DIY denim alterations. What to do with old jeans

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:47

Jeans are a great example of a thing that can serve a person even after it ceases to exist as an element of clothing. Every home is guaranteed to have a pair of old tattered jeans that no one wears for a long time. And they lie on the shelf and wait for their finest hour. After all, this is a universal source of materials for creating stylish, useful and interesting things. Short instructions will help you make DIY denim alterations in just a few simple steps.

Preparation for work

There are some preparations you need to make before you start making your own denim alterations.

1. Preparing a workplace. It should be a comfortable desktop with good lighting.

2. Gathering the necessary tools:

• cutting scissors;
• ruler;
• chalk or soap for marking;
• set of sewing supplies;
• stationary knife.

3. Equipment:

• iron for gluing interlining;
• sewing machine.

Do not forget about safety when working withelectrical equipment and sharp tools.

Backpack from old jeans

Let's start with such a stylish and comfortable accessory. The most popular do-it-yourself denim makeovers are attractive and functional backpacks.

To create this you will need, in addition to jeans, you will need: thin strips of fabric for decor, a button for a valve fastener, interlining for pre-gluing fabric strips, 6 eyelets, a cord.

Starting to sew a backpack

1. According to the dimensions of the sketch, we cut out the details from the jeans:

• Rectangle 7337 cm – 2 pcs
• Oval bottom 2716cm – 1 piece
• Webbing 10010 cm – 2 pcs
• Valve – 1 piece

2. We set up strips of fabric on interlining.

3. Rectangles (photo 1) are sewn together with long edges. On the sides we sew pockets from the back of the jeans (photo 2).

4. The seams of the main part are decorated with interlining with sewn stripes of fabric.

5. Sew a denim overlay to the top. Eyelets are installed in the facing, a cord is pulled.

6. Sew the bottom.

7. Glue interlining with stitched strips of fabric to the valve.

8. We process the edges with a pigtail from the same cord. Leave a buttonhole.

9. We sew the finished valve together with the straps to the lining from the inside of the backpack (photo 4).

10. We measure the place for the button and sew it on.

11. The finished product is shown in photo 5.

As you can see, a backpack from old jeans is sewn in just a couple of steps.

However, the quality of the material and tailoring will significantly exceed factory counterparts.

Denim pocket organizer

And here is another interesting "home-made". Get rid of a bunch of unnecessary jeans, conveniently organize your workplace and decorate an empty wall with a simple denim pocket organizer.

For crafters we need:

• lots of old jeans;
• denim or other fabric on which pockets will be sewn;
• shoulders, or long placket and cord.

Cooking instructions:

1. Deciding on the size of the future organizer.

2. Cut out a rectangle of the required size from the canvas. Optionally, the edges of the canvas can be processed.

3. With a small width, you can use a coat hanger. Otherwise, we cut the wooden plank to the width of the canvas with a margin of a couple of centimeters on each side.

4. We rip off the required number of pockets from jeans.

5. We mark the places for pockets on the canvas so that the product turns out to be neat, without distortions. Leave a margin at the top for fixing on the bar.

6. Sew pockets on pre-marked places.

7. In the upper part of the resulting organizer, we make a facing in such a way that the bar freely enters into it.

8. Insert the bar into the facing.

9. Tie a cord on both sides of the bar.

The product is ready, you can drive a carnation into the wall, hang and stuff all the tools that interfere on the table into your pockets.

Jeans soft toy

If the previous alterations from old jeans were functional and useful, then a do-it-yourself soft toy made of denim will please the kids or decorate the interior. Such a toy not only looks beautiful and stylish, but also brings comfort and a piece of home warmth.

In the instructions, consider an example of making a soft denim bunny.

We will need:

• sketch pattern;
• unnecessary jeans;
• bright fabric for the inside of the ears;
• any soft filler;
• acrylic paints on fabric to paint the face.

Procedure:

1. We dissolve the jeans into separate elements, mark the details according to the sketch, taking into account the seam allowance, cut out (photo 1).

2. From denim we cut out only 2 parts of the ears, 2 more from bright fabric.

3. We fold each pair with the right sides to each other, sew on a sewing machine or manually along the contour. We leave unstitched areas for subsequent turning and stuffing with filler (photo 2).

4. We turn out the resulting elements and stuff. The holes on the front paws are sewn up with a blind seam.

5. We tighten the ears with seams at the base. We insert it into the hole for stuffing the body and sew it up with a blind seam (photo 3).

6. Sew the paws and tail to the resulting body (photo4, photo 5).

7. We draw a face with acrylic paints, decorate the resulting toy with accessories to our liking (photo 6).

Do-it-yourself soft denim toy, especially such a cheerful bunny, is guaranteed to please not only children, but also adults. The ease of making the toy proves once again that do-it-yourself denim alterations do not require any special skills and are made from improvised means with a minimum of tools. What could be better than a handmade toy with soul and love?

Denim pillow

Patchwork is a technique for sewing clothes and other items from scraps of fabric, which appeared several centuries ago and still remains popular. The style is used in the manufacture of blankets, pillows, pillowcases, clothing and accessories. It will take a lot of time to sew a blanket or bedspread, but to decorate a home interior with a remake of old jeans in the form of an original pillow, almost no labor is required.

In addition to jeans, for sewing a patchwork denim pillow you need:

• non-woven;
• stuffing material;
• zipper;
• good supply of thread;
• sewing machine.

You can do without the last item, but then it will take a lot of time to sew a pillow.

Quick instruction:

1. We determine the size of the pillow and the shape. We draw a sketch on paper (Fig. 1).

2. We divide the resulting image intoequal rectangles, making up the future pillow pattern.

3. Jeans are needed in several colors to make the color of the pillow more diverse.

4. Rip jeans at the seams.

5. We mark the rectangles with an allowance of 1 cm for the future seam (Fig. 2). There should be enough detail for the front and back of the item.

6. Cut out the marked parts.

7. We lay out a preliminary view of the pillow on a flat surface. We make sure that the elements do not repeat.

8. We pre-glue all the elements together with the help of interlining along the bend lines (Fig. 2).

9. We sew all the elements along the bend lines, at the same time stitching together.

10. Fold the front and back pieces face inward. Sew along the contour, leaving room for the zipper.

11. Sew in the zipper.

12. We turn the resulting product through the zipper hole and stuff it with filler.

The patchwork denim pillow is ready.

Sewing technique is available even to an absolute beginner. But the results look like interior design solutions.

Conclusion

Don't throw away your used denim. After all, they can be reincarnated from old clothes into new useful and attractive products. These handmade denim alterations are filled with warmth and will please their owner for a long time.