Just in time for the 4th of July holiday, we’ve put together this tutorial on how to make your own denim cut-offs that scream “go USA!” (Bonus: you could also wear these all summer at Olympics viewing parties, which is what we plan to do!)
We will be celebrating the 4th at Ellen’s in-laws’ house, grilling out, playing with fireworks, and other mischief (Last year we ended up having an outrageous water balloon fight!)
4th of July, 2011
I went to the Goodwill on Charlotte Pike this week and got 5 pairs of jeans! 2 for the husbands, 1 for me, 1 for Ellen, and one for our best friend Emily.
I took each pair of jeans and cut them to the desired length. You can always cut them longer and then go shorter if need be, so don’t get too scissor happy!
I sewed along the cuffs of the cut jeans, at 1/8-1/4″ on the girls’ and 1/4-1/2″ on the guys’. That way, when I washed and dried them, they would only fray so far. You don’t have to hem, wash, or dry, if you don’t mind them fraying alot. I decided I just wanted a little bit of controlled “fray-age” 
I decided to paint stars for the girls and stripes for the boys. For the stars I made a stencil by cutting a star into some old cardboard, then with acrylic paint and a paint brush, painted on stars in a random pattern.
For the stripes on the boys’ shorts, I used painter’s tape to create lines where we wanted the red stripes to go, then painted the open denim with white acrylic paint. Let dry for an hour or so.
Once white paint is dry to the touch, remove the tape, place tape on top of white stripes, then paint the open denim stripes with red paint!
I really like how these all turned out, and I’ll post a picture on Facebook of us all wearing them on the 4th!
Here’s the Cost Breakdown:
- 2-2oz bottles of folkArt acrylic paint in Wicker White (@ Michael’s) – $2.78
- 1-2oz bottle of folkArt acrylic paint in Engine Red ( @ Michael’s) – $1.39
- 5 pairs of jeans ( @ Goodwill) – $32.00
go thrifting!
go USA!
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