My daughter brought me her favorite pair of denim shorts the other night all upset because the had finally wore out. Not wanting to just thrown them away, we decided that we would “recycle” them and make them into something else that she could use – of course we choose a purse! You are never to young right? So this is all about How to make a purse with jeans!
So I decided to give it a try. I know how to do basic things on the sewing machine – even made a dress once in high school (won’t tell you how long ago that was) but I still remember a little bit. lol. Without much of a pattern or even really thinking it out – I just knew how I wanted it to look so I went with that.
DIY Tutorial: How to make a Purse with Jeans
The first step is get a pair of jeans that have cute designs on the pockets and preferably cute buttons. I had this pair for my eight year old, but then my 6 year old and (almost) two year old daughters got wind of our project and wanted in on it. So I make a quick trip to the DI (consignment store) and found a pair of jeans for each of them that a very cute for only $2 each that we can use to make their purses. I also found a camouflage shirt that I am going to use along with a pair of my husbands old worn out shorts to make a backpack (that project will be posted soon!)
Step 2: Choose a spot that looks even across the bottom and using a Rotary Cutter (make sure to put a Self-Healing Mat underneath to protect your table), cut the legs off jeans. DON’T THROW THESE AWAY! If you don’t feel comfortable “eyeballing” the measurement you can measure it and use a clothing marker or pencil to mark your cutting lines.
After you cut your shorts in step two – you will want to turn them inside out. This part is pretty easy – just sew along the entire bottom of the shorts make sure it is completely sealed off – (no open holes on the ends). You may have to pull the jeans through the sewing machine if they get caught up under the foot – just don’t go to fast or your stitching will be way off.
Once you have sewn up the bottom of the purse – your next step will be to make the straps. I use the pant legs that we cut off earlier – and if you have LONG pants this will be so much easier – lol – but I will give directions for both ways. If you have shorts – you will want to stack both pieces together so they match in size, then trim off any extra “overhang”.
Once you have an even side, put the pieces that you want showing FACING each other – so you will be sewing with the insides of the jeans showing. Sew a line down it to make an edge. You will want to make two or three sets of these (depending on how long your fabric is, and why it is better to have long pants). Once you have your pieces cut and sewn down one side (ONLY ONE SIDE) then you will want to lay them end to end and sew them together. Once you have them sewn together – then you will fold it in half and sew it closed on the other side.
After it is a tube – you will have to turn it right-side-out. This is very tedious and may take a few minutes (sore finger warning).
Once you have it turned right-side-out, you will want to secure the straps to the inside of your purse. You can see how I did two lines that overlapped just a little on each side to make it more secure.
(Here I got impatient and just wanted to be done – lol – so I forgot to take the pictures) But I simple took a piece of fabric and laid the purse on top, and measured slightly bigger (about an inch on each side) than the purse. I cut the piece of fabric twice as long so that I could fold it over and use it for the liner of the bag. you will fold the fabric in half – and sew the right side, bottom, and the left side. DO NOT SEW THE TOP.
Once you have the liner sewn, you turn your purse inside out – and with the fabric print facing OUT you will want to sew it all the way around the top of your purse. I just followed the hem line under the waist band. BEWARE OF THE ZIPPER AND OTHER METAL BUTTONS – these will bend your needle and could harm your machine.
Once you have your liner sewn in – turn the back right-side-out and the liner will be lose on the inside. it will be a little big, but you want to give it some play so that it doesn’t get stretched out and rip or put stress on the stitching. You are welcome to put little hand stitches to secure it in, but I like it loose so they can clean it out easy if crumbs or something gets in it.
To top it off I took a wired ribbon (has wire on the edges) and put it through where the belt would go. It would be cute to even find a belt and put it in there. We plan to add little embellishments like flowers or patches as we go – but she is really excited. Already has it loaded with her favorite book, lotion and lip gloss. Oh and her wallet. lol. She is so cute! Now I have get to make two more for my other daughters.
Overall this project took about 1 – 1.5 hours. It was so fun and my daughter loved watching and helping when she could. I really did enjoy it. Here is my little Lovebug showing off her new bag:
I would love your feedback – if you have made one before, or if you try this please let me know what you think! REALLY 🙂
Great work! I just made my first project and I had my first old denim bag ready and 2 hours! Thanks very much!
This purse tutorial looks very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
I made these when I was in high school in home economics and it was so much fun! I will do this with my 2 teenage nieces and I have many old jeans we can use! Thanks for sharing!
I should try this project. I love the jean purse. very cute!
I have grandsons but how cute would it be to make for my friends for just because we’re all 50 but his cute.
Very creative and unique. My daughter would love one and maybe we will try.
How cute! And what a great use for old jeans!
I love the purse made out of Jeans… I think it is a great recycle project and really fun and cute !!!!
This is great! My daughter would love this.
We used to make these when I was in high school!! Still adorable
WHAT A GREAT IDEAL………………..
Love the idea of recycling
I’m a huge fan of upcycling. What a great use for old jeans. I’m not that old, but I remember these purses from when I was a teen. It’s so cool that they’re back in style again.
I have to be honest. My mother has done that with jeans to shorts… the ladies of the house often had to pass down clothes and when the last grew out of them they made an array of items from purses and many other ideas still being done today. I continue to re-use items as much & as often to the best of my ability. And since I found a couple of sites that have items that I need for giveaways, like this one, the make-overs, electronic related items, crafts and kitchen goods all are items that I really, really need!
I just hope for the very best for each of us in whatever way is needed; especially those those that enter any & all the sweepstakes!
This Would Make Such A Fun Craft! A Great Way To Recycle Old Jeans!
This is great for repurposing. We have been doing stuff like that in school.
I remember making one of these in high school! thanks for the memories
Wow! here I have been giving mine to the good will if I don’t wear, like or get new ones and look what I was missing could of made some of these for the craft show. Love this idea! Thanks so much for sharing!
great recycling project and cute too
i remember when these were really big, but i was never a big fan of them
I used to fo this when I was a kid.
As a child of the 70s, yes!! We used to do this back then!
Such a cute idea!! I made my Daughter draw-string topped bags out of the legs of jeans. She used them as book bags, over-night bags, toy bags, etc. What I loved about them was, when they got dirty, I could throw them in the washer and dryer and give them right back to her. ♥
I have always wondered how these were made. I can not use a sewing machine very well, but i will take my materials down to moms house and have her teach me. I have so jeans to big for me now with cute pockets, so it will turn out adorable
Did this with a denim skirt to make a book bag! And I’ve seen pillows made from the area around the back pockets too.
Cool craft- Thank you!
This DIY makes this look soooo easy! I can remember wayyyyy back when these first came in style 🙂
Your jean purse is so cute!
This looks like a project that my niece would love.
I made one of these for my daughter when she was a teenager
Cute! How clever I think my sister would love this!
great idea.. I cant sew tho
great idea will need to try this
I remember when people first started doing this a few years ago. They kind of went away but I think this is a GREAT first purse for tweens & teens.
OMG THIS IS CUTE
My neice is goin to absolutely love this idea. Shes very crafty!!!!
What a clever way to hang on to your favorite jeans that can no longer be worn.
I have never made one – my sewing skills are pretty awful….but I loved this post because these purses were all the rage when I was in high school, and I loved remembering that when I saw your post.
This would be so cute and although I am not talented in the sewing department I will mark this to share with others.
You are very creative, and you’re passing on your creativity and your resourcefulness! My daughter really benefited from my doing this when she was younger. Today she comes up with things that I’d never think of!
This is a great idea! I’m considering going out and buying a darkwash pair of pants or shorts and turning them into this great looking purse.
Very cute way to up-cycle jeans! Thanks for the idea!
This is ingenious. I keep my worn out jeans around just in case, but I never knew what to do with them.
This purse would be a great mother/daughter craft. Cute and very unique.
Oh my gosh!! My daughter would love this!!
This is a cute craft for Girl Scouts or something like that
Thank You, this is something my granddaughter and I can do together!
I have a niece who is going to love this for Christmas!
this is a great thing to do with old jeans that dont fit anymore and I think itd be a cute gift!
Oh wow this bring back memories I made one when i was young love the bag thanks
This is really cute, I think I would use a darker shade of blue. Thank you for sharing this great craft.
I have seen these, but have never taken the time to give it a try myself.
I’ve made one of these before and it was fun to make and I got a lot of comments on the purse from friends!
So thrifty, love it!
I LOVE this! We made purses and skirts from jeans when I was a teenager, and this brings back great memories. I can’t wait to pass this on to my grand-daughter.
thanks for the directions i have always felt that jean purses were cute and now i know how to make them
Very cute! I love upcycling! Would make a good gift.
My daughter would love this, and it didn’t look to difficult!
I had one of these when I was a girl.Your’s turned out really cute
seems to be pretty easy and a very creative idea but i do not know how to work a sewing machine
I made one of these when I was in sewing class as 7th grader. I also made one out of a fabric placemat.
i made a purse like this when i was younger! so cute
This is so cute! Honestly I did this when I was about 13 years old. I ruined my favorite pair of jeans and the back pockets were so cute, I didnt want to throw them out so I looked up what I could do with them and I ended up making a purse!!! Neat Idea though!!
I would love to have this handbag of jeans and would tell my mom-in-law to make for me one out of old jeans,she does stitching very creatively
This is really cool.. Thank for sharing
You are welcome Tiffany! Thank you 🙂
Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Sandy 🙂
Super cute. Love it.
Thank You Beth 🙂 I was pretty excited with how it turned out.