D.I.Y. Tutorial: Tie Dye Shorts

After seeing all the tie dye items on the catwalk (think Isabel Marant) I decided to make my own tie dye shorts. (Sorry miss Marant, I just can't spend that kind of money on a pair of shorts at this time in my life :))

So this is my first ever DIY project. I wasn't planning on posting the process of my new shorts, but since I take photo's of everything I do with my Blackberry, and some of you guys were asking about them I decided to make this tutorial. 

You'll need:

- Pair of jeans (the darker the jeans, the better it'll work)

- Rubber bands (I used 8)

- Bucket

- Thick bleach

- Household gloves

- Sharp scissors 

- Measuring tape

- Optional: sewing machine

Step 1: Twist the legs of the jeans in knots and place a rubber band on them to hold it in it's place. Roll and the twist, and put rubber bands around the jeans until you have a little package. Make sure it'll all stay in place. It is better to soak your jeans in water first, so it'll roll easier; but I forgot to do that. 

Step 2: Fill a bucket with warm water and add a generous amount of thick bleach. I used 1/3 of the bottle. But pored more in over the amount of time, because I was getting impatient. 

Also the jeans I used weren't that dark, and were second hand (thanks mum!) so I found them hard to bleach. If you use new dark jeans, the effect will be better visible. I left the jeans in there for nearly 24 hours. But I recommend you to check after 10 hours. If you use a cheaper style jeans, it could get holes in the fabric if you leave them in too long. 

Step 3: Rinse out your jeans. Make sure you were gloves, and don't breath in all the chlorine. I seriously got high during this part. Remove all the rubber bands and rinse again. 

Step 4: Pop your jeans for a short cycle in the washing machine. I actually washed it twice, once with detergent, but I used so much that I did another cycle without adding anything. (After this the jeans still smell of chlorine though). 

Step 5: Let the jeans dry

Step 6: When completely dry, put your jeans on to see where you want to cut them. Make sure to leave a little fabric if you want to make a hem of some kind. Use your measuring tape to make sure both legs are the same length. 

Step 7: Cal your mum! ;) Seriously, I had to call my mum and pop over there to have access to a sewing machine. I choose to just stitch it loosely around the bottom, so the ends would look a ruffled. I wear the seem flipped up (see the last picture). 

Step 8: Combine you new tie dye shorts to create a great outfit & enjoy summer! 

By the way: I choose to first tie dye the jeans, before cutting them short; because then I had more fabric to twist, and gave a better dye result. But you can easily do it the other way round if you prefer. 

Hope you liked my first tutorial. I would love to hear your comments and questions!

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Photo's: by me