Make It Pretty Wednesdays: Recycle Jeans Into a Flared Denim Bag!

You know what I love? Bags! Good, solid, sturdy bags for groceries, books… just about anything! We definitely don’t have enough bags, but what I do have is a big pile of jeans with holes in them!

Here is what you will need:

• An old pair of jeans
• Strap trim-technically I used what is called Cotton Webbing sold by the yard by Joann’s Fabrics
• Cutting mat, Cutting roller and scissors
• Sewing machine, Thread and Pins

Here is what I did:

1. I found the widest section of the legs and cut a 10″ long section out of both legs.



2. I did not want to mess with sewing over the super thick section that runs up the side of the jeans so I just cut that out!



3. Lay the right sides of both pieces against each other with the seams lined up in the center as shown:



4. This is where you make sure the sides are the same mirror-wise. Make sure the left bottom is the same as the right bottom. And the left top the same as the right top. I wanted to leave as much “flare” as possible, so the bag would be wider at the opening than the bottom of the bag. The bottom measurements of each side are 8″ on mine-this will be important later!



5. Sew the right and the left sides-what will be the vertical sides of the bag.



6. Using the bottom part of the remaining fabric on the jeans, cut a perfect square exactly 1″ longer than the measurements of the bottom sides. Mine were 8″ on each side of the seam. So my square was 9″ X 9″.



7. I sewed the square to one side of the bottom of the bag with a 1/2″ allowance-and then the other side in the same fashion. Hope the picture shows this adequately!



8. Then sew the other sides creating the bottom of your bag!



9. Turn the top edge of the bag under and under again, creating a finished edge.



10. Cut the jeans pocket out of the jeans and sew it to the side of the bag. Add the shoulder straps as long as you would like! And there you have it!