DIY: Lace Shorts

 I was about to toss this pair of old faded black shorts when I came across Youtube videos of lace shorts and decided to recreate it. I have been meaning to buy a pair of lace shorts in either cream or off-white color but this black pair will do for now :)  If you will be making this, I would suggest to choose a lace with a wider width of around 2 inches. That way you would not need to create a lot of layers like mine! My lace had a width of about 1 inch and I ran out of lace halfway through the process!  I chose this lace because of the scallop detail which gives it an overall texture. Check out the steps below.

Materials Needed:
1. Old pair of shorts (Mine is super faded!)
2.Yards of lace trim (this will depend on the width of the lace)
3. Pins
4. Scissors
5. Needles or Sewing Machine
6. Thread

 

1. Layout and measure the lace onto your shorts. I started from the bottom to top. Leave half an inch on each end and fold it inside. This will prevent the trim from fraying. Use pins to secure the placement of the lace trim.  

2. Continue layering the lace trim with the design that you want. I wanted it to be full lace all the way to the top so I cut off the belt hooks and sewn the pockets in.

3. For the back, I added trim to the pockets and waist. Again, I removed the belt hooks and buttons. I used only 2 layers for each part. I wanted to include the bottom but I ran out of lace. The pockets were hand-stitched since I wanted to keep the pockets open.  

4. Sew the lace trim with a sewing machine or with a needle and thread. Sewing the middle part of the shorts was difficult and I had to hand-stitch the part towards the zipper. Keep on sewing and sewing..until you have sewn all layers! Be patient and do it part by part. 

5. This is how the back looks:

6. And this is how the front turned out :) I am happy with the result despite that it took me almost a week to complete. I did one part per day and it just gets more exciting towards the end when you see the final product :)

I will most probably make another one in cream, using a WIDER width of lace! I used about 11 yards of lace for entire shorts heee :)