Several years ago, my husband lost enough weight that he could no longer wear most of his clothes. We donated some of them, but still have items that I felt I could do something with. In the mean time, my bodily changes now mean that some of his old shorts fit me, other than needing to be hemmed up. I didn’t care for the extra bulk of the back pocket on these shorts, so I removed the pocket and snapped flap. The pair on the left are a “before” and the pair on the right are an “after”.
Here is a close up of the bulky snap closure on the before:
After: A patch behind the slot opening left behind from the pocket and flap removal, and a matching button to cover the hole left from the snap removal. I lightly quilted the gingham patch fabric using some inside pocket material that was cut out. My sewing machine skills could definitely be improved, but overall I’m pleased with the outcome. Oh, and all my supplies came from stash.
ETA: I went ahead and did the other two pairs today. I couldn’t think of anything else to do with the slot left from the former pocket, so they got a similar treatment as the first pair.
These are dark navy, not black like they appear to be in the photo. I hand stitched the red around the opening. My fingers say “ouch”.
For the last pair, I found a cute patch in my stash. Machine stitched the opening. Much better job than on the first pair.