3595: Spray Painted & Bleached Cut Off Shorts

Spray Painted & Bleached Cut Off Shorts... this little project I did yesterday did turned out better than I had hoped! Yea! I made my girls and I some spray painted and bleached shorts.
My daughter Bo was in some desperate need of shorts. I haven't been to find some shorts that fit her that are within my budget for a while and so I decided to use what I have.... pants into shorts. She had about 8 pairs of pants that I cut off for her.
At that point... I remembered this pin on Pinterest and it inspired me. I decided to make a pair for each of my girls and me to wear this independence day.
It was a fun project! I really am pleased with the way they turned out.
My girls and I like modest shorts. These are knee length.
Yea... for shorts.

Here is how you can make your own:

Spray Painted & Bleached Cut Off Shorts
By Carrie Perrins

Items Needed

pants-cut off to shorts
scissors
freezer paper
star cut out
red and blue spray paint
painters tape
iron
bleach/water

Directions:

Cut off pants to their desired length. Here is a great tutorial if you need help with this part of the project.

After your pants are cut... cut out the stars from freezer paper.

I used an scrapbook star punch... sized 1 1/4" for the little star and 1 1/2" for the bigger star. Cut strips of freezer paper for the stripes. Measure the width of your pants and then cut that size of stripe. Every pair of pants are different... that is I why I give directions this way.

I did about an 1" stripe. You can cut out as many stars and stripes that you prefer. I noticed I ended up liking more stripes and a little less stars. Either way... you decide.

Iron your freezer paper stars and stripes onto your pants. When using freezer paper, iron shiny side down. If not... it will stick to your iron.

Once.. they are ironed on, cover one part of the pants with something protective. Spray paint goes everywhere! Spray paint the stars blue, let dry. Spray paint the stripes red, let dry. Once dry... remove the star and stripes freezer paper from pants. It took me about 10 minutes for each side to dry.

Fill tub or sink half full of a 50/50 solution of bleach and water. Set pants into bleach/water solution for a least an 1/2 hour! You can totally do longer... but the shorter time won't bleach it. The longer you let them sit the more bleached they are. You need just enough water to somewhat dip your pants into them. My sink was perfect... it had a little ledge where I sat the top portion. You can submerge the entire pair, if desired. A bucket works as well. Just make sure it doesn't leak... like mine did the first time I did this. I then moved to the bathroom sink.

After it has sat for at least an 1/2 hour... transfer to your washer. Send it through a wash and dry cycle.

*Hints: You are spray painting and bleaching. Wear appropriate clothing. If you need some spray painting tips... Go Here. Use painters tape to tape off the back part of the shorts. You only want the front part sprayed. I still got some spray paint on places I didn't want. So... prepare your shorts properly.