Turn Old Jeans into Board Shorts
Board shorts, for those who don’t know, are cool, long shorts that were originally designed for surfers. These days they are beachwear essentials, even if you’re not a surfer. With summer only a few short months away I thought that a little inspiration to make your own pair of custom board shorts.
Probably the simplest way to make a pair of board shorts is to take an old, worn pair of jeans and cut off the legs above the knee.It’s not really necessary to hem the legs but you can if you want to. You might like to let the hems become frayed to add to their character.
Unfortunately wet denim can be quite heavy and abrasive so this style of homemade board shorts is not likely to be suitable for surfing or other water sports. But they look really cool with a vest or t-shirt, a pair of flip flops and a cool pair of sunglasses.
If you are handy with a needle and thread you might like to hem the shorts and add a little customization. I like to remove the denim rear pockets and replace them with pockets made from some attractive, brightly colored material. I like to embroider my home made shorts and add a few custom patches and pieces of attractive, brightly colored material. I like to use a long silk scarf as a belt, threaded through the belt loops and tied at the sides. My boyfriend tells me that these are the sexiest shorts I wear.
An alternative to denim jeans is to start with a pair of suit trousers. When cut down into shorts these can look exceptionally cool. Generally you will need to hem these shorts to prevent them from fraying too much. I always like to personalise my home made board shorts with a few custom features. You might like to add some handy side pockets made from brightly colored material or maybe embeillish the waist band.
If you don’t have any old suit trousers why not pay a visit to a nearby charity shop. There are always plenty of old trousers to be found and you’ll be doing your bit for the environment by recycling them into a fresh pair of wearable shorts.
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