I finally bought a new pair of work pants, since I have been wearing the ones above for about two years. They are ripped and stained with all sorts of lovely greases and oils. I really wanted to make something wearable from them instead of cutting them up for scrap so, I decided to bleach and dye them. Here is how I did it:
Supplies:
old pair of jeans
bleach
bucket
dye
salt
gloves
dye fixer
1. Cut the legs off your pants quite a bit longer than you want the shorts. No use dyeing fabric you don't need.
2. Create a bleach bath of about 2 gal water to 2/3 cup bleach. Just don't use too much bleach or it will eat away the fabric. Since the concentration is so low, it will take a while to bleach the blue out completely. My pants were a pretty light color to start with but it still took about 3 days. I changed the bleach bath and rinsed the shorts about 4 times during the process.
3. Now you are ready to dye your shorts! I used a dark color because my pants were still stained after I bleached them but if yours are clean, you can bleach them pastel if you want. The process here varies depending on what brand you use and what method you choose. I like to use liquid dye because even though it costs more, it makes less of a mess because the powder tends to get everywhere (don't sneeze!). I also always dye in a bucket inside of a utility sink. I like to use a dye fixer after to help the dye stay bright after the upcoming washes.
4. Finish the legs of your shorts however you like. Roll 'em, hem 'em or just plain cut 'em off!
Note: I used kelly green dye first but the color just wasn't what I wanted so I re-dyed them dark green. Remember that dyeing isn't an exact science.
Second note: If you will notice, the stitching on the pants stayed the original color and was not bleached or dyed. This is because the thread is synthetic, not cotton, so you will keep the contrasting stitching.
Stay bright!
