Not your mom's jeans.

I love love love anything high-waisted, because I am a girl with an hourglass shape, and it's my favorite part of my body to highlight. I also love that these shorts are so trendy, but refused to shell out $30+up when I just knew that there were hundreds of thrift store early 90's "mom jeans" just waiting to be re-loved in the modern world. So this was a summer project I've been dying to do. Now, I need to mark this day down in history, because of two reasons:

1. A DIY project actually WORKED for me. I have no idea why I have so many issues, but I seem to.


2. I didn't ruin a pair of denim jeans, the reason for why I've never done this successfully before (I wreck them every time. How!? I have no idea - that's a lie, I actually do, I hate skin-tight shorts, and skinny jeans obviously = skin-tight cut offs).

DIY High-Waisted Jean Shorts

You will need

• Pair of high-waisted denim jeans. I found two things helped this task more (which proved to be a little trickier than I thought); first buy jeans that are looser on the leg, not skin tight. With this style, the waist will be tight regardless, but a looser leg is easier to work with. Also, I found one of the pairs in the men's section, just at the smallest waist size possible. For some reason I found men's jeans have thicker denim, which is easier to work with and distress. ~ For reference, the cuffed versions are men's, the frayed ones are women's. 


• Pencil/Pen/Something to mark your cut line


• Scissors


• Distressing tools: Steak knife, cheese grater, bleach (optional - I didn't use it), pumice stone or sandpaper


• Any other details you'd like: lace appliques, patches, studs, etc.

Step One: Try on your jeans, see how they fit and decide where you want to cut. Always start off too long (I had to cut an additional extra 2 1/2 inches off of the frayed shorts). You can always cut more off, but you can't put length back on. You can also use a pair of shorts you already own and like the length of, to act as a guide.

Step Two: Make the mark where you will cut them. For the first pair I knew I was going to cuff them, so I visualized two "rolls" while making my cut mark.

Step Three: Take them off, lay flat and cut! Cut them on a slight diagonal, going up on the outsides and a little lower on the inner seam, it creates a more flattering fit.

Step Four: Mirror the pant legs together and cut the second leg - note: if you are not cuffing them, or even if you are, don't be too stressed about having straight cut lines, the uneven-ness will help the frayed edges be a little more unique, and if you're cuffing them, then it's really not an issue is it? I also cut a teeny slit on both outer sides of my undone pair, to really ensure no tightness around my thighs.

Step Five: Try on your jeans, check if they need to be cut more, - mine did - if not, let's start distressing!

Distressing: I'm going to be honest here, apart from some basic pinterest tutorials, I went in blind as to how to actually distress properly. And truth is, until you wash them, your cut lines are going to look pretty rookie, because the edges haven't frayed yet. I used a large steak knife, a smaller steak knife, and a cheese grater (which wasn't sharp enough, so I need to find me some sandpaper). Hold one section of the shorts taught, and in the other hand, make small cuts on the denim, vertically, horizontally, it doesn't matter- however you want them to look. I roughed up the seams a little bit, added a few holes in the back pockets, and made three average-small cut lines on the one side. I wanted mine to look distressed, but not wrecked so I played it fairly safe. They can be as tame or beat up as you want, so go nuts! Pumice stones or sandpaper work really well to weather the denim and show wear marks, so I will definitely be picking some up for the back pockets.

~Voila! The finished products

All in all, I love my new shorts. I wish they were appropriate to wear to work, because I want to wear them every chance I get! When we hit the autumn weather, I can't wait to pair them with opaque tights and oxford booties. If you're using the Cost per Wear* average, pretty sure by the end of Summer I will be making money off these little beauts.



*Have we discussed this theory yet? It's a gooder, and pretty much part of the Lutz Ladies fashion Bible. If you want to hear more about it, sound off in the comments below!

B