't get hidden in the fold of the cuff- which mine wasn't... Anyway, my next step was to follow the tutorial found on Mama Mia's blog about turning jeans into maternity jeans. The only thing I did in addition to her tutorial was to take in the sides a good two inches on each side at the top, angling inward. This is because the largest part of my belly is in the middle, not at the top so I wanted the top of my maternity band to fit a little more snug and hold up the jeans better.

First fold under with jeans inside out.

Second fold under with jeans inside out. I used a couple pins to keep the fold in place while I turned the jeans right side out.

And one last fold with the jeans right side out, then the top stitch to hold in place.