Adventures With Old Jeans

I've been saving the kids' old jeans for awhile, waiting to be inspired to make something with them, and the other day I got it in my head that I was going to cut them into strips and knit with the denim. I didn't know what I was going to make just yet, but once I get it in my head that I'm going to do something, I have to follow through with it right then, which is a bit tricky because I have three kids and I take care of my friend's baby. Don't ask me how I find the time, because I will not have an answer for you.

So I immediately drug out the old jeans and started cutting. I cut them into strips about 1/2 - 1/4 inch wide... varying widths because I just wanted to mix things up a bit. I knotted the strips together and ended up leaving the ends hanging out, thinking that this might make the object look kinda shaggy and unique-looking. Here is a pic of the beginnings of what would turn into a bag/purse. It was a bit tough knitting with the denim strips, especially since they had knots throughout them, but it was fun, nonetheless. I did not know what size needles to use, so I started with 11s, which ended up being way to small. Then I started over with 17s, which ended up being too big. So I ended up with 15s, which were perfect! This project was also a little messy. I'm still finding denim lint and strands everywhere.

So all I did was knit a rectangle and stitch up the sides. I stitched the sides with denim, which was a real pain, again because of the knots, but I didn't want to use yarn or thread, just because I wanted it to be completely made of denim.

For the strap, I just braided three strands of denim together and sewed them to the purse, again with denim.

When I finished with the bag, I found that I could do something useful with the pockets of the jeans, and I had heard about people making "pocket purses" with pockets. So my daughter and I started making a purse for her. She braided some strips like I had done for my purse and we are going to sew a flower onto it with embroidery floss.. I just need to find the time to do that, hopefully today and then I'll add the final picture.

I still have lots of denim scraps, which I plan on using to decorate other crafts, such as some felt things I like to make, like drink coozies and coinpurses. If anyone has further ideas on what to do with old jeans, I'd love to hear them! I did find this link awhile back and found it interesting: 13 things you can do with old jeans: http://www.blisstree.com/thriftymommy/13-things-you-can-make-out-of-your-old-blue-jeans/ I plan on doing some of these projects pronto, but I think I will scavenge some thrift stores for MEN'S jeans instead of kid's jeans :)