After I had my baby, I had a few pairs of long pants that were waaay too small. I also didn’t have any shorts to wear. So I got to thinking, can I turn my too small pants into shorts that fit? After some thinking and planning, I figured it out, and now I’ve got a new pair of shorts to rock.
Turning pants to shorts
The first step is to cut your pants 1 1/2 inches longer than you want them to be. I prefer mine to be Bermuda, so they are pretty long. You need to make them 1 1/2 inches longer than you want because you need to extra length so you can hem your pants.
Making pants larger
Now we need to make your shorts larger so they will fit. Find the outside seam and cut it out, as pictured.
You will add a strip down the sides of your shorts. I used the extra fabric I cut off, but you could add in any type of fabric you wanted. You will need to cut two rectangles. First measure the size of the waistband on your pants and your waist measurement. The difference between the two is how much bigger you need to make your pants. For example, if your waist measurement is 32 and your pants measurement is 28 you will need to add two inches to each side. To do this you need to add a seam allowance. Since there are four pieces of fabric you will need to add 2.5 inches to your strip of fabric. So in this example I would make my strip 4.5 inches wide. If you are using a stretchy fabric, take an inch off the width of your strip. To determine the length, measure the out seam of your shorts and then add the width of your waistband plus 1/2 an inch
Constructing the shorts
Start out by adding a waistband to your strip of fabric. Fold down your fabric a 1/2 inch and press the fabric down. Then fold your fabric to the width of your waistband. Press the fabric down and pin in place. Line up the edge of your fabric with your sewing needle and sew the strip down.
Now add the strip to your pants. Line up the strips with the pants and pin together, then sew with a 5/8 inch inseam. Make sure your waistband is at the top.
Your shorts are almost done, they just need to be hemmed to your preferred length. For instructions on hemming a pair of shorts see my tutorial here
You are done! Enjoy your new shorts.
