Jean bags for my new years resolution and a tutorial

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So I finished 2 bags today... I thought that some of you may be interested in the making of the second bag, SO I am offering you my very first 20 min jean bag tutorial!!!

I have never done a step by step, so I do hope I covered everything, If anyone has any questions just comment and I will do my best to walk through it with you.



Here is what I started with last night.



On to Picasa for the rest. You can click on the pictures they will take you to the Picasa site where you can view all the pics together. My captions may be a little less wordy there...

From Jean bag in a snap

Here are the already cut up pants, I cut the strong side seam out of the legs to use has a handle.

From Jean bag in a snap

Ok, this was tricky, kinda, you can't tell that I had to hold them together with both hands in the picture because I took my hand off to take the picture. But what I am doing is pushing them together ever so gently and feeding them through the machine, using the widest zig zag stitch I have. I am sure you could pin it but I have an aversion to pins and denim.

I have had them break needles in the past... Scary, one good reason I am glad I have to wear glasses... Never would think that a needle could break off and fly towards your eyes, maybe machines should come with a fashionable pair of safety glasses???

From Jean bag in a snap

Here you can see that I doubled the zig zag stitches. I did that just to make sure that they caught both pieces all the way down.

From Jean bag in a snap

Self explanatory picture here, turn your jeans inside out to sew up the bottom, you can pin them if you desire.

From Jean bag in a snap

Finished stitching. You may want to double stitch this part as well.

Personal choice is one of the things I LOVE about making my own things! :)

From Jean bag in a snap

Now turn your pants back right side out and push out your corners.

From Jean bag in a snap

This is a hard part. Attaching the handle to the bag is difficult because of the bulk. of the material at this point. I could feel where the seams came in under the waist line and I attached right above that point to not have as much bulk. Zig Zag away.

Or attach another way. I am sure there are other ways.. just can't think of them right now... Brads???

From Jean bag in a snap

My messy stitching! Handle attached to the bag.

I think next trip I make to the store I will pick up some patches and maybe some big buttons to adorn my bag! At Least hide my messiness! LOL

From Jean bag in a snap

All done! Now would be a great time to use some puff paints or old patches.
Embroidery and embellishments will make me even more likely to remember to use them!!!
I think I will leave that up to my daughter! She is the artsy one around here!

I thank my model, She just loves the bags and is proud that we are going to try and make a difference in the environment by not using plastic bags from the store. :)

I hope everyone understood everything... If not just comment and I will try to explain better...



Reduse, Reuse, and Recycle... Next step... RELAX!!!!


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