How to: DIY Distressed & Dip-Dyed Shorts!

Hey, girls! Beauty Smartie Blogger here.  Now that summer has come around, I’m sure you have all seen those colorful, distressed, high-waist, cut offs.  On Tumblr alone there have been hundreds of posts with pictures of them.  I’m sure you’ve all seen RunwayDreamz shorts—you know, the $180 ones.  

(runwaydreamz.com)

Am I the only one who laughed when I saw the price tag on those?  If I’m not, then keep reading.  I am going to tell you how to make your own shorts, customized completely for yourself—just the way you like them!

What you’ll need:

·      -Scissors

·      -Marker

·      -Jeans/Shorts (Doesn’t matter if they’re high-waisted or not)

·      -Dye or Bleach (Optional)

·      -X-acto Knife or Razor Blade

·      -Tweezers

·      -Studs (Optional)

First off, you are going to need to find some shorts or jeans that you don’t mind distressing and that you won’t miss!  Believe it or not, Good Will and Salvation Army is where RunwayDreamz purchases the vintage Levi’s used to make the shorts she sells!  Don’t feel weird, go in and look around.  You may be able to find shorts for as low as $6!  That definitely beats paying the $180 ;) 

Once you choose a pair, you are definitely going to want to wash them.  Who knows what has been on those jeans?  Yuck!  Anyway, put them on yourself and mark about an inch longer than you want them.  You need to make sure you cut them longer because the fringe at the bottom is going to take off the length quite a bit.  Also, the newest style shorts go up on the sides, rather than just cut straight across the leg.  Then take the shorts off and go in for the cut!  When you’re done cutting them, make sure you put them back on to make sure they’re perfect before you distress them even more.       

       

As soon as you get them to your perfect length, take the shorts off and get ready to distress them! This is the time where an X-Acto knife/razor blade and tweezers will come in handy.  Here is a helpful video to show you more in depth how to get the perfect distressed marks:

(youtube.com)

As you can see in the video, it is best to make two horizontal cuts.  Take your tweezers and pull out the vertical fibers (not the white ones!) to leave the white threads.

Next is dying or bleaching! This is definitely a personal preference and depends on the color of your shorts before you start.  If you want to create cool effects and leave random bleach spots, it is best to tie up your shorts in random places with rubber bands like this:

(thefashionismine.blogspot.com)

If you just want to dye your shorts, I recommend buying a brand of dye such as Rit.  All you do is mix the dye in a bucket with water (the hotter the water, the deeper the color).  To dye them multiple colors, use two separate buckets and leave them half in one bucket, and the other half in the second bucket.  Depending on how vibrant you want the colors, it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour to get the full effect. 

Let your shorts hang dry when you get to the desired color—Do not put them in your dryer; this will get the color all over! Take it from someone who has learned from that mistake :P.  After your shorts are dry, rinse them by hand with cold water until the water runs clear.  Then you can put them in the washer and dryer and your shorts are ready to be worn!

If you want to add a little extra to your shorts, I recommend studding them.  Studs are very in and they add an unexpected detail to your shorts.  I bought mine from here and they were perfect!  All you do is push the stud through and close the prongs with pliers.

Tada! You have fabulous, customized shorts that are just like RunwayDreamz, just without the $180 price tag!  If you enjoy doing this, you should consider making them and selling them for extra cash!

Until next time beauties,

Xoxo