Upcycled Denim Scrap Bag

My jeans had seen better days, the hems were all frayed and the seams were starting to go, but I just cannot bear to throw things out!  Not when they could be made into something new.  But what???

I had already made dog toys for Ruby out of old jeans, which incidentally she still loves and plays with even though many of her toys were ruined within minutes of her getting them.  If you want to read about those you can find them HERE and HERE.

So I decided to make a bag.

I cut out 24 squares out of the jeans.  I didn't cut around seams and pockets though, I cut to incorporate them into the design as a bit of a feature.

Some of the plainer squares I sewed ribbon and buttons and charms onto.

Then it was time to attach them together.  At this point I decided to have the seams outwards and scruffy, but it looks equally good with the seams inside too.

I trimmed the seams back with a pair of Pinking Shears to give it a bit more scruffyness.

Soon I had the 24 all sewn up, just like this....  Now if you fold this in half, all you have to do is sew up the side seams and you have a bag shape!

Ta dah!

This is it turned inside out, so you can see the inside seam way of doing it might look nicer for you if you don't like the scruffy look.

Next I cut a piece of lining fabric, just a wee bit bigger than the bag - about a centimetre all the way round.

I sewed the bag around from the side part before it slopes to a point, but left a gap in the bottom hem so I could turn it right way in later.  Trust me, you need this hole!

After turning my bag inside out and keeping the lining right way in, I slid the lining into the bag, pinning the top hem ready for stitching.

Then I stitched all the way around the top hem, then using the little gap I left in the bottom hem of the lining, I turned the bag right way in again before sewing up that hole.

Next the straps.  I simply cut two lengths of denim the length I needed the handles to be, then two lengths of the lining fabric, slightly thinner.

Placing the lining fabric on top of the denim, I threaded my machine with a rainbow thread and sewed three straight lines down the fabrics to join.

I then top sewed all the edges on my bag to give it more definition  (and because I wanted to use the rainbow thread again   :) )

Then I attached the straps to the outside of the bag with a really scruffy square  - it was supposed to be straight, honest!

And there we have it, a roomy, perfectly usable, denim bag, made from scraps.  The only money it cost me was for the lining which was on special offer and worked out at about £2.00.

You can add a couple of press-studs too if you want to have it able to close.