Make a Jeans Handbag: Materials

Series Summary

If you’re an amateur seamstress, or even a professional, making your own handbags, totes, purses and carryalls can be a lot of fun. Walking around with something you’ve made yourself slung over your shoulder can give you a real sense of pride and ownership. Homemade bags can serve as great conversation starters and pieces. How would you like to turn an old pair of jeans into a great bag? In this free fashion video series, you will learn how to make three different bags out of recycled jeans: a handbag, a pocket purse and a large, heavy-duty tote bag. Find out what materials, in addition to your old jeans, you will need for these projects. Get step by step instructions, from cutting and pinning, to sewing, making linings and creating straps.

Video Transcript

"Recycling is a wonderful way to make something old into something new. I will show you how to make three fun and useful totes. We will be making a lined handbag made out of an old pair of jeans and some, and another recycled skirt. I'll show you how to make a little pocket purse made out of the pockets of jeans and an old recycled leather belt. I'll also show you how to make this terrific large tote for carrying groceries or great for a day at the beach or a family outing. Recycling is fun and great for our environment. These are the materials we'll be using to make our recycled jean handbag. You want to use a pair of girls jeans. I picked these because they had some bright colors. They're a nice size. I'm also using a recycled skirt. This skirt was damaged. I'm going to use that for lining. And I'm going to use this recycled zipper that's if you want to, if you have old clothing that really is no good and you can't use it for anything else, pull the zippers out and throw them in your drawer. You'll use it again. And I just have an extra leg, so a little bit extra denim to make the strap of our jeans, only because my jeans are a little bit short so I need a little bit of extra for the bottom of the bag and the strap. You want to use, we're going to be sewing this with a sewing machine, so you want to make sure you have some heavy jeans or denim needles or whatever your machine uses for heavy needle for sewing thick fabrics. And you'll need a good, sharp pair of scissors."