I Turned Thrifted Adidas Sweatpants Into My New Favorite Shorts

I've been seeing this everywhere lately. People go to the thrift store, find old Adidas shorts for a few dollars, and add lace or eyelet trim to make them cute and feminine. Adidas is actually selling their own version with lace trim now too, which tells you how much of a thing this has become. I thought it was really cool and wanted to try it.

I went to the thrift store down the street and found a pair of Adidas sweatpants for about five dollars. The plan was to cut them into shorts myself instead of hunting for the right pair.

Picking the Trim

I already have a lot of lace trim. Like, a lot. So instead of going out and buying anything, I laid out my options and did something a little different: I put it to a vote on my Instagram stories.

Three options, followers voted. Here's what I posted:

The last option won, which was also my favorite, so I was happy about that.

What I Did

I cut the sweatpants down to shorts length, then sewed the lace along the bottom hem. But the detail I was most excited about was adding trim on the sides, right next to the classic Adidas stripes. I saw someone online do something similar and thought it was such a good idea. It makes them feel really intentional instead of just "I cut some sweatpants."

How They Turned Out

Really happy with them. The sporty Adidas stripe with the delicate lace is a combination that just works. The whole project was maybe an afternoon and the lace I already had. If you can cut in a straight line and sew a straight stitch, you can do this.

I ended up wearing them in New York recently. I paired them with my Billy bag (the pattern is on my recommended patterns page if you want to make one). It was a really fun outfit to put together.

If you try this, tag me on Instagram @DesignsbyERB. I'd love to see it.