My newest obsession is reading recyclart.org, a blog for those who don't like to read....looking at pretty pictures is good enough for them. I saw a purse made of old pants and fell in love. Unfortunately when I clicked on the link to said pants purse...the instructions were in Swedish. At least, I thought it was Swedish. It looked like something that belonged on an IKEA box. So I decided I would wing it and just start making the purse. I'm sure any true sewers would be gasping at me right now. I began with a vague idea of what I wanted and let the rest spill out of my brain as I went. How did I start? With the jeans, of course. We have a huge box of old jeans in the dungeon of our house for my Mom's jean quilt (which she will begin when she finally has time...busy woman that one.) I nabbed the only pair of Lucky jeans I ever owned (hand-me-downs for one of my sisters). Although I haven't worn them in years, it was hard to cut them up. I love all the personality of them...like inside the zipper "Lucky You" and the clovers all over the inside of the pockets...but I bit the bullet and did it.
I started this making this purse with the idea that it would be simple and a nice afternoon project. It turned out otherwise...full of decisions and frustrations. But I finally got it done...after ripping out the liner once, recutting the length of the purse, taking a day off because the fabric was making my brain feel as thought it was dissolving, settling for black thread on white and red fabric because I was too tired to search, deciding half way through I didn't even like the idea anymore, questioning my hippie-dippie ways and finally laughing at myself and finishing the dumb thing!
I wanted it to be fifteen inches long....
Eventually, I figured out that it needed to be shorter. The jeans need to be cut close to the crotch to actually work and even then can be difficult to maneuver.
The simplest part of this project was sewing the bottom of the jeans together. I tried to figure out out to easily make the bottom of the purse flat...then gave up deciding it wasn't worth it.
In some of the inspiration photos I looked at, they didn't line the inside of the purse. I couldn't let myself not line the inside. It would always seem unfinished. Because I used the Lucky jeans, I wanted the lining to match the red tag in the back of the jeans. Mom just happened to have this red and white checkered fabric laying around the craft room with no use. I lovingly gave it a use. It used to be a liner for a laundry basket before Mom demolished it to use it as a pattern for a new one. I was very lucky that it was just about the perfect size for the purse. I only had to trim a little.
I'm a messenger bag kind of girl. My favorite purse is a messenger bag and i wanted this purse to have that same feel to it. I used the legs to make straps. I cut the fabric at five inches with one inch seems so the actual straps are three inches wide.
Originally i wanted to put a ring on the end so I could have adjustable straps but because of the legs not being all that long...damn my stubby legs....the straps weren't long enough to accommodate the ring. As an after thought (after the rest of the bag was completely done), I hand stitched some extra Velcro on the ends of the straps.
Here's what the inside of the purse looks like with some stuff already thrown in there!
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Please forgive my wardrobe...hello crafting, Sunday lounge clothes
Hello purse, Angelala's butt, and what appears to be a cleaning product/door stop.
I would love to be able to give a play by play on the steps to complete this product but to be honest, I totally made it up as I went along with very little measuring. For instance, I have no idea how long the straps how. I used as much as I could from what was left of the legs. At some point, I lost the ability to sew in a straight line and it's rather crooked. I'm not even sure if I like the purse yet but I plan on using it until I grow to love it. If you chose to try this project, try things out. You could make a clutch, messenger bag (as I did), regular two strapped purse, or even (if you are brave) a little backpack.
In the end, the purse cost nothing and is a good upcycle project!
Supplies needed:
Old jeans
Fabric scissors
thread
sewing machine (optional...you could do this by hand...frustrating but doable)
fabric (preferably cotton) (again optional...you don't have to line it)
velcro (optional)
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