making pants into shorts
 

My husband wanted me to make his dockers into shorts...so I first tried pins. but to do a double fold to hide the raw edges. It was a pain and stuck myself serval times. So then I was thinking I use washable elmers glue for binding so why not his pants...wow...what a difference. He was thinking before I did it he would just wear them around the house but they came out so good he can wear then anywhere...I love Elmers washable glue!! Now he wants me to make more...argh..I am a quilter not a sewer...Oh well...saved us 30.00 not having to buy new shorts

Love that Elmer's. I think we should buy stock in the company.

Yeah, Elmer's glue! Of course they turned out so well you get to do more.:D

I just did the same thing with my hubby's khaki's that were worn out at the hemlines but still fine otherwise. He ended up with 6 pair of good shorts.

When the legs are tapered, I let the side seams out at the hem so that the hem won't pucker.

I just release the stitches at the side seams for the amount of hem that is turned up.

Slows down the process a bit, but then the hem lays flat.

Being the cheapskate that I am, when my pants get frayed at the bottom I make shorts out of them, too. I measure the inseam, adding about an inch and a half to the length I want. I cut them off at that point, then run them through the serger to encase the raw edges. I put them through the sewing machine and topstitch the hems down. The whole process takes about five minutes per pair and definitely saves big bucks. By the time the hems get frayed, the rest of the pants are well worn and have softened to where they are really comfortable and don't have to be broken in. This process even works for jeans!!

Oh hubbys. Sometimes they get it sometimes they don't. My DH wanted me to make him some hawaiian shirts out of batiks. Since I sewed. I made him one and he actually wanted me to tailor it more, I used the old preschool expression. You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit. So far, he hasn't asked for another one.

Just a note to tell you about my new method for cutting pants off to be shorts.-
I tried for years to cut pants off straight, so that they would hang straight and be the right length. I kept getting the length right on the inseam, but the outside edge was always cut too short. Then while ironing slacks one day it dawned on me how to make it work.
Put the pants on, and stand in front of a mirror. Using a safety pin, put the pin right where you want the pants to stop. (Might take a couple tries unless you have an assistant.) now remove the pants and turn them center seams touching each other as if you were going to iron a crease. Now you can measure what ever hem length you need, and cut them straight across, leaving the seams to be snipped individually, because I don't want to dull the blades. (I have done the trimming with my rotary cutter, but you have to be real careful not to let the ruler slip on the seams because they are so thick in that area.) I add 1.5 inches so I can turn under half an inch, press, then turn under an inch, and press again. Stitch with matching or contrasting thread. I like having the extra thick hem because it helps keep the shorts from "drawing up" as I walk.

I have always found that cutting pants of into shorts doesn't work so well,as the cut of the pants is differnt in that particular area than shorts would be - making really skinny shorts. But glad he likes them!

DH's favorite shorts are the ones where I shortened well-fitting jeans.

He's a very thin person, and many of the 'regular' shorts are very 'fluffy' - and when he sits down, you can see London and France (thank goodness, he was wearing underpants!)