How to Make High-Waist Shorts: Formspring.me Question
from formspring.me:
Can Carly ,I`m 16 years old ,I love fashion and I tried start to sew .I`m not very good and I ask you to post a DIY : how to make high waist shorts . Thanks you ,and sorry if I did some mistakes (my english is not perfect )=)
Unfortunately making a pair of shorts into ‘high-waist shorts’ using DIY methods is pretty much impossible. (Even if you happen to find a pair of shorts with a HUGE seam allowance at the top of the waistband, you likely won’t be able to unpick the seam, flatten it upwards, and wear them like a pair of high-waist shorts – the proportions of the waist piece will just be strange, and angled incorrectly.)
You *could* add a piece of fabric under the top waistband of your shorts, creating a double-layered effect, and have that piece create the “high-waisted shorts-look”. (I’d cut a strip of that fabric to use as a waist-tie or as detailing on the cuffs to make the shorts look as if they were designed that way – and didn’t just suffer a piece of fabric tacked on to them.)
To make a pair of high-waist shorts (or “paper-bag shorts”) from scratch there are a number of patterns out there you can buy (like Easy McCall’s 5457 or Easy Butterick 3731 at http://www.karensvariety.com/SEWINGCLOTHES/McCalls/M5457.htm) – or if you are crafty you can also alter a shorts pattern to a high-waist or paper-bag style. (Two methods for the paper-bag style are using Burda-Style’s tutorial http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/pleated-paper-bag-skirt, or Threadbanger’s tutorial (for an elastic gathered-waist skirt) http://www.threadbanger.com/post/8171/how-to-make-a-paper-bag-waist-skirt) – embedded above.
Hope that helps and good luck!
xoxox
Carly
