Fun ways to revamp and old pair of jeans! (Jeans)

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	Jeans
Date:	24/10/08 (672 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, not too tricky,

Disadvantages: Best to do it only on old jeans n case things don't turn out quite right

Now, I'm not going to tell you all about the history of denim or how to find the most flatttering kind of jeans for your figure - there are already excellent reviews on the site that tell you just that, and I don't think I could add anything to that.

Recently, I've been losing weight - and I've dropped a dress size ! While thats great , its meant that several pairs of jeans (and various other items of clothing) have become to big for me . Not wanting to waste money by binning them, I've been experimenting with customising them and turning them into useful items again , and I thought I'd share some of the things I've done!

Jeans Bag
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One of the first things I did was make a large bag - I remembered seeing one in a shop a couple of years ago, and I'd never tried it . Heres how to do it .

Take and old pair of jeans and an old belt. Turn the jeans inside out, and, using sharp scissors, cut the legs off just below the bum. Sew up the legs with the jeans still inside out, then take the belt , and sew one end of the belt to the waistband of the jeans , Do the same with the other side . Turn the jeans inside out, and voila! A bag .

Nor particularly tricky to make - of course, you can have fun decorating it more by sewing on patches, sequins etc . The bigger your backside, the bigger the bag - I was a size 24, so my bag works wonderfully as a gym bag , it can hold a change of clothes, water, towel, shampoo and other items easily!

Carrier Bag Storer
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This ones pretty easy - using one of the legs you cut off while making the bag, sew a strip of elastic along the cut edge of the leg (keep the elastic pulled out tightas you sew, this way when you take your hand off, it will go smaller.

Do the same at the other end, this time attaching a small denim loop so it can be hung from a hook . Simply push the carrier bags in one end, and pull out from the other as you need them !

Customising
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If you're handy with a sewing machine, you can alter the waistband of your jeans to the correct size - and theres lots of things you can do to funk old jeans up again!

Fabric dyes that work by simply adding them to the washing machine with your jeans are inexpensive to buy, and if your jeans look worn and tired, can give them a whole new look - I died some distressed jeans hot pink, and they look awesome. You can also 'age' jeans by soaking them in a bucket of very strong coffee!

Dark jeans can be revamped by painting on them with ordinary household bleach -just be sure to wash the jeans a couple of times before wearing .I'm not very artistic, but I managed to draw a passable skull on the back pocket of a pair .

Push through studs can be bought cheaply and can make an outfit look a bit more punky very quickly - however, I've fouind that putting them on the bum area means they jab in when you sit down!

You can also turn them into completely different items of clothing entirely. I watched Twiggys Frock Swap , and they turned a pair of jeans into a ra-ra skirt . I decided to try making a skirt myself (although not ra-ra style, my legs aren't that great ) and it turned out well! Since I followed instructions from a website for this one, I'll simply give you the link .

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-jea n-skirt-out-of-jeans./

Theres lot of things you can do with old jeans rather than throwing them away - I have a few more pairs to play with and I'm going to try to make some cushions and scented sachets out of them!

Of course, you can always donate them to a charity shop so someone else can get use out of them, but having a go at making things turned out to be a lot of fun for me, and definately something I'll try to do again!

Hope this reviews given you some fun ideas, thanks for reading!

Summary: Have a try!