Blue Sailor
In the 80s, every girl had a really big purse. Some of them were like large pillowcases made from soft flannel. They had a drawstring at one end that doubled over and went through a hole at the bottom of the bag. Mine had stripes in pale pink, powder blue, and white.
Even before these bags were in vogue, there was the jean purse. It was easy to make: just cut the legs off the jeans and turn them inside out. Sew the bottom together, and voila! A trendy purse! People took strips of the pant legs to make the shoulder strap. Or they used a leather belt or a cute scarf.
But what would they do with the rest of the pant legs that were cut off? I never knew anyone who did anything very cool with them. Maybe keep them to cut patches for when a really comfy pair of jeans got a hole in an embarrassing place.
Today, upcycling is the big thing and there are tons of tutorials that show you all the awesome projects you can make with jeans. I thought these little denim baskets were really neat because they use the leg part. And there’s just a small amount of sewing involved. You could make one in an hour by hand, or in just a few minutes on a sewing machine. (Remember to get a heavy duty needle for denim, if you use the machine!)
Here’s how to make one of these cute denim baskets and upcycle the leg from jeans or any pants made of fairly heavy fabric.
Nice idea, thank you!!!!
Glad you liked it! We used to make denim purses out of old jeans when I was a girl 🙂
there are a lot of ways to recycle old jeans I seen yrs ago
where someone took the TOP part of the jeans (pocket part)
cut the jeans & took designed tacks & put it on a board as a
envelope stationary area for in & out going mail & bills to pay.
That sounds really cool! I once stuffed a pair of tiny toddler jeans and used it in a similar way. I brought it to Brownies and used the pockets to hold items that my girls needed when they were arriving for the evening.
yeah it was really cool looking & you know I can’t find one ANY WHERE?
it was like 2 ft X 2 ft & had different size pockets on there I loved it.
Cool! 🙂
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I am all in to recycling, so I really enjoyed your post. 🙂
great tip 😀
Thanks! I hope you’ll try it out yourself!
Nice idea, thank you.
I’m glad everyone is enjoying it so much!
I hate sewing but this looks really easy. Maybe I’ll give it a try sometime.
It does look easy. And you know, you could also do it with glue. Just make sure it’s strong and suitable for fabric.
This is awesome! I have some old jeans so I may try it 🙂
I have a whole pile of jeans in different sizes. I think I will use the big men’s pants for this project so I can have a larger basket.
i have one of these i love it
How cool! Did you make it yourself?
So innovative!
What’s great is that it’s such a fast project to make.
Cool idea, never thought that.
I made some similar projects in the past, but the instructions for this one are so much easier. I can’t wait to try it!
very cool ideas for recycling jeans.
I love that it uses a part of the jeans we otherwise have no purpose for. I have some other upcycling ideas to share. It’s so much fun to play with old clothes and make them into something new.