What to Make With Jeans Besides a Purse?

The material from your jeans can be used in a variety of projects.

Recycling and up-cycling, which is reusing something by making it better than it was, is a popular trend in green and eco-friendly circles. People use old jeans as material for homemade purses and tote bags, but purses aren't the only project you can make with your jeans. With a little creativity and a sewing machine, you can take your old jeans from worn out pants to something brand new.

Denim Skirt

Transforming jeans into a denim skirt is an easy project for beginning sewers. Cut out the inside seams up the legs of the jeans. Cut the legs to the desired length and sew the extra fabric to fill in the open triangles from the removed seams. Hem the bottom of the skirt to complete it. Use blue thread to make the seams less noticeable in the finished skirt.

Remote Caddy

The pockets in a pair of jeans make good holders for your television remotes, glasses or other things you want to keep nearby. Cut off the legs of the jeans and hem the bottom edge. Cut a rectangle length of fabric from one of the legs. Sew one end of the rectangle closed and add sand or rice to it to weight it. Sew the other end of the rectangle to the top of the remote caddy. The weighted side of the caddy will offset the weight of the remotes so it can be draped over the arm of a chair and kept in place.

Pillow Slipcover

Using the material from jeans as a slipcover will give you a pillow cover that will stand up to wear and tear. Cut the seams of the legs to make wide panels of fabric to use for a pillow slipcover. Sew the panels together and leave one side open. Add another half panel to the front of the open side so it folds over the back. This will keep the pillow inside the cover, but will allow you to take it off to wash.

Place Mats

Denim place mats give your dining table a funky, casual look. Cut fabric from the jeans into rectangles and hem the edges. Embellish the place mats with ribbon, buttons or other notions to make them suit your style and dining room decor. For stiffer place mats, cover the front and back of cardboard with the material before embellishing it. You can glue the fabric to the cardboard with craft glue.

Quilt Blocks

Fabric scraps are good materials for quilting. Use squares of denim from jeans as center pieces of fabric for quilt blocks. Cut the legs off the jeans and cut out the seams. Use the panels of fabric to make squares of fabric that are all the same size. Use additional fabric to border the denim squares to complete your quilt blocks.

References

• Washington State University Extension; 4-H Youth Development Program: Quick Sew Project; Lesson 8: Throws, Placemats and Table Runners