Sandy Dye, author of Denim Do-Overs (out of print), has come up with more than 25 patterns to reuse old denim. Have you ever hated to get rid of a pair of jeans just because they didn't fit anymore? After seeing how easy it is to make a vest, you'll not only reuse your own jeans, you'll be looking for more. And don't throw those scraps away. Sandy explains how to make a cute little denim-covered box with them. Materials:
Old jeans
Vest pattern
Straight pins
Scissors
Cluny lace (flat, not gathered)
Small heart-shaped chipwood box, available at most craft shops (also available in round and oval shapes).
Tacky Glue®
Pellon Wonder-Under® Heavy Weight
Sewing machine
Optional: embellishments
- Cut the jeans apart along the inside seams. Separate the two halves by cutting up the crotch seam and through the waistband. (You may wish to save the zipper for a future project.)
- Lay the two halves, wrong sides together, on a cutting surface. Pin the vest pattern to the denim. Don't worry about the placement as you lay the pattern over the remaining seam. The variety will make it interesting.
- Assemble the vest, using a zigzag stitch.
- You can embellish the vest collar with Cluny lace and the vest itself with buttons, bits of lace or the belt loops from the jeans (figure A).
Small Denim Box Covered With Scraps - Remove the lid from a chipwood basket. Cut a piece of Pellon Wonder Under Heavy Weight large enough to cover the lid, and lay it on the lid adhesive side down. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to lightly place and hold the iron until the top of the lid is covered. Allow to cool, then remove the protective paper, exposing another adhesive surface.
- Place a scrap of denim on the exposed adhesive surface, again following the manufacturer's directions, and with the iron, glue the denim down. Once the fabric is cool, cut around the lid with scissors (figure B).
- Using the Pellon and a strip of denim, cover the edge of the box lid. Trim the edges.
- Pull the thin filament in the Cluny lace to gather. Apply Tacky Glue to the top edge of the lid, and attach the lace. Embellish the lid with lace, pearls, buttons and jewels.
- Following the steps above, cover the bottom and sides of the lower half of the box with denim (figure C).
RESOURCES :
Tacky Glue
Duncan Enterprises
Website: www.duncancrafts.com
Pellon Consumer Products Division
Freudenberg Pellon Nonwovens
Website: pellonideas.com
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