DIY: Turn An Old T-Shirt Into Comfy Quarantine Shorts - With The LEAST Amount Of Sewing Humanly Possible

About a year ago I turned some of John's old t-shirts into what could loosely be called "shorts," but only if you were being generous. Really they were more stretchy skirts with the "legs" tacked together in the middle, since I couldn't figure out how to make a crotch without a bunch of sewing. And I hate sewing. Sewing is dark magic to me, steeped in impossibility and forever demanding blood sacrifices and chanted curses.

Anyway, problem was, John freaking LOVED those "shorts." He raved about how comfortable they were, and then wore them to death - which didn't take long, since the only thing holding the "crotch" together was faith, trust, and a 3-inch line of stitching.

So a few weeks ago, after many requests from John for more t-shirt shorts, we sat down together to figure out an easy, almost no-sew way to add a crotch so they'd fit better and last longer.

AND WE DID IT

The new design is vastly more durable, still just as comfy, and doesn't look like a giant diaper, which I consider a plus. (Not that I'm here to judge.) Best of all, it only requires 4 more lines of stitching, bringing the total stitch lines for this entire project up to 6. Six! That's it! And ZERO hemming, because we use the existing hems on the shirt.

We even eliminated the need for elastic by making our own drawstring from the leftover shirt top, so the ONLY thing you need to make these shorts is one old t-shirt, scissors, a sharpie, and a sewing machine. (Or needle and thread.) BOOM. It's the ultimate upcycle, and in the end you get the comfiest lounge shorts in all the land of Quarantine-opia. And let's face it: comfy lounge shorts are an essential dress code here.

OK. Ready for some entry-level sewing magic?

First, grab your grungiest old t-shirt out of the "to cut up into rags" pile:

(You'll notice I never said this was going to be a pretty DIY)

Using a long ruler or straight edge, draw 3 lines: one from armpit-to-armpit, one an inch or two ABOVE that line, and one vertical line in the bottom middle that's about 4 inches long, to make the legs.

Now cut all those lines:

The thin strip on top will be your drawstring, so set that aside.

Next we're going to harvest some crotchal pieces, so cut one of the sleeves off:

Keeping the sleeve folded, draw a rectangle like this:

My ruler isn't helping much here, but the bottom hem of the rectangle should be roughly 4 inches. From there draw a line straight up 'til you run out of sleeve, no need to measure.

Cut your rectangle out, there will be two layers.

The sleeve is still folded over, so next cut up the folded edge to turn it into 2 identical pieces:

Ta-daaaaa:

You'll note that my pieces are not identical. This is part of my curse. But don't worry, it won't matter!

Set your crotch pieces aside (while making a mental count of how many times I use the term "crotch pieces" in this post), and let's make the waist line. Fold down the cut edge of your shirt at least an inch or so:

Also decide if you want any remaining design on the shirt to be on the inside or the outside of your finished shorts. John was afraid this vinyl design would be uncomfortable inside, so he had me flip the shirt inside out before continuing:

The folded-over edge will be the channel for your drawstring - or for your elastic - so make sure it's wide enough if you're using elastic. If you're using drawstring, then a little over an inch is fine.

Pin the edge down, aaaaaand....

MAKE IT SEW

(I like how the Epbot is peeking through the machine, heh.)

By "it" I mean the dutiful Husbot, because even this simple run of stitching is basically torture for me, and I didn't want to accidentally unleash any more global catastrophes.

If you're using elastic remember to leave an open area in the waist channel to add that later, but if not, just sew 'er all the way up. We'll cut a slit later to add the drawstring.

Now that the waist is done, let's turn out attention further south, to the dreaded CROTCHAL ZONE.

This is going to be tricky to explain, so follow close:

Here are your shorts, and the square at the bottom is one of the ex-sleeve crotch pieces.

Now the tricky bit, which I have masterfully illustrated for your edification:

You're going to sew the two vertical sides of the crotch piece (let's call him Corky) to the cut sides of the left leg, essentially making a 3D box of fabric. Make sure the hemmed edge of the crotch piece is DOWN, so it lines up with the shorts hem.

Here I am pointing to the edge of the stacked crotch piece we're about to sew, just in case Corky the Crotch Monster wasn't clear enough:

So. Sew that. Then sew the other side of the crotch piece to the other side of the leg.

When you're done, the leg should look like this:

Still with me? Excellent.

Now repeat for the other leg.

Your shorts' crotchal zone should now look something like this:

Ahhh, but there's still one last line to sew!

Right bang in the middle, where the two crotch pieces meet. We leave this for last to make up for any wonkiness while sewing up the sides.

After you sew that inner crotch line together, you can go back and sew it again for added strength, and to sew down any inside edges that are sticking up funny.

Now all that's left is the drawstring, so grab that skinny strip you cut from the top of the shirt:

If this is in 2 pieces, then sew the edges together to make one long strip.

Now, PULLLLLLLL

More dark magic: when you pull on strips of t-shirt fabric, it turns into stretchy rope!

Cut a small slit in the front of your shorts' waist channel, and use a hanger or large safety pin to feed your new drawstring around:

And you're done! One new whisper-soft pair of t-shirt lounge shorts, ready to report for couch-lounging duty.

Since this pair doesn't look like a giant diaper, I even got John to model them for you:

That's a happy husband. I don't think I'll ever get him to buy store-made sleep shorts again! Which is fine, since I've been stockpiling his old t-shirts for a while. Heck, I may even try sewing the next pair myself!

... Naaaaaah.

:D

Since I do have so many old t-shirts, though, do any of you have any other favorite t-shirt upcycles? I already cut them up for rags, so I'm wondering if I could also start making t-shirt yarn... but then what do I do with that?

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And if you're looking for more tutorials - or just some geeky inspiration - be sure to check out my Crafts page! I've got over 150 different projects there for you to browse, like these: