Board shorts, for those who don’t know, are cool, long shorts that were originally designed for surfers. These days they are beachwear essentials, even if you’re not a surfer. Saving money on a summer wardrobe is always good so I thought I would share my tip on making your own customised board shorts.

Probably the simplest way to make a pair of board shorts is to take an old, worn pair of jeans and cut off the legs above the knee.To make these really simply you don’t really need to hem the legs. Let them fray as this just adds to their character.

Unfortunately wet denim can be quite heavy and abrasive so this style of homemade board shorts is not likely to be suitable for surfing or other water sports. But they look really cool with a vest or t-shirt, a pair of flip flops and a cool pair of sunglasses.

If you are good with a needle and thread you will probablyhave fun customising your shorts with a few cool embellishments. One of my favourite modifications is to remove the rear pockets and add some nice, brightly colored summer material. I like to embroider my home made shorts and add a few custom patches and pieces of attractive, brightly colored material. I then wear the shorts with a long silk scarf threaded through the waist band as a belt. My boyfriend really loves the way these custom, homemade board shorts look when I wear them.

You might like to start off with a pair of old suit trousers rather than a pair of jeans. Cutting these down into a pair of shorts and adding a few custom embellishments is really cool. You will need to hem most old suit trousers to stop them coming apart. As for the denim board shorts, I always add a few personalized touches. You might like to add some handy side pockets made from brightly colored material or maybe embeillish the waist band.

You will find plenty of old trousers, ideal for customisation, at your nearby charity shops. There are always loads of old suit trousers to choose from and you can pat yourself on the back for recycling.