The Short-Gals Guide to Shortening Jeans

Shopping for jeans can be a difficult task at the best of times; if you’re a short-gal like me (152cm/5’1”), then you already know how hard it can be finding jeans you feel and look   in AND that aren’t a mile too long.

My name is Danielle and I’m the Digital Marketing Coordinator here at Mavi – apart from all loving all things digital, I’ve been known to be a bit of a sewer & diy-er. I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to shorten your jeans at home.  

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Jeans
• sharp scissors or rotary cutter
• Pins, sewing clips or bull clips in my case
• Optional: Ruler 

Step one:

The  first order of business is find a pair of jeans you love, but need shortened. I recommend cutting a pair of jeans designed with a raw (frayed) edge.

If the jeans you’ve chosen have distressing or rips, make sure you try them on and check the distressing/rips sit in the right area. For example, if your jeans have knee rips, we want those rips to be at your knees, not your shins.

I’ve chosen our Sunday Jeans, I’ve loved these jeans for so long but I was worried they would be far too long – which they are, but we’ll fix that.

Luckily for me, unaltered, the distressing sits at my natural knee, so these will work great to shorten!

Step two:

With your unaltered jeans on, cuff one leg at your preferred leg length. I recommend trying your jeans on with a pair of shoes you plan to wear with them; this way you’ll have a more accurate idea of where to cut.

Once you’ve cuffed your jeans to your desired length, pin the jeans at the bottom to secure where your new length will be.

Step three:

With one leg cuffed, pinned and ready for cutting. Carefully take off your jeans, with the cuff still secured, and lay your jeans on a table with the backsides on top of each other. Keep your cuffed leg on top.

Now the fun part - use your cuffed leg as a guide to cut the longer leg length. If you’re using scissors, make long, straight cuts until you reach the other side of the fabric. If you’re using a rotary cutter, be sure to apply a bit of pressure otherwise your cutter won’t cut through all 4 layers.

Step four:

Once the first leg is cut, flip your jeans over and un-pin your cuffed leg and lay it flat underneath the new length you just cut. Now we’ll be using the leg you just shortened as a guide for cutting the other leg.

Step five:

Optional – The original hem of the Sunday Jeans is frayed, so what I’m doing is pulling out the tiny white strings at the bottom of my new length. This will happen naturally once you start wearing and washing your jeans, so it’s not necessary if you don’t have the patience to pull at them!

And that’s IT! If you’re a little nervous to cut your jeans, start short! You can always come back and cut more length off if you need to.

We’d love to see you in your shortened Mavi jeans!! Don’t forget to tag us in your new, shortened jeans or leave a comment below letting us know what you think!