DIY Cut-offs
Not only does reinventing your wardrobe serve you, it serves the earth;) Taking what's old and making it something new avoids adding to the piles and piles of trash we create as a society and avoids putting your money toward something that is (most likely) industrially made and new.
I am so close to this concept that I actually had a business based around it: eve*lynn clothing. I bought up vintage raggy clothing and reinvented it into new stuff...from there grew a collection.
I closed up the business a while back, but the idea sticks with me. I find it difficult to get rid of any old clothing because I always worry that one day I'll pull it out of the back of my closet and want to chop it up and sew it into something new.
Now onto the real issue: I have an obnoxious amount of clothing! And this is not because I'm a shopping addict. It is merely because over the last 4 years I've changed sizes so many times gaining and losing weight from baby making.
A ton of it I wound up giving away, but a lot of it I've not been ready to part with. For my birthday this year, I was just postpartum and feeling really ugh about my body. As my birthday gift my mom took me to Topshop to buy some new duds.
Amongst all that I bought a couple jeans to hold me over until I was back down to size. Now those jeans look really silly since they're a couple sizes too large. They hug in some of the right places, but are saggy in others.
I decided to experiment and in the interest of staying cool this summer and not going out to buy new shorts (it's been a while since I've been comfortable wearing short shorts), I DIY'ed myself some cut-offs.
Here's how I did it:
- Lie the jeans flat and make sure there are no wrinkles in the fabric.
- Make sure you have supersharp scissors.
- Cut a straight line a bit longer than you think you'd like them (you can always roll or cut more, but you can't go the other way.
- Fold the jeans in half so that the legs are lined up.
- Measure the length and start cutting the other leg.
- Try on the shorts and check if you want them shorter. If so, repeat.
- Then strut your stuff in your new shorty shorts!