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Save the world - one pair of jeans at a time.Take your old jeans out of the closet and turn them into a useful shopping bag! Lets face it, we all hav...
Cut a strip, 3 inches wide, from the outside of each leg, centered on the seam. In this case, the jeans are cargo pants, so the strips will be short...
After you cut the outside seams, the pants will be really floppy, which makes this step a lot easier. Lay each pant leg out flat, and cut it off ...
Cut a square, as large as possible, from the remains of the jeans, to be a pocket. OR cut out one of the back pockets, leaving about one inch of cloth...
Cut 18 inches from the bottom of the pant legs, and trim off the bottom hem if you haven't already. Left over, you should have two curved pieces of fa...
From the leftover strips, trim the curves off as shown in the photo, to make straight edges. Then cut them each in half the long way, so you'll have...
You should now have: two large pieces (front & back of bag), four strips of matching width (edges of bag), two 3 inch wide strips with the seam down...
Since most jeans are tapered these days, you will probably have trapezoidal pieces for the front and back of the bag. Trim the wider corners of the la...
Begin with the four strips of equal width that you cut out last. Sew them at the short ends, to create one long strip. If you've never sewn before, t...
The finished strip will be very long. Technical Note: Usually three sections is all you will need, but some sizes of jeans will require all four.
Lay one of the large, 18 inch pieces onto your work surface, right side up and upside up. Place one end of the strip onto the top right corner, wit...
Sew it a second time with a zigzag stitch over the edge, to prevent unraveling. When you come to the end, you will have excess cloth from the strip, b...
Lay the second 18 inch piece onto your work surface:right side down for an inside pocket OR right side up for an outside pocket. Place the recycled hi...
OR if you are a more advanced sewer, you can make your own pocket: Find the square piece of cloth for the pocket. Hem the top edge of the square. ...
Holding the folded under edge in place, flip the square down so it's laying flat. Sew the bottom edge in place securely, leaving ý inch unsewn at...
Fold the right corner down at a 45 degree angle. Hold it with your finger, then fold ½ inch of the right side inward, to create a neat corner, as sh...
Flip the pocket back up, while holding the hem you've made. Pin in place, or immediately sew it down. Repeat with the left side.
After you've got your pocket sewn in place, lay the whole piece on top of the long strip (already attached to the other large piece) with the top righ...
Now, you can trim off the excess of the strip, so that there is a smooth transition along the edge.
At this point, you have a bag with no hem and no handles. Go ahead and hem it: fold the edge to the inside ½ inch, then fold it over again, and sew...
Find the 3 inch wide strips that you cut out first. Fold one lengthwise, with the right sides together. Lay a shoelace along the inside of the fol...
Sew along the strip to create a tube with the shoelace inside. Be careful not to sew the shoelace down the length of the tube, it should be loose ins...
After you have two tubes, stitch them again from the outside, so they will lay flat for handles.
Turn the bag inside out. Arrange one handle end, three inches from one corner of the bag, with the raw edge tucked under the edge of the hem. Stit...
Fold the handle up over itself and sew it again with a zigzag stitch, in two places for strength.
Repeat the process for the rest of the handle ends, attaching them three inches from the corners of the bag.
Sew the velcro in place at the center of the insides of the bag, and you are done.
Now you can save the $10 or more that it would cost for a very nice and sturdy denim bag! And you'll never have to throw away your favorite jeans, ju...
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Posted:
Apr 18, 2008
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