Cut Off Shorts: Cuff Tutorial

So, I've been wanting to do this for a while.  I started to work on this several weeks ago but had a little trouble getting started.  But as a part of my vacation week I wanted to get this done.  The shorts I'm working with here are Kayla's.  Seeing them when she came to stay with me was my inspiration.  She has a hard time finding clothes and these shorts fit, but I wanted to glam them up a bit.

Here it is, my Tutorial to put a cuff on Cut off Jean Shorts.  Enjoy!!!

First thing first, pick your fabrics and coordinate them with your cut offs.  I let Kayla pick out her own fabrics from my stash.  (I have a lot, I think it overwhelmed the poor kid at first.)  After much discussion and debate these are the ones she settled on.  I then matched them up with the jeans I thought they went best with.

I loved the detail on the back pocket of these and was thrilled to see how well it coordinated with the fabric!

One of the pairs of jeans was a little uneven so I wanted to get them a little closer.  To begin with I pinned the top closed.  It made it easier to get it to lay flat for cutting.

Next, I laid the shorts out on my cutting mat, lined it up as close as I could get it to the lines, measured and cut with my rotary cutting tool.

Neat, nice and a bit shorter to use with the cuff.

This was the first fabric I chose to work with.  I had to get the approximate length I would need to cut my fabric.  I measured and found about 15 inches (this varies depending on the size of shorts, where you cut them, etc.)  I cut the fabric the correct length, then laid it out to see how I wanted to cut this fabric.  Working with a fabric like this is a bit more challenging because the pattern needs to be kept event and cut right so that it looks nice.

Next I cut the fabric along the outside border.  I planned to use the border as the hem and it will pretty much disapear when I'm done sewing.

Next, I pressed a hem in both sides.  I only pressed in about 1/4 inch.

Then I pressed up about an inch on the BOTTOM of the pattern on the fabric.  Then sew up all three sides.

To make things easier I pinned up one leg out of the way.  It makes things much easier to work with.

Now, pin the fabric onto the jeans.  I lined the side edge along one of the seams.  This helped me to keep things straight as I pinned around the leg.  I pinned the fabrics right side together with the fabric facing upside down with the top side of the pattern against the bottom of the leg.  (When you're done sewing and flip it down, it will be right side up.)

Pin all the way around and you can in along the length up, though you won't be sewing that yet.  It just helps to sabalize the fabric.

Remove the front part of your sewing machine so that you can sew the leg easier around the edge of the machine.

Sew all the way around the edge of the fabric/jeans.  I used the top of the pattern to guide my stitching.

Next pin the two sides/ends of the fabric that are un-sewn, but are hemmed.

The sides sewn together.

Ta-da!  The finished product.  I love this fabric.  Its a Moda fabric by Jim Shore.  The other panels have whales, fish, sailboats, other lighthouses and is so cute!  I'm glad Kayla picked this

If you wanted to you could leave the sides un-sewn for a flap with a little more leg room.