As a mom to four kids under the age of six, I do a lot of laundry. In fact, a load or two everyday–it’s never-ending! I do even more so now that the weather is warming up and we’re spending more time outside. All this extra time outside seems to equate to more wear and tear on my little ones’ clothing. I’m already doing laundry everyday to keep up with my own personal Mount Kilimanjaro in my laundry basket. And now I’m also trying to figure out what I’m going to do with all these perfectly good clothes that have holes in the knees. DIY cutoff shorts are the perfect solution! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are completely my own.
DIY cutoff shorts
Mommas, do you feel my pain? Please tell me I’m not the only one! My son especially is famous for wearing out the holes in the knees of his long pants. I don’t know what he does in them all day but I’ve now got a stack of pants that fit him great. They’re not faded or stained at all despite all his rough-and-tumble play! But they do have huge holes in one or both knees.
how to easily make cutoff shorts
Well, no worries because I’m about to melt some of your stress away. Plus, this tip will help your budget a little bit in the process. Being on a budget myself, it’s important that I get as much use out of clothing as possible. Especially with all the hand me downs around here! The first step of that is using a laundry detergent that will be gentle enough for my children’s sensitive skin and powerful enough to still get the job done. Check that one off thanks to all® fresh clean Essentials™. It preserves colors without being too harsh, letting my kids have fun outside and be crazy, but keeping their clothes looking like new! Well… except for the knee holes.
Step two to combat the worn clothing problem is giving those well-loved pants some new life for the warmer summer months. All you need to transform long pants into cut-off shorts are a pair of well-worn pants that are still clean and in good shape and a pair of fabric scissors. Yep, that’s it! I cut off right at the knee hole and it was the perfect length for some long cut-off shorts for my little man. I folded the ends over to make cuffs, but you don’t have to. After a couple washes the cut ends will begin to fray giving you that classic cut-off look.
making mom life a little easier
I love mom hacks like this one because it gives me more time to focus on the things that are important–spending this precious time with my littles. I don’t have to worry as much about getting the stains out of their clothing, mending holes, or trying to fit a new pair of shorts into our budget. One more mom tip for you, you can order the brand-new, sulfate-free all® fresh clean Essentials™ from Walmart and have it delivered right to your door so you can always be ready to get your kids’ clothing looking like new (I like the fragrance free but there’s also fresh scent).
It’s important to remember that babies don’t keep, children grow up, and eventually laundry piles do end. Savor these moments. Embrace the mess. Let your kids be kids. And because I know we all need a little reminder sometimes, here are two free printables that I think sum up life with rough-and-tumble sons and daughters (you know, like the ones who might wear a hole in their pants).
How have you encouraged your kids to be kids lately? Have you been spending more time outside? Doing more crafts inside?
Find more easy DIY projects on my Pinterest boards!
21 comments
Great mama hack! I wonder if my 13 year old will go for the cut off/rolled up look?!?
I love that Shakespeare quote, too!
Oh sure, cut offs are awesome for everyone. 😉 Thanks for your sweet comment Leslie!
Super cute quotes! I always loved cutting off jeans and turning them into shorts. It’s definitely a great way to repurpose jeans. #client
Thanks so much Carolyn! I actually hadn’t thought about cut offs in a long time, so it was quite the light bulb moment when I realized I could still put good use to those well-loved pants! 🙂
Will be trying on some of my old pants
Great way to make your wardrobe last longer and work for the warmer weather! Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips! And I love the printables. Thanks for sharing.
With Mason being almost 6 I don’t know how we’ve avoided holes in the knees of his clothes yet. He does have one pair with a hole, but it’s because he got bored in school and cut is pants with his scissors. Ugh! Boys!! I love how you turned them into shorts. We have been spending as much time outside as possible. Before the 110+ degree weather hits and we have mosquitoes the size of bats!
So cute and smart way to save by making roughed up fall staples, summer time staples.
Totally, I love solutions that are budget-friendly, especially with so many kiddos, lol. 🙂
Love this idea. My little girl is tall so some jeans aren’t too worn but high waters! I’m gonna use this hack!
Yes, that is the problem with my son too! Other than the holes in his knees, he is so lean for his height that he will still fit in 3T pants around the waist (he’s almost 6!!) but they will be WAY too short!
I love that the weather is finally nice enough to enjoy outside!!! The tough thing in Arizona is that soon it will be too hot!!! But the more shorts the better! Great idea!
Thanks Kassi! yeah, you guys don’t get much of an outdoor season in Arizona, do you? I would have a million shorts and skirts if I lived there. 🙂
So cute and great ideas. I have a toddler and these tips are so handy.
Thanks for your sweet comment. 🙂 He was so excited about his “new” shorts!
What a great idea and definitely seems easy enough 🙂
Love this idea! So easy and saves so much money! We are so excited for the weather to warm up so we can spend more time outside! Bring on the sunshine!
Ha! I do this with my own clothes! But i have a feeling that I’ll be needing to start cutting off some of our old pants soon. Reinforced knees did great with my more quiet and cautious older son, but my younger son is more like a tornado: running around, making messes and destroying clothes.
How cute are these!!! What a great idea + way to save some $!!!
These will be great! Love how budget friendly this is for our family!