You may have noticed that the trend in summer shorts (again) is the cutoff.  This trend comes back around every few years, and each time it baffles me how much retailers charge for cutoff shorts.  They are exactly what they sound like.  They are jeans that have been cut off to make shorts.

I see price tags of $40+ on jeans that have been purposely cut off and distressed in the name of fashion.  Not to mention by next summer or the next these shorts will be "out of style" again.

End soapbox rant.

Because I can't resist a good summer trend, I decided to make my own cutoff shorts.  I found a pair of jeans at Goodwill for $4 and got to work.  For distressing, I used a block of wood, sand paper, and a cheese grater.  

First I decided how long I wanted my shorts to be.  Don't even get me started on the popular "length" of cutoffs these days.  I layed my pair of jeans out and placed a pair of shorts I like on top to get a good measurement.  I added a couple of extra inches before I actually cut them just to make sure.  You can always cut more off, but you can't add length later.
After I cut them, I tried them on to make sure the length was right.  When I was happy with the length, I turned up the edges about an inch and stitched it to keep it in place.
I used the cheese grater to fray the edges where I had cut.  Then I added a distress hole near the right pocket by putting the wood block inside the leg and distressing the heck out of it with the sand paper and grater until I reached the look I was wanting.

They look and feel like $40 cutoffs for the low price of $4.  And next year, when the long, tailored Bermuda look is back (let's hope not), I won't have invested money into a quickly fading "trend."