I was looking for some long shorts the other day, but wasn't having much luck, as they were all a tad long for me. I'm not sure what these shorts are called. I think Bermudas is the right term, but to be honest, I don't know what the difference is between crops/ pedal pushers/ capris/ bermudas/ knickerbockers/ clam diggers.
I just vaguely know that they fall somewhere between short shorts and trousers. Anyway, after giving up on finding some in the shops, I made the above pair out of an old pair of jeans that were about to get holes at the knee.
I didn't want to just hem the bottom edge, as then they tend to get a little wrinkly at the back, so a bias tape type thing seemed the way to go. It's made out of two different fabrics, though: the stripey part is denim and the dotted part is a floral fabric.
Step 1: Find a pair of old boot cut jeans. Cut the jeans at the length you wish the shorts to be:
Step 2: Cut a 4" section (I'll call it 'denim tube') from the left over section of the jeans leg. The width of this denim tube should be a tiny tiny bit wider than the width of the shorts' edge. In my case, the section at the bottom of the jeans' leg was the perfect width (ie. D to E measured slightly wider than X to Y). This is why I suggested boot cut jeans, as the left over part of tapered jeans will be too narrow.
Step 3: Cut a 4" wide strip from the floral fabric that is double the length of D to E (that is twice the width of the denim tube) plus an inch seam allowance.
Now you make the 'bias tape':
Step 4: Match up the seams of the shorts to the seams of the 4" denim tube and determine which end of the denim tube would be the bottom.
Lay the fabric strip face down on the denim tube, so that the right sides are facing each other, and pin along the bottom edge of the denim tube. Sew them together approx. 0.5" from the edge (along the dotted line). nb. The corner is only folded back in the picture to show you that the fabric is face down, the corner should be up when you sew it!
Sew the 2 ends of the fabric strip together, so that it forms a tube, to match the denim tube.
Step 5: Turn it and press along the seam.
Step 6: Draw a line 2.5" from the seam on both the denim tube and fabric, then fold both edges along these lines in towards the seam and press into place. Open it all out. It should now look like a bias tape tube, albeit with a seam where fold A usually is (see top diagram).
Now we'll attach the bias tape tube to the shorts.
Step 7: Slip the bias tape tube over the end of the shorts' leg. The fabrics on the tube should be facing inwards towards the shorts, so that the right sides are facing. The denim side of the bias tape should be the nearest side to the bottom of the shorts' leg.
Step 8: Mark a line 2.5" from the bottom of the shorts' leg. Line up the fold (C) on the denim side of the bias tape with this line and sew the two pieces together along the fold. Fold it back on itself and it should look like this:
The seam just sewn is C - marked with white dots.
Step 9: fold the bias tape along folds B and A, so that the floral fabric is inside the shorts' leg and pin. Top stitch about 0.25" from the seam A (dotted line):
Step 10: Pin again, so that the fold (B) on fabric side of the bias tape is pinned next to seam C. Top stitch approx. 0.25" from seam C, making sure to catch the fabric bias tape on the inside of the shorts. This line is marked G.
You're finished. You should now have a cuff on the edge of your shorts that looks like this:
With a nice floral lining:
Here's another picture of my scary white legs to show the finished object:
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