Denim Bulletin Board

Difficulty level: Intermediate

Supplies:
11”x17” corkboard or desired size
Parts of jeans (I like to use leftovers from other projects as the contrast of the different denims adds interest.)
Matching or contrasting thread

Cut out interesting parts of the jeans; pocket, decorator seam, etc. Arrange and sew the parts together. glue one edge to one side of the board. Wrap other sides to the back and hot glue. Hang on the wall and enjoy.

Your Autograph Please!

A New Use For Jeans

As my daughter’s freshman year of high school was winding down, she decided that having her friends just sign her yearbook wasn’t enough. She wanted to have all their autographs together. Did she get a nice autograph book? No! She wanted to use something more creative.

She carefully chose just the right pair of jeans to wear on the last day of school and loaded her pocket with a Sharpie or two. Then all day she had her friends sign her jeans. When she came home, her jeans were a treasured keepsake. She had signatures up and down the legs. They looked fantastic.

I don’t know exactly what qualification she uses when choosing the jeans: they maybe her favorites or ones she is about to grow out of. But she has something special that she can keep forever. And her friend will always remember too.

So put on a pair of jeans, pull out a Sharpie, and choose your signing friends carefully.

1 Pair of Jeans, 3 Projects

This Saturday I'm teaching a workshop on making three different projects out of one pair of jeans.

We will take a single pair of jeans (size 10-12 girls up to ladies), a little print fabric, and a zipper to create a purse: a choice of bowl: and either coasters or bookmarks.We are going to have a lot of fun.

Eye Glass Case

Difficulty level: Easy

1. Cut a 6" to 6.5" circle.
2. Do any decorator stitching through the middle at this time. Zigzag around a little more than the top quarter of the circle.
3. Fold in half, matching the ends of the zigzagging and zigzag the rest of the raw edges. If you want you can embellish with permanent markers.

Leob to Levi

1800’s: American gold miners wanted clothes that were strong and did not tear easily. To meet this demand, Leob Strauss started a wholesale business, supplying clothes. Strauss later changed his name from the rather plain Leob to the extremely recognisable Levi.

Information from Nzgirl

Making Denim

If you want to use a store bought pattern and still want to use your old jeans, here is how you can do that.

Cut off a pant leg or two and cut open at the plain seam. Cut up both sides of the seam close to the seam. Also cut off the hem.
You will then hav a good size piece of denim to work with.
If it still isn't big enough, sew another cut open leg to it. You can make a mock flat-felled seem by adding two rows of top-stitching.
Lay your pattern out on the denim, keeping in mind where the flat-felled seams are. Make sure to plan where the flat-felled seams will end up in the seams. Plan it so the thick flat-felled seams don't match each other exactly, otherwise the layers may be too think and will break your needle.You can also remove a back pocket or cut around a back pocket and use it for embellishment on your project.

Happy Creating!

Denim Belt

Difficulty level: Easy, no-sew

All you need is one pair of jeans that fit around the waist.

Cut off belt loops.

Cut off waist band close to bottom edge.

Weave through belt loops on a pair of jeans and you're done.