Upcycling Jeans - instructions and craft ideas

• Upcycling jeans
  • Simple mobile phone pocket - instructions
  • Jeans shelf - instructions
  • Fashionable bag - instructions
  • 17 more craft ideas

The upcycling of jeans is a great idea to conjure something new from the no longer worn pants. Denim is very robust and can be used for a variety of crafting ideas ranging from practical to fashionable. Not only can you make new garments from jeans, you can also make everyday items and attractive gifts for your friends and family.

With upcycling, a trend has developed in recent years that makes the use of old jeans particularly interesting. Whether your pants are finally too big after a diet or you muck out your closet, you do not have to part with them immediately or give them to the collection of used clothes. Since jeans become softer when worn, they can easily be converted into a new project without much effort. Even a simple sewing machine lends itself to this. Let yourself be inspired by numerous craft ideas to enjoy the upcycling of your jeans and discover new worlds of design.

Upcycling jeans

3 interesting craft ideas with instructions

If you want to try upcycling, you do not need a lot of skills in sewing or textiles . The advantage of the methods used for upcycling a pair of jeans is the use of already finished parts. So you can easily separate the pockets of the jeans and make it from small bags or storage options, which can be done in a few simple steps or pinholes. You can implement most of the ideas with the following tools and utensils.

• Sewing needles or sewing machine
• Sewing thread in thickness 50 to 80 (often sold under the name denim yarn)
• scissors
• Painters chalk
• tape measure
• pins

Depending on the project, zippers, buttons, eyelets and other components are included. These are not needed for everything. If you do not know what you want to do with your old jeans, you will find below 3 detailed instructions and 17 other creative ideas for creative people.

Tip: One of the simplest uses of an old pair of jeans is the classic patch. You can cut numerous patches from each pair of jeans and use them for a variety of garments or utensils such as a backpack.

Simple mobile phone pocket - instructions

A mobile phone case you design within a short time from a single pocket. Cut out the trouser pocket from the jeans, which is the ideal size for your smartphone.

When cutting, leave some cloth so that you do not accidentally cut into the bag. Sew or refine the edges, depending on the look you are looking for.

In our example, we have cut out a similar piece of fabric from the rest of the jeans. To do this, place the already cut out pocket right-to-right (the beautiful fabric side) and draw the border with painter's chalk.

The second piece of fabric is then also cut out and sewn together with the bag right-to-right.

At the beginning only the three sides are sewn, the upper edge, where later also the Handy comes into the bag, is left for the time being free.

Many craft enthusiasts equip such a cell phone pocket with either a flap or a loop.

For this, cut a matching piece of fabric from the rest of the jeans. For example, you can separate a belt loop from the jeans and use it as a new loop.

Attach the loop to one of the fabric layers and sew.

Tip: Make sure you have to turn the fabric back to the right side. For this reason, you must also attach the loop inside, towards the beautiful fabric side. When sewing together, then leave a turning opening to turn the fabric to the right. Then sew the small opening.

Outside, you can now attach a button by hand with a few stitches. Now you can close the bag.

Jeans shelf - instructions

Jeans can not only be used for garments, but are ideally suited for the storage of numerous articles. From pens to sunglasses to a personal organizer, you can stow away in your pockets. For this reason, it is advisable to make a rack wall out of the pockets of different jeans. All you need is cut out pockets, a stapler and a suitable surface, such as a piece of plywood.

Proceed as follows:

• cut out pockets serve as fans
• distribute them to your taste on the ground
• the individual edges must overlap
• Now staple them well
• Do not staple the bags directly, just the edges
• if you do not like the result, release staples with staple remover
• rearrange
• Repeat tacking

There are many design options available here. When you combine trousers in different colors, you can even make true works of art look like clearly recognizable images. Then mount the shelf on the wall or place it on a raised place. If you do not want to use a stapler, you can sew the bags together and hang them over a cord .

Fashionable bag - instructions

A handbag is the classic for upcycling your jeans. Since the trousers need only be slightly re-sewn to serve as a bag, it has established itself as a hugely popular crafting idea. You will need either a zipper or snaps, depending on how you want to close your new old bag.

Then proceed as follows:

1. First, the pant legs are shortened to the crotch.

You now have a pair of shorts available that need to be sewn to the leg openings. To do this, turn it to the left so that you can stake it out.

2. Before fixing the openings with pins, you must first iron the fabric. Jeans wrinkle quickly, even if they have been worn frequently. Iron above all the cut edges, as they need to be sewn. Once you have finished ironing, fix the leg openings with pins. One to two centimeters are recommended here so that the seams hold.

3. Now sew the leg openings together. Once you turn the pants to the right, the shape should now resemble a bag.

Your sewed result should now look like this.

Tip: You can already use the bag in this variant and leave it open. If you want to close your utensil, you can attach snaps or a zipper.

4. Cut a strip out of the legs. Depending on whether you want to use the bag as a shoulder or handbag, you should determine the length of the strip. Refine the edges of the strip.

5. The two ends of the strap or handle are now sewn to the two ends of the bag near the side belt loops. Take these off and sew them thoroughly.

6. Alternatively, you can use carabiners or even a shoulder strap. This is attached via the belt loops and is ready to use.

7. The best thing about this bag is the variety of design variations. You can sew patches on them, add more trouser pockets inside, or use rhinestones, paint or decorative elements. Even a "used style" is possible if you deliberately damage the denim.

In addition to the craft ideas above, you can of course still make a pair of shorts or hot pants for the summer from your jeans. Simply cut the pant legs at the desired length and, depending on your taste, sew them over or let them fray.

Especially when it is warm or the trouser legs on the knees or calves are too tight, shortening the jeans can be worthwhile. They breathe new life into the jeans by upcycling and can even use the cropped trouser legs for further projects. Let your imagination run free when redesigning your old pants.

17 more craft ideas

If you use one of the instructions from the top, you will get a good idea of ​​the simplicity of upcycling jeans. Since jeans are made of a lot of material, you can use the leftovers to realize other projects . The following list gives you an overview of other ideas that you can easily implement with enough creativity.

• Cherry stone pillows from individual trouser leg pieces
• Denim skirt from a cropped denim
• Bedspread made of several patches
• Cooking and BBQ apron from a halved trousers
• Tool belt from trouser pockets
• Potholders, which are fed with fleece
• Cushion covers for the outdoor area
• Book or laptop covers
• a lunchbag with snap closure
• a whole backpack
• Lanyards made of jeans stripes
• stiff suspenders
• decorative "jeans flowers"
• a trouser leg pencil case
• Bracelets made from trouser legs
• Jeans plush toys (well suited as a toy for dogs)
• Breakfast warmer in many forms

As you can see, you can make many new things from a single pair of jeans. You can even combine several of these 20 ideas, as jeans provide a lot of fabric, especially if they are longer. So it is possible to make a cherry stone cushion, several small stuffed animals and even a book cover out of a pair of trousers. As a result, you save on upcycling high costs that you would otherwise have to spend on the fabric.

Tip: If you are not familiar with the sewing machine or needle, you can use textile glue to join individual pieces of fabric. This is useful, for example, for a pencil case or the lanyards for which no yarn is actually needed.