Upcycled Crafts With Jeans

I am an avid crafter, but as someone who cares about environmentalism, I am ashamed to admit how much I spend on buying new craft supplies.

I have kicked the dollar store habit because of the unknown toxins in the products, but with my list of crafting hobbies growing (knitting, bead making, DIY jewelry, card making, scrapbooking, sewing, embroidery, crochet, homemade personal care products) I often have to spend money to buy supplies to feed my habit.

There are so many reasons to be mindful when buying new supplies for crafting. First and foremost is that by purchasing at big box stores it feeds the never ending cycle of consumerism which is drowning the world in plastic waste, harmful production practices, human exploitation and carbon output. I am working on buying supplies from local artisans and craft stores, but this can be more expensive and does not eliminate all the issues.

When I am able, I try to upcycle supplies that I may have around the house or from other people, and Pinterest is perfect for generating ideas. Full disclosure: I am horribly addicted to Pinterest.

One recurring idea that I see on upcycling and crafting Pinterest boards  is how to upcycle blue jeans. In the past when I have cleaned out my drawers and closets I have donated my clothes, but recently I have begun saving them to upcycle into something else.

For most projects using old jeans it is important to cut off the hems and other seams so that the material is not too thick, especially if you are machine sewing them. Depending on the size of the projects, if I plan ahead how I will cut the jeans, I can get two to even three projects out of each pair of jeans. I also save all unused parts of the jeans for future projects. For example, the thick bottom hem of each leg makes a perfect drawstring or rope, the zippers can be cut off and reused again, and the pockets (both front and back) are perfect for instant pockets on bags.

Here are some ways I have given old jeans (or other clothing and bedsheets) a second life as material and fabric in crafting projects:

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In Defence of Making Do

I will begin by saying that I have very little fashion and design sense, and I cannot walk into a room and see how I can transform it into a vision of my own style. I cannot just slap a coat of paint on something and magically transform a room for under $700. Anyone who comes into my home or sees how I dress can see that right away.

The downside is that I am sometimes embarrassed by the mismatched nature of my home furnishings. The upside is that I am not spending thousands and thousands of dollars updating my home to the latest and greatest style.

My mismatched floors after an old dishwasher broke, leaked,
and damaged the flooring. Thank goodness for kind neighbours
who help source replacement boards and install for me.

One of my pet peeves is watching home decorations and real estate shows that have people saying how the house is not move in ready because the perfectly serviceable countertops are not granite and the appliances are not stainless steel, and how they want to rip everything out of the kitchen to make it more their style. When we moved into our home we were thrilled, despite the fact that the original 80s kitchen cabinets have not been updated (just painted) and the countertops have a faux treatment to look like granite (and they aren't fooling anyone, I assure you!). It was move-in ready because everything worked.

Recently I moved some furnishings from my grandmother's home to mine.


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DIY Faux Batik

I'm always on the lookout for crafts and DIY presents that upcycle materials we have around the house. Never mind that I am a horrible packrat when it comes to recyclables and I have multiple stashes around the house "just in case" I need them for a fabulous craft idea. I have a whole closet dedicated to toilet paper rolls, egg cartons and glass jars.

When I saw this post about creating Elmer's Glue Gel Batik at All Our Days I knew I had finally found the perfect craft for some old worn and ripped sheets I have been saving for a few years. It was on my summer bucket list and in keeping with my one little word for 2014, "make".

I am making bunting flags for my garden and I knew I wanted to try this technique for some of the flags.

I didn't, however, have the glue gel. I decided to try it with regular white craft glue, and the results are in.... it worked perfectly.

At All Our Days they suggest using this technique to make cloth napkins, which I could see working if enough of the paint is rubbed out of the fabric so that it is soft enough. I didn't worry about that because I am making flags and want the colour to be more intense and the fabric is slightly stiff from the paint, although ironing the fabric at the end made them softer. I imagine that after repeated washings the fabric would soften up as well.

Materials:

• pieces of fabric, hemmed or edged on a sewing machine so that it won't fray (I used upcycled sheets). I only sewed around the edges on three sides for mine because I will be folding over and sewing the top edge to create my bunting. 
• white craft glue
• acrylic paint
• paint brushes (I used the wedge sponge type)
• hot water in a shallow dish, and more hot water to rinse

Method:

• "Draw" the pattern or shape onto the fabric using the glue. I practiced what I wanted to do on paper first to be sure that the design would fit. 

• Lay the fabric in a sunny location to help set the glue on the surface. Luckily I did this on a hot day so this part of the drying process only took about an hour. The glue shouldn't be fully dry throughout or else it won't wash off in the hot water. To test if it is ready, run a dry brush lightly over the surface. The glue shouldn't smear and should still be white. The longer the glue is left to dry the harder it is to get out of the fabric later, but I would rather err on the side of leaving it too long than trying to paint over the glue and having it smear.

• When the glue is sufficiently set, paint the fabric using the acrylic paint. I decided to water my paint down quite a bit and slightly layer the colours. 

• Lay the fabric out to dry. Wait until the paint is completely dry. Again, because I did this on a very hot day it only took about an hour.

• Pour hot tap water in a shallow dish in the sink and leave the fabric to soak until the glue rubs off easily. I had to add hot water a few times and rub with my fingers to completely remove the glue and paint. This took away some of the intensity of the colour but I was pleased with the final result so this didn't bother me. 

• Lay the fabric to dry in the sun again.

I tried this process minus the glue for a few pieces of fabric
and they look great. The colour is more intense on those ones
because I used more concentrated colour and a fine paint brush.
I should have put something underneath the fabric while
it was drying because it stained my table and now I have
to figure out how to get it out.

• Iron the fabric if so desired. 

I ironed mine because I wanted them to lay flat. Turn it
over and iron the wrong side. I also trimmed the fraying edges
up close to the sewing edge that I did.

• Voila!

I really like the blending of the colours in the batik versions, and the imperfections in the paint that give them a
one of a kind appearance. My daughter designed the veggie flags and I did the chakra flags. 

Felted Sweater Bag

This year I am focused on dedicating more time to making things in my life, and I hope to share at least one project that I have made each month. Last month I shared cards that I enjoy making. This month I would like to share a felted sweater bag that I recently made.

I have been seeing some very cute project bags for my knitting, like this one on Etsy (because I'm a nerd), but I have held myself back from clicking purchase because I can't justify buying what I know I can make myself. Then inspiration hit me when I was rooting around my closet for some birthday presents that I bought for my daughter (months ago and then hid so well I couldn't find them - anyone else do that?) and found a pile of old wool sweaters that I had felted to make a sweater bag like this one.

A few years ago I made fingerless gloves from the sleeves of one of the felted wool sweaters, so I decided to use the rest of the same sweater to make my first felted bag.


Felted Sweater Bag Steps:

• Felt the wool sweater before using it. To do this, wash using warm water, then dry in the dryer. Some people repeat this process but I found once was enough. As I usually wash my clothes using cold water, I had to wait until I needed to do a warm wash before I could do this, and I didn't want to wait for another warm wash to do this again. After doing this once the sweater was significantly smaller with a nice matted felt. 

The sleeves have already been removed to make
fingerless gloves.

• Mark what will become the handles from the shoulder to below the arm pit and around the neckline, and cut. Keep the sleeves for another project, such as the fingerless gloves that I made. 

• Fold the cut piece in half in the opposite direction, so that the holes where the arms would be are now visible as the handles of the bag.

• Turn the bag inside out and sew along the bottom of the sweater. To be fancy and create clean edges, sew across the seam about one inch from the edge to create a triangle shape, then cut off the edge and turn the bag right side out. 

• You now have a new project bag. Enjoy!