https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/cute-shorts-and-vest-from-1-pair-of-jeans • Posted by Krista W.
First, find an old pair of jeans that still fit you around the waist. they should be in pretty good shape. i used < those.
Now get out your lace and cut out a patch that will cover about half of your back pocket. sew it on with the thread that matches the lace. make sure you sew the top part too. While doing this, be careful not to sew the pocket together. Repeat for other pocket.
take a little piece of lace and wrap it around a belt loop. sew it tightly in place. i used the one right between the pockets but you can use any ones you want. you can even do all of them!
Now for the front of the jeans. you can add lace wherever you want to. i chose to fill the front pocket on the left and do one belt loop on the opposite side.
now its time to make your pant into shorts. ( you can keep your revamped pants as pants if you want but you wont be able to make a vest later on) Cut your pant about an inch (2.5 cm) longer than you want your shorts to be. then fold the bottom inside or outside (whichever looks better, i chose inside for these) and hem them. you now have one beautiful pair of shorts! :D
Next is the vest. take one of the legs that you cut off of your shorts and cut along the longest seams (down the leg). cut them so that one side is left with both of the original seams on it and the other has only raw edges (except for the bettom). if needed, hem the edges of your strips of jeans. do exactly the same thing with the other leg. sry, no picture for this step :(
now, sew the two strips of jeans that dont have any original seams together raw end, to raw end. do this on an angle. dont sew them straight. (picture helps) together, they should measure about 38- 40 inches long. this new strip we will call #1.
take one of the strips with original seams on it. it needs to be about 23 inches or 58 centimetres long. if its too long, cut it shorter. if its too short, use the last strip to make an extension. this new strip, we will call #2.
set the two strips that you sewed together (#1) on your worksurface, with the good side facing up. since it's curved like a banana ( we sewed the two strips together on an angle) make sure the curve is going to the right. take the strip we just worked with (#2) and place it perpendicular to the other strip so that a 90 degree angle is formed. make sure this strip has it's good side up too. sew these together.
bend strip #1 to meet the other end of strip #2, forming another 90 degree angle. it will make strip #1 into sort of a rainbow shape. Both the inside edges of strip #1 will be sewn onto the ends of strip #2. your vest is finished! put it on by holding it behind you, putting your arms through the hole and pulling your arms back to your side.
to make it even more trendy and fitting, add a button to connect the two sides. if you want to make your vest match with your shorts, you can put a strip of lace between the neck part (the back of it) and the part that wraps around your back (imagine a line of lace going down the racerback part of my tank top) .
if you have any leftover materials, you can make bracelts with them and be really matchy and fun! :)