New Use for Old Jeans

Hello everyone!! It has been a while since I published something, I hope ya'll are staying safe and sane out there .

So I was waiting for another sort of "trash to treasure" or "up-cycle' contest as my last entry I was not exactly happy with.

. I keep getting people asking me about these, they makes great gifts. I was told it would be great if I made a tutorial, they would love to see it. Granted this was a random person at a local store that I may never see again, that is far from the point though.

Contests and recognition from ones peers is awesome, makes me feel great. So does keeping things out of landfills, a cleaner environment and getting all the glossaries in the house in one trip (these help GREATLY with that.

Might I add if you (or one you love) never thought you would be able to own and use a brand label of jeans but your body type would not comfortably accommodate wearing them.... this is a great chance to do just that.

One of the largest sources of pollution of the past hundred years was fashion waste, with new trends leaving some clothes barely worn. For some things feel far to expensive to throw way sit in the back of a closet till it is finally time to let them go.

This is a better way to keep your jeans you won't/can not wear and use them too.

I have been making these for over 4 years. After the sate I live in all but banned reusable bags I was fed up with the substitutes before the law was fully in place. The store sold for 1$ fell apart quickly and washing them compromised them. The ticker 10 cent bags they replaced the thin ones with were hard to clean/dry when they got stuff spilled in them, smells lingered and they ended up in the trash more often then not like their thinner counterparts.

I had been working out and losing weight. I was shrinking out of my jeans quickly and was not sure what to do with them all.

I have to confess were some of my favorite pants, I did not fit them but did not want to let them go either. Donate is decent option but not when things are stained with grease, paint, F/X make up or have non aesthetically pleasing holes in them.

Then the idea of where to find sturdy fabric for a bag met with the what the heck to I do with all these pants thought.

So here we go. A simple, strong , easy to customize bag ,that has many uses and cleaning can be as simple as putting it in the washer and dryer.

Pair of jeans:

Size 32-6 is a good size well as size 12+ (had do something with the jeans my abandoned here) are a good for general shopping. One can make them bigger or smaller depending on needs.

Needle & thread/sewing machine

Scissors.

Straps for handles:
I use simple inexpensive dog leashes ( places like the dollar tree), or web/fabric belts often at thrift store found at thrift stores.

Fold them in half and measure how deep you want the bag to be, I tend to use a few inches shorter than my forearm so it is deep but reaching to the bottom of it while holding it is not a juggling act. If it is a gift and I know they may just use it as a handbag, I adapt.

Now make it about an inch longer than what you want it and cut off the excess. If you do not wan to buy straps and it has a thick inseam (example in last photo) you can use that. Just know a sewing machine will probably not go through it without suffering for it, so I recommend hand stitch. Fun fact: People have been making similar bags since the 70s and they used the cut out inseam for handles.

Flips it inside and out fold as seen.

Cut the straps into equal halves , the length you will need is adaptable. Shorter to hold in one hand close to you, longer so you can put it on your shoulder if needed but wont drag on the ground if held at your side. Every height and body type will have a different need/use a different length. One guy I know loved carrying his stuff home with it hung off the back of his wheelchair since it can handle so much weight he did not need to worry about it.

If you are using a dollar mart dog leash you can get the most length out of it by opening up the sewn down handle loop, cut off the clip(I recommenced storing for later reuse, they come in handy). Cut into two equal parts. If they fray use something to seal it, like heat or dip in strong glue.

It is worth noting the smaller the jeans and the more they taper or flair will indeed effect the shape of the bag. It can give the bag an interesting taper vs squared off, or ballooned. I have noticed trying to preserved the pockets is harder when sizing in ballooned ones.

Also known as putting it together.

This time around I sewed the latest one by hand.(Sadly machine is down due to hard to find parts).

At this point the jeans will still be inside out. Sew the flattened inseams together as seen and seal up the bottom. You are forming the lines that will be the bottom of the bag, when you turn it right aside out no stitching will be visible. That is it for that. You can also sew the zipper or button fly shut if you chose.

Normally I would run the machine with a zig zag setting for the body and straight stitch for the straps seen in the last of the machine sewn photos. Hand sewing did not degrade the quality to say the least. I used sturdy thread and a strong(albeit unorthodox) stitches they work the same as any of the others I made.

Now to attach the handles. Easiest way to make sure they do not get all twisted up is to lay them flat and mark both ends on part facing up at either end. When add that way they will lay down as seen in the photo.

Line up the handles with the easier to sew through parts of the belt line. Make sure the placement will work on both sides. It saves a headache if you can line them up so you can avoid needle breaking thickness on one-side, but easy as can be on the other.

Yup , that is really the end.

Now you have a sturdy (as the jeans they are made of) bag! With extra utility pockets for receipts, handkerchief, phone, or anything you do not want to hold at the moment but do not want to lose track of.

A reusable bag you can sew patches on, dye, paint, customize. As as well as clean the same way one would any other pair of jeans.

I made some of these bags out of 1$ -ten cent jeans that were not moving or ended up the bargain/clearance bin at thrift stores. They were too big or the fashion tend it came from was latter deemed ... unfortunate. They went on to make great gifts as well as made a good sale because someone wanted them and made me an offer.

Some say the what I charged was to low/I am too nice. I honestly feel there is no such thing as to nice. Only those who would take advantage of others kindness. I believing in changing how I help others rather than stop being helpful.
In fact it was a persons wish for a tutorial for these because they wanted one and I had no extras at the moment that motivated me to finally publish this.

These look pretty rough on the inside I know. I use them as is but for those to care to, adding lining is a good idea.As long as we can keep it friendly feel free to add links to instructables of liners that would go well with this bag in the comments.

Thank you for reading!

Stay safe out there.

^;..;^