As a 20 year old fashion design student, aesthetics and functionality are what I focus on. In this piece I have created a denim jacket out of donated denim pants and jackets. This jacket has a detachable hoodie that can turn into a bag and the jacket itself can be converted into a large tote bag to carry things in.

Supplies

6 pairs of denims pants

1 yard of velcro

3 shoe laces

4 grommets

4 metal strap attachments

1 strap

32 inch separating zipper

Step 1: Cut Fabric

Cut the denim fabric into squares or rectangles and begin to sew them together to create the denim fabric that the clothing pattern will be laid over. Lay the fabric right side to right side and sew 4/8 of an inch from the end of the fabric.

Step 2: Make and Lay the The Jacket Pattern Over the Fabric

To create the pattern, copy a sleeve, front, back, and hood pattern from an already existing piece. Place the garment over the pattern paper with cardboard underneath both the garment and pattern paper. Grab a pin and pin holes along the seam line to create the pattern. Cut out and lay over fabric, then cut out the fabric.

Step 3: Cut Out Pieces and Begin Assembly.

Place the pattern over the fabric and cut out the pieces. Connect the pieces in the third photo by the shoulder line as seen in the fourth photo. Face the hoodies on top of each other, right side facing right side and sew along the curved line seen in photo five. Connect the sleeves seen in photo 1 into the armhole seen in photo 2. Make sure then when the sleeve is sewn onto the sleeve hole that it is done before closing the side seams of the jacket. Again, layer right sides facing right sides and stitch them together.

Most of everything that is being sewn together is being done inside out. Just remember that the sides that are supposed to be showing are the ones that are gonna be facing each other when it is being sewn.

Step 4: Making the Detachable Hoodie

After the hoodie has been sewed together, one would then sew a band around the bottom of the hoodie that is 2 inches wide and however long the hoodie circumference is. Mine was 32 inches around, make sure to add another inch because that extra fabric will be used to finish off the seam toward the end of the hoodie. When sewing the hoodie make sure to leave some space to be able to feed the shoelace. The band seen in the first photo is then gonna get folded revealing the right side, then sewn on the opposite side to secure it in place. The second photo is how it would look once it's done being sewn. Add Velcro on the inner side of the hoodie so that it can attach itself to the jacket at the neck line. Attach the strap attachment to the hoodie via a thin piece of fabric as seen in photo three. Do the same on the other side.

Step 5: Closing the Neck Hole for the Book Bag

Attach the zipper alongside the neckline so that it is able to open and close when used as a bag or jacket. Make sure that the zipper is a separation zipper. When sewing the zipper it is best to do it with the garment inside out so that one can see the inversion of the zipper better in regards to garment being inside out. Now when the zipper is closed the bottom of the bag will be closed.

Step 6: Adding the Final Touches for Bag Conversion.

Here one would place the waist band around the waist line of the jacket. When inside out the waist band becomes the top of the bag. The same way that the band was put onto the hoodie, then attach the strap attachments as it was done on the hoodie. Attach these on the sides of the bag so that the bag can be stable when held in the shoulder. Add velcro to the waist band on the inner side when in jacket form in the middle where the side seams are. Then add some velcro pieces to the cuffs of the jacket so that when converted into bag form it can attach to the waistband so that the sleeves aren't flying around. This fortifies the structure of the bag so that nothing flies out.