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.

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.

Ruffle Bowl Project

Difficulty level: Beginner

You will need one pant leg cut open along the plain seam. Keep the flat-felled seam intact.

Step 1: Cut out two 10” circles. I like having a flat-felled seam running through the middle. Layer both circles wrong sides together with flat-felled seams opposite each other, one going vertical and the other horizontal. Pin together.
Step 2: Sew a 5” circle in the middle of the layers.

Step 3: Quarter mark the outside of the circle away from the thick seams with pins then pin mark the middle point between the quarter marks for eighth marks. Fold ¼” darts at each eighth mark from the outside raw edge to the center circle sewn. Topstitch along folded edge of dart from raw edge to stitched circle on the inside of the bowl. If you like, you can stitch along the other side of dart on the outside of bowl as well.

Step 4: Satin stitch around the outside raw edge of the bowl.

Cutting Up Jeans

I have made a few mistakes in cutting up jeans and then trying to sew them together in other projects. Here is what I have found to be the best way to cu up a pair of jeans to make sewing pieces together go easier and less needles breaking.

This is how I cut up jeans when I’m going to use them on a quilt. Other project need jeans cut up in different ways.

1. It is best to avoid as many flat felled seams on an outside edge as possible. Cut up jeans so you have single layer raw edges.
2. Assess the jeans to determine the most interesting parts of the jeans to use. These would be pockets, loops, and seams.
3. Cut off the hem of each leg.
4. There is usually one leg seam that is a flat felled seam and one that is a plain flat seam, often the inside seam. Since the flat felled seam is a decorator focal point, I choose to cut away the plain seam. Cut as close as possible to the seam on both sides to remove the seam.
5. If a pant leg has a side pocket of interest, I cut up the center front and center back of the top of the jeans to preserve use of the pocket.
6. It there is no side pocket, I generally cut off the legs and cut up the side seams, having a front pocket section and a back pocket section.

Project #2

Thread Catcher
Difficulty level: Beginner

Supplies:
Piece of denim 14” x 8” with a hem along one of the 8” sides.

Step 1: With right sides together, fold up 8”-side with the hem on it 3” and stitch up both sides, turn right side out. What had once been the inside or wrong side of the denim is now on top.
Step 2: Turn over the raw edges that are not caught in the pocket and zigzag down.

Now tuck single layer of the thread catcher under the side of your sewing machine and use to put thread in rather than on the floor. You can also slide pins into the denim to keep them from rolling off onto the floor.

"Stone-washed" Denim

Do you remember "stone-washed" denim?

We all had to have them. They were the "in" thing.

Did you ever wonder how they became "stone-washed"?

Manufacturers first used Pea gravel then switched to pumice because they floated around with the jeans instead of sinking to the bottom of the water.

So there you have it. "Stone-washed" literally meant stone washed.