Make Shorts Bigger

 Hello Readers. Sometimes we get too big for our clothes. It's sad but true. We gain weight and those clothes we loved are suddenly too tight. And what if they shrink in the dryer? It happens to all of us at some point. Let's find a way to fix that. 

These denim shorts got too tight, but it's a quick and easy fix. 

I needed to choose some fabric to put in the sides of my shorts. I chose this denim that I had on hand. You could choose a contrasting color if you want, any color will work. Try to pick a fabric that is strong and sturdy like denim. A thick woven cotton would be great. A thin light weight fabric won't hold up with the denim. You need enough to make 2 equal side panels. You can make the side panels any width you need to make your shorts fit again. 

I sewed across the top of my new denim piece. I wanted to keep the top edge from fraying. This new piece of fabric should be the same length as your shorts. You will want the side panels to be the a similar length as the shorts.

 

I turned that edge under and stitched it down with light blue thread to match the denim as best I could. Try to match your thread the best you can to your denim or the thread in the original shorts to get a uniform cohesive look. 

The first step is to cut the shorts open. I found the side seam and cut the seam open with sharp sewing scissors. Sharp scissors will give you a clean cut edge. Set the shorts aside for now.

 

Make sure to trim off any of the side seam stitching that might still be attached. The cuts need to be sharp and clean. 

 

I sewed one side of the new side panel to one side of the shorts. I made sure that the right sides were facing each other for this. I also made sure the top seam I just sewed on the side panel is at the top of the shorts. That will give me a nice neat waistband.  
 

I tried the shorts on. They wouldn't stay up yet but this let me double check the width of the side panel. How wide did it need to be to make these shorts comfortable? I needed about 2 inches at the waist, 3-4 inches at the hip and 1/4 inch for the seam allowance. 

 

I cut the extra fabric off my side panel. It's big enough for both sides. Now I can sew the side panel in on the other side. 

 

You can see my side panels are too short but I wanted to cut my shorts to match the length of the side panels. 

 

I used my scissors to cut the shorts to the length I wanted. The best part of denim cut offs is that we don't need to hem the bottom of each leg. What as time saver!

  

You can see the side panel here. It is sewn in well and the new length is fun too. 

I washed and dried my shorts to get that nice frayed edge along the bottom of each leg. 

My new shorts fit well and I was happy with them when I was done. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.