Daniel turned a pair of his fraying work pants into shorts. I held onto the cut-offs thinking there would be something I could turn them into. Turns out there was! We needed lumbar support pillows and I wanted more navy blue in the office space, so the cut-offs were a perfect solution (and free). I'm sure you could figure it out yourself if you're interested in doing a similar project, but here's the simple process anyway:
1. Cut pants off to desired length for shorts; hem up ends if desired or wash to allow fraying. Turn cut off inside out and trim off bottom hem of pants. Then choose one sewn edge of pants to keep and evenly trim opposite edge. (If you are working with wide-/straight-leg pants, you might be able to keep both side-sewn edges.)
2. Sew 1/4" seam around 3 unsewn edges, leaving about a hand width on one end for stuffing. Sew an additional 1/2" seam and stitch over again. (This will keep you from feeling like you have to be super gentle when stuffing.) I also did extra back-stitching to reinforce the corners.
4. Stuff pillow to desired firmness (I used half a large bag for each pillow). Be sure pillow is stiff enough for the support you desire, and add a little extra because your pillow will flatten some after a couple uses. Hand stitch open end. I made about 3 or 4 passes to reinforce end and to close up an gaps in my larger-than-machine stitches.
Add pillows to the office and enjoy a little office work sans back pain. I've also found these make good feet support. I use Daniel's pillow to prop my feet up the couple inches I need :)
