Cute Cut-Offs {Tutorial}

Let's talk about kids clothes, particularly jeans.
As a mom of two girls I am fortunate enough to be able to pass things down from big sister to little sister. But every once in a while something just doesn't make it. At our house my first thought is can this be up-cycled?
Recently I came across these.

Obviously these were not going to be saved for little sis so I decided to look into make them into cut offs. But, lets be honest. When I think of cut offs I think of....

Surely I am not the only one, right?!
Believe it or not they don't have to look this way! Cut off shorts can look super cute and it only takes a few minutes and is easy enough for any amateur sewer to pull off!

Do I have you convinced? 
Lets get started. 

First off you need to mark your shorts. The best way to do this is to fold them in half. Make sure everything matches up like this.

Then you can take a WASHABLE marker and make a line where you want to cut. If in doubt on length try them on to double check and/or mark them on the longer side you can always cut more off. I found it helpful to fold the leg up to help give me a straight line. A straight line will not appear to be straight. 
Next I laid them out to check and see how they looked.

Cut one leg at a time through both side of the fabric.

After cutting you can try them on to double check length and make sure they are straight when you put them on. 

The last step is to set up your sewing machine with a stretch stitch or a very loose stitch. I chose to use a yellow/gold thread to match the rest of the stitching on the jeans however a dark blue or the color of your denim could work to. On the 3/8 line sew all the way around each leg.

Now you can wash them to remove any leftover marker trim up the edges and you are left with some super cut cut offs that won't fray to your tooshie.

Saving money is the best!