DIY Ombré Shorts By Guest Blogger: Sammi Nutt

If you haven’t noticed, ombre is everywhere! From beauty, fashion, even crafting. Earlier this summer I saw a really cute pair of red, white, and blue ombré shorts at a little boutique in California with my sister. My first thought was how perfect they would be for the Country Thunder concert and the Fourth of July. They were high waisted, frayed, and all in all just really cute! But they were around $40 and I just did not have that much money for a pair of shorts at the time. I started looking for another pair immediately, but then I had a little “pinspiration”: I could just MAKE them!

All you need is:

-a thrifted pair of jeans
-a bucket
-bleach
-a bottle of fabric dye (you can pick them up at Wal-Mart for around $3)
-a hanger

1. Cut the shorts
Cut the shorts to be the length you want (leave a little extra to fray)
**I used a pair of shorts that I already had and marked an extra two inches down from the end of that seam

2. Bleach the shorts up to the point you want the white strip to show
fill with hot water up to the point you want the shorts to be white

Make sure the water is hot!! I forgot and I wasted an extra hour without results, and make sure use a lot of bleach in the bucket, it makes it go by somewhat faster!
**Put a small little splash of detergent in the bucket. It’s supposed to keep the bleach from turning the fabric yellow

3. rinse all the bleach off of the shorts
I just used the garden hose to rinse the shorts and the bucket (since you’ll use it for the dye)

4. Fill the bucket with hot water again, and follow the instructions on the bottle for dye.
I used about a third of the bottle. Let it sit for about half an hour, longer if you want a deeper color. Then rinse out until the water runs clear.

5. Throw the jeans in the wash
This will help to fray them a little on the end and get rid of the smell of dye and bleach.
** Throw a little vinegar in there to set the color of the dye so it won’t bleed. Dry them, cuff them, and enjoy your cute new shorts!!

Thanks Sammi for your great DIY!! Can’t wait to make my own pair!
xoxo Audree Kate