Jeans to Tote Bag

 This is for  30 Days of Creativity and the theme for Day 4 is Trousers, so I decided to turn a pair of jeans into a girly tote bag.   I used tulle as an accent through the belt loops but any fabric or even a belt could be used.

Items used:

• Jeans or pants with belt loops
• Scissors
• Sewing Machine and thread
• Rope 
• Tulle (off of a roll from the Dollar Store - approx. 12 inches wide  & 3 yds)

Cut pants off straight across above the crotch.

Zigzag around all edges to prevent fraying.

Turn inside out and pin together at the bottom and stitch 5/8 inch away from the edge.  Trim corners and turn right side out.

For the handle, I cut 2 pieces of rope a little over a yard long each and sewed to the pants 3 inches away from each edged on each side.  If the rope you use is polyester, you can seal the edge using a lighter or candle before applying to the jeans.


Cut the tulle at a diagonal on the edges, thread through the loops and tie in a bow.



Linking up to:

Patching Jeans

While distressed jeans are in fashion, so are patches this season. If you wanted a distressed look but still wanted to keep the cold out, this is a good option. This is good for using on any area except around the zipper of the inside of the legs.

Items used:
Jeans
Jeans fabric scrap for patch
HeatNBond Iron on adhesive
Steam iron
Scissors
Pen
Sewing machine (optional)
Thread (optional)

Put piece of jean materials over area that needs patched and make sure it is at least an inch wider on each side than what needs to be patched and cut to fit.

Put the scrap fabric top of the paper side of the HeatNBond and draw around the edges with a pen, then cut.


On the right side of the scrap fabric, but the shiny side down on the HeatNBond (the paper side will be up) and iron with steam setting until set (about 30 seconds).   Let set a few minutes to cool off - when cool paper should be easy to remove.


Turn the pants inside out.  Position the patch right side (now will be shiny side) of patch to the wrong side of the jeans over the area to be patched and iron on using steam.

Optional - if you want to make it extra secure, you could turn the jeans right side out and stitch around the the distressed area at the edges where it is distressed.  I do this when the area is right around the pockets in the back around the edges up to, but not on, the pocket itself.

Patching Jeans Near a Zipper

Repairing jeans or camouflage pants or shorts with patches using the reverse applique method.

While patched jeans are in trend this year http://www.fabsugar.com/Trend-Alert-Patch-Jeans-6911177 and this method could work for that, but my reasons for doing this are more utilitarian.  I had several pairs of jeans that my son and his Dad asked me to repair because either very worn or completely ripped out near the zipper (which is why the the pictures look different depending on which pair I was patching.  No sooner did I get them patched, they wanted to wear them so I would have to start pictures with the next pair.)  I used a reverse applique method instead of an over the top patch because when I asked my son which one he said a patch over the top was too obvious and people might stare at his crotch -  I sure didn't want that happening!

Items used:

• Pants that need patched
• Similar scrap fabric for the patch
• Scissors
• HeatNBond Iron on adhesive
• Steam iron
• Sewing machine or needle
• Thread

Turn the pants wrong side out on an ironing board, if torn, scrunch the torn edges together so the edges meet.  Lay a piece of the scrap fabric over the top so that it is an inch or more away from the area that needs to be patched on all sides.

 

Turn the patch right side up and cut pieces of  HeatNBond to put around the edges only - I used scraps that were left over from other projects which is why this one looks so patchy, but it is just to keep it in place to make it easier to sew the patch down without having to mess around with breaking a needle or getting pricked by straight pins.  I would not recommend putting the HeatNBond over the entire patch - I did this once and was told that it made the area too stiff and uncomfortable.

Put the HeatNBond pieces with the shiny side down, paper side up on top of the patch and use a steam iron to iron them to the patch.  I use the setting a notch below the maximum on my iron, but it may vary depending on the fabric content - that might be too hot if there is a high polyester content in the fabric.   Wait a few minutes to allow the strip to cool until they are easy to peel off.

 

After pulling off the paper, flip the patch so the right side of the patch is down on the wrong side of the jeans, position in place. If ripped, be sure to line up the edges of the rip as close as possible.  If a piece goes over a seam on the leg that is not necessary, trim it off, and then iron down with a steam iron.

 

 Turn the pants right side out and stitch around the edges of the worn area or the ripped area.

  Turn the pants inside out again and if there are and loose corners or area near the stitching, trim them off.