As a first year university student, I am faced with challenges every day. Whether to play drunken twister or to finish the essay that's due on Monday. Wondering how many days in a row is acceptable to wear sweatpants. To go to my 8:30am class, or not to go? Besides these, most of my dilemmas have to do with my less than satisfactory financial situation: I am broke. It wasn't until this year that I learned not to take three-ply toilet paper for granted and it has showed me that sometimes compromises have to be made to save money.
Another thing about me is that I'm not exactly good at keeping money in my bank account. Though I may be thrifty in my purchases, I am notoriously known for my shopaholic-tendencies. So anyway, on top of my broke-university-student problem, I also moved to a small town for school. Sackville New-Brunswick has a population of about 4000 people during the school year and you guessed it, about zero opportunity for shopping, that is, unless you're into dollar-store granny panties...
Anyone who looks at my bursting closet would have doubts that I needed more clothes, and they're right- so I've come up with a solution: revamping my wardrobe with the help of Pinterest. With the help of some crafting tutorials, I plan on taking the clothes I don't wear and making them new again. Problem solved. Here is my attempt:
All photos were taken by my terrible quality phone and
made slightly better with the help of Instagram
Next step was cutting them into a less
mom-tastic shape. I quickly got rid of most of both pant legs and then used my
friend as a model to see how much shorter they should be. Real crafters would
likely measure with a ruler and use special sewing pencils or something, but I
like to play it fast and loose and I think it gives them a bit more character:
Thought they might look uneven in this picture, rest assured, they look the same on both legs.
Next, I wanted to make them look a little more
grungy and that involved a little DIY fraying. I wasn't sure of the best way to
go about this so I did a quick google search and a came across a cool cut-off
shorts tutorial. In it, the girl uses all sorts of tools you can find in your
house so you don't have to go buy any special tools, which was great. She
suggested using a nail file to rub along the cut edges of the shorts until they
are of the ragged quality that you want them. I suppose this would also work
for making shorts look worn in other places too; a good tip to keep in mind.
Just my hand moving a warp-speed, fraying like it's my job.
At this point, my jorts (jean-shorts) are looking pretty cool and the fun hasn't even begun! My inspiration for this next part was the 'ombre fad' that can be seen in hair, makeup, clothes, furniture, cakes- everywhere. For example:
Here is and actual example of what I was hoping to accomplish:
Cost of all this? $1.69
Now, I have a pretty big dorm room with high enough ceilings, but I have to tell you, I would not recommend using bleach in a closed area with little ventilation. As I write this, I am definitely under the influence of some toxic fumes that have continued to linger and corrode my lung tissue. If I were to check my twitter right now, I'm sure there is a passive-aggressive tweet from my coughing roomie about the dangers of crafting. She'll forgive me eventually.
I first read some warnings about using bleach and was careful to keep it off my skin and clothes and diluted the bleach with water so as to not disintegrate my shorts. For a more gradated effect, I used an old toothbrush to spread the bleach-water solution evenly starting a the hem-line, working my way up:
(I do not advise using the toothbrush after this)
After applying a few coats, all I had to do was wait for them to start lightening. I let them simmer for about a day and was a little disappointed with the result. I assume I just diluted the bleach a little too much because they didn't turn as light as I wanted them to. Here's trial 1:
Verdict: Success!
-Eleanor
