DIY: Studded Shorts

Is it summer yet? No? Oh, well. It’s never too soon to start preparing. I’ve spent this week* working on a pair of studded shorts that will be perfect for summer.

*This DIY can be done in one day. It took me several days because I had a million things going on and I had to wait for the studs to arrive in the mail. (I ordered them from Amazon.)

I started by making a trip to what felt like every single Goodwill in NYC. I was specifically looking for “mom jeans” and you would be surprised how hard it is to find “mom jeans” in a size that most people are before they ever hit puberty. lol. Anywho…I finally found a pair that fit me in the waist they way I wanted them to.

$9.99 at Goodwill (25th St. & 6th Ave.)

I know you’re laughing right now at the fact that they’re too short. STOP! IT’S NOT FUNNY! Lol.

The first thing I did was cut the jeans into shorts. I wanted the final version of my shorts to have a cuff  so I cut them about 4 inches longer than the length I wanted.

And then I simply cuffed them twice.

Next I pinned the cuff down with straight pins to hold them in place while I placed a small stitch every couple of inches.

Once that was done, I decided that I wanted to give the shorts a quick acid wash to give them a bit of different look. See this previous post for instructions on how to acid wash.

After the acid wash was complete (and the studs came in the mail), I simply started to add them on to the shorts. Get creative with the design. You can do just a pocket, across the entire back and/or the entire front…whatever you choose. I decided to do just one side of the back and the smaller inside pocket of the front.

The studs are easy to apply and take very little time. Simply stick them through the fabric and fold over the prongs. You can do that with your fingers but if you want to make sure its really snug (or if your fingers start to hurt like mine did) use the edge of a quarter or even a key to fold down the prongs.

And just like that…you’re all done!

I also put rips on one side and studded the inside of the pocket so the studs show through.

I absolutely love these! I pranced around in them for hours before finally forcing myself to take them off. Lol. However, they were really difficult to photograph. Took me forever to find the right lighting and it’s still not perfect. But I promise to wear them the first day it’s warm enough to wear shorts and get you guys some really awesome photos. Scouts honor!