DIY Shorts from a Big Shirt

"Was it a coincidence?" A question I asked myself after reading @justinparke's post in the ASEAN Hive Community that talks about the ASEAN Hive Challenge #22 "My DIY Projects" This is because I have just actually finished turning into a short an old shirt I found in our old cabinet as I was looking for something there.

This DIY project took me several hours to finish. If I am not mistaken, it was about 5 hours. It would have been faster if I had used an electric type of sewing machine, but since we do not have one yet, I just used my mother's old sewing machine that is a bit rusty already.

Anyway, the following are the materials I used to complete this project:

• Old Shirt
• A Pair of Scissors
• Threads (I did not find any shade of green, so I just used white and yellow)
• Sewing Machine
• I downloaded it from Wardrobebyme's website.
• Masking Tape
• Garter
• Lace from an old short

The process of making it is quite simple if you already know how to sew using a sewing machine. But anyway, it's perfect for a beginner.

First, I downloaded the pattern from the said site, printed it out, and joined the pieces together. It's an extra challenge, but thankfully, it's easy to follow since each part has a number and the free pattern also provides the whole picture of it, not just the segmented parts.

After that, I just cut it out according to the size I prefer. It ranges from XS to 2XL, and I chose small because it is the maximum size that the shirt can fit.

Next, I remove the stitches from the old shirt, and right after doing that, I get the pattern and place it on top of the shirt. After doing so, I cut out the excess.

Then I took the pieces together and went to the sewing machine to finally sew them. I had a hard time with this step because the thread gets easily cut.

The machine is already rusty, as I have said, since it's been here for quite a long time. So I just put some oil into it so as to make it run smoother. Anyway, I hope I can buy my mother an electric sewing machine soon so she can even use it in case she wants to do a small business such as making shorts and the like and then selling them to others.

After quite some time, the parts were sewn together. This time, I worked on the waiter. I actually watched first a tutorial on youtube on how I can correctly attach it to the shorts. After it, that's the time I sew it together. But an inch before the last hold in the waistband was sewn, I inserted the garter. Once done, I cut a small hole in the middle of it and then I inserted the lace. After that, it's done!

It's actually been a while since I used the manual or traditional sewing machine, but it was also a nice experience since it's been a while since I used it and did a project like this. By the way, I am actually the one who's resizing some of my shirts and pants if I find them too big for me. Thanks to my somewhat fast-learning skills, I managed to learn to use such a machine. It may be common for women, but men can sew as well.

All images are mine unless otherwise stated.