Thursday, August 25, 2011

Old Jeans to Bag

Remember my Old Jeans to Skirt project?
 

The jeans I used for this skirt was a little tight and after months of hoping that I will lose weight (without really doing anything) so that I can finally wear it... I just decided to take my seam ripper to remove the fabric I added and attach it to another pair ofjeanc that's I've cut. One that actually fit.

(edited August 30, 2011 to add photo)
Yey! I can wear it now! :)
So that left me with this:
 

What to do? What to do? Hmmm...

I know! A bag! I've seen a few projects that turned old jeans into bags before and I've always wanted to try it. 

However, this part I was left with was a little small. I decided to add more fabric at the bottom to make it bigger. And here is what I came up with.


I used the same color thread to attach the bottom and stitched 2 lines to match the rest of the jeans.

 
Stitches aren't very straight, I know. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

I used a zipper for the first time too!

Stitches were a little wonky but after I was done, I didn't want to rip the stitches to fix it anymore. Most important thing for me was that it opens and closes... since it does, I'm good :)

I had a difficult time attaching the lining. I think this part took the most time. I wanted the stitches to fall under the waistband of the jeans so they won't be so obvious. And I was attaching the zipper the same time I was attaching the lining. I can't describe what I was doing very well. And this was the point I decided to give up on trying to prepare a tutorial (yes, I was trying to prepare a tutorial for you guys..  maybe next time when I've had more practice). I had to rip the stitches several times and do it over. But after several tries... and several hours of work (like around 6 hours total of just trying to attach the lining)... I was done. Hooray!


I used red fabric because initially, I was planning to use the handles from an old bag I already have. Those handles were red synthetic leather. However, upon close checking, some parts of those handles were already cracking so I decided not to use them. Instead I used these:

You know how some bags come with 2 detachable hanDles One short and one long? My mom has a bunch those from old bags she doesn't even have anymore. She gave me a plastic bag full of them and I found a short black one. I simply attached them to the belt loop (I had to Google to find out that those are called, haha! I just realized I didn't know... we call them "sinturera" here in the Philippines and I think that's a Spanish term. You get a piece of trivia today :).

For the other handle, I used an old thin black belt. I attached metal rings on the 2 belt loops in front and slipped one end of the belt, folded the belt around the chain link and used needle and black thread to sew the 2 layers of the black belt together to secure it. After that, I measured the length of belt I needed to match the other handle, cut off the excess, and did the same on the other end.


The belt I used is a little narrower than the handle on the other end but you can't really notice the difference. I also thought about making handles out of the same fabric I used for the bottom of the bag but I thought that using synthetic leather on the handles will make the bag look just a little bit less home made :)

Here's how it looks from the  back:


I love that my bag has a lot of pockets from the front and back pockets of the jeans. And you can see the spots where I removed the jeans tag and former position of the belt loops before I adjusted their position.

Happy with the result and I'm glad that's over. Sewing with denim isn't one of my favorite things, I discovered :)

I am linking up to the following parties:
Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations | A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Link Party at Tea Rose Home | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show and Share at Southern Lovely | DIY Diva Thursday at Mine for the Making | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom | Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming | Not Baad Sunday at Lamb Around | Craft-O-Maniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | A Marvelous Mess at Marvelously Messy | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night | Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Tuesday To Do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy | Shabby Shares Saturday Link Party at Rustic Crafts |

16 comments:

Diane Writes said...

Nice one Jannelle! I was wondering lang what happened to the fabric you used to turn the jeans to a skirt? When I enlarged the picture kasi I found out cute din un fabric ng skirt. :)

Janelle said...

@Diane Writes

Hi Dianne! Meron pa akong isa pang jeans na pinutol... nilipat ko dun yung fabric, ginawa kong skirt lang din ulit na ganon lang din ulit yung itsura. Only this time... it fits me now :) So nagagamit ko na yung skirt. Looking for a photo pa of me wearing it.

Happy in red said...

So clever!!
Esther.

Agy said...

This is great! I've been making things out of my hubby's old pair of jeans. Now I know what to do with the top part :-)

http://greenissuessingapore.blogspot.com

MrsWardy88 said...

Oh thats way cute! I'm thinking of doing a jean skirt for fall.... So I will be coming back for that tutorial. :)

Mrs. Kelley Dibble said...

I'm with Agy: Clever! I think it's absolutely adorable, especially the red lining!

Ricochet said...

you know there are many jeans-to-purse projects out there, but yours is truly different (and the best I've seen!). I love the way you did the handles and using the print on the bottom looks great!

I sew bags too. I hope you'll check out my blog.

Your newest follower,
Rikka J.
Ricochet and Away!

Hannah @HannahHandmade said...

AWW! Wow to cute :) Please stop by to see my giveaway! There are 11 different prizes and for every entry I will donate 50 cents to the winners chosen charity! I am your newest follower :)

hugs! Hannah from www.hannahhandmade.blogspot.com

Erica said...

Super cute idea! I would love for you to join my linky party:

http://hindrancecrafts.blogspot.com/2011/08/under-25-makeover-deck-details-and.html

Deanna said...

Great idea! I will give it a try soon.

JanetK said...

Nice adaptation of this idea - I love the recessed zipper!

Cecilia @ Crearescout said...

Lovely bag! It's great that you gave your jeans a third life :)

Cecilia

Renee Hanlon said...

I love this idea and would love you to share the post at my Shabby Shares link party over at Rustic Crafts ~ http://rustic-crafts.com

Little City Farm said...

This turned out really cute. Love that bottom fabric. Bummer it was such a challenge for you.

Unknown said...

Love that bag. Two cool projects wrapped into one pair of jeans....thanks for sharing @ Marvelously Messy!!

Jami said...

What an adorable purse! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing it at the Tuesday To Do Party last week! Can't wait to see what you link up this week!
Smiles!
Jami
www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com