You remember what your parents recited, when tempted to throw in the towel -- if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
My new shorts
About 4 years ago, I turned a pair of worn blue jeans into some summer capris.
The jeans went from this
You can see in the jeans, they were already pretty worn-looking. And really, when was the last time you saw wider-legged jeans? Okay, so rather old jeans. But I could still fit into them, and for the most part they were still in decent-enough shape.
But I was no longer wearing them as jeans (maybe the very out of date wide leg?). So, I turned those jeans into "new" capris. Perfect, right? Everyone loves capris in summer. Everyone, that is, except me. Or maybe it was because they were denim capris, and kinda heavy (AKA warm) for a hot summer day. And you know what? Capris aren't the greatest look on my legs. So in a drawer they sat for 4 years.
In going through my clothing last week, I almost tossed these capris into the giveaway pile. But you know, I just wasn't ready to throw in the towel on these pants, just yet. Surely, I could get a bit more wear out of them.
And that's when I thought to at least try them as shorts. What did I have to lose, right?
One afternoon, I took the leap, and with a pair of scissors, I cut off the bottom few inches of the capris, and I now have shorts. My 2 daughters (my personal fashion experts) convinced me that rolled up hem shorts were indeed "in". After cutting off the lower part of each leg, I rolled up the edge until they hit that sweet spot on a woman's leg, where everything goes in from side to side, and legs seem to look their trimmest.
This might be it. I may have found the way to get much more wear from my very old pair of jeans. I've worn them for the last couple of days, and loved having some summer-worthy clothing. I only wish I had done this at the beginning of summer, and not towards the end. Oh well, I'm now set for next summer, right?
This quick project reminded me of the patched bed sheets of mine, which lasted several years beyond most folks tolerance for "worn out". not only did I patch those repeatedly, but when patching was no longer a viable option, I found a use for the good-condition edges of the sheet -- my daughter's summer sleep shorts. And there's still a lot of good fabric left on that sheet. (another project perhaps?)
Sometimes I think I'm just too stubborn to give up on anything. Have you ever had something that you just wouldn't give up on making useful?
