Weekly DIY Roundup: Old Jeans!

POSTED BY Lee Meredith, 30 May 2008

The Threadheads have been featuring some great projects using old jeans lately - I was especially amazed by Ryan Moore's sweatshirt collar last week because I'd never seen that idea before - genius!! And Meg's Decor It Yourself apron a couple weeks ago was so cute! So I started searching for more fun recycled denim projects and found a ton of them! If you're into making jeans more cool, but keeping them pants (like dyeing, embellishing, reshaping, etc), there are loads of ideas for you out there too, but today I'm all about making jeans into something new!

I'll start out with this wallet by pkruep on instructables because I love it and it's a perfect jeans-leftovers project for guys and girls both.

 

Also on instructables, I found sagefemme's tech caddy made with jeans pockets:

 

 

Which transitions into the whole purse/bag category, with limitless variations - Corinne showed us how to make one on the podcast awhile back, and I love this lined version by petchy on craftster. (For more purse inspiration, there's another supercute lined bag by Atrapos.)

 

 

And then there's this super detailed instructable by weiblen.c for a big denim shopping bag:

 

 

I absolutely love this camera case from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, with my weakness for the color orange...

 

 

Back to that apron idea, here's another version you can check out by Betz White:

 

 

This brilliant recycled pot holder concept won Readymade magazine's MacGyver challenge for jeans, and you can see another tutorial for the same idea on the my recycled bags blog.

 

 

If you have tons of jeans scraps and need a big project, try this denim quilt designed by Leah Anderson on allpeoplequilt.com.

 

 

 

Or, if you just have a few small scraps, you can copy me and make some wrist cuffs. (sorry, no tutorial for these, be creative and make it up as you go!)

 

 

Speaking of leftover scraps, check out this amazing skirt by violentjayne on craftster, made entirely of cut-off hems.

 

And that brings us to the whole skirt category of reconstructed jeans, with oh so many design options. There's the basic version Corinne did the tutorial for in this very blog about a year ago.

 

 

 

I like the look of this one on savvyseams.com, simple but very cute!

 

And then there's not martha's looong skirt, which has a colored fabric panel in the back.

 

Now I'll leave you with the craziest idea I came across, this octopus chair on atelierblink - a cross between a comfy beanbag and a piece of art:

 

 

Well I hope I gave you some ideas for that old pair in the back of your closet that never gets worn anymore. Or maybe next time to hit the thrift store you'll find some cheapo used pairs on sale, perfect for cutting up and making into something awesome! Be sure to post your creations, I can't wait to see them!!

 

recycle, jeans, bags, clothing, denim, skirts, aprons, purses, reconstruct, wallets, cuffs