101 Uses for Your Old Jeans

1. Mend or patch your jeans. As a teen this was my favorite thing to do with my jeans. 
2. Restyle your jeans. Check out Pimp My Jeans! 
3. Cutoff into shorts. 
4. Placemats. 
5. Drink coasters. Check out MyRecycledBags for a coaster pattern that uses the hems! 
6. Potholders. 
7. Quilt--Denim Quilt 2000 (Isn't the shading spectacular!). 
8. Skirt--flared skirt, straight skirt (and remember leaving the hem raw and allowing it to fray during washing is very stylish). 
9. Book cover--a no-sew version. 
10. Rug--crocheted, braided, sewn (I am going to make this one it is just my style). 
11. Embellishment--flowers, roses, Johnny Patches. 
12. Donate to a thrift shop. 
13. Pillow. Pillows add a homey touch to your space. 
14. Pocket refrigerator magnet. Cute, I think I would put a couple of magnets on the back to keep it nice and secure. And of course you can decorate it any way you like...to reflect your style. 
15. Key fob. And isn't the gift box unique? Wish she had included a pattern for it. 
16. Backpack. Wonderful for kids...durable, eco-friendly and a fashion statement. 
17. Rice pack. This is another great beginners sewing project using the legs of those old jeans. And who couldn't use a rice pack to relive aches and pains. 
18. Apron. My Byrd House is all about aprons including several cute denim aprons with tutorials! (It however, has one of my blogging pet peeves--background music. If that bugs you too, quickly scroll down to the bottom and turn the music off.) 
19. Halloween Mask. Isn't this gorgeous? Makes me wish I had a masked ball to attend. 
20. Corsage. A new trend for prom? I bet you could come up with several ways to wear this sweet little flower or make a bouquet of denim flowers. 
21. Slippers. 21Century Dressmakers has two tutorials for slippers, ballet slippers and slides. The ballet slippers are definitely calling to me. How about denim cowboy boot slippers? Might have to work on that too. 
22. Flower Pot Cover. Paired with a potted plant what an awesome Christmas or birthday present. 
23. Bind an Art Journal or Your Bestseller. Craft Stew has the ultimate collection of bookbinding techniques and tutorials, head over there when you start your bookbinding journey. I'm warning you though, it's addictive. 
24. Market Bag. Everyone needs a market bag or two.   Check out the denim market bag I made here. 
25. Wine Bag. Cute bag, neat idea to bleach the denim. 
26. Lunch bag. Nice insulated lunch bag, unfortunately no instructions on how to make. I think most crafty types could make this without instructions. This lunch bag is significantly different than the lunch sack I showed in my last post, that's why I included the lunch bag here. 
27. Yoga Mat Bag. A little more challenging project because of the circular bottom. Downward dog on! 
28. Nail Pouch. This is probably the simplest denim project you will ever make. 
29. Clothes Pin Bag1 or Clothes Pin Bag 2. Makes me wish I had a clothes line so I could make one of these bags for the pins. 
30. Eyeglass Case. I know this is not shown in denim but the pattern would work wonderfully with denim for the outside. And isn't the caterpillar charming, perfect for a spring project. Check out the denim eyeglass case I made here.
31. Sit-Upon. Summer is almost here, for those of you who camp this sit-upon is a great recycle/upcycle project.  Recycle plastic bags for the cushion and upcycle a pair of old jeans for the cover.  (For those of you who have never heard of a sit-upon it is basically a stadium pad. I made my first one in Girl Scouts.  It was made with newspaper and contact plastic, and of course a sash to tie it around  your waist when you weren't sitting on it.)
32. Camera Cozy. Ingenious little bag to protect your SLR camera.
33. Gardening Knee Pad. Of course we would use denim from our old jeans instead of buying material!
34. Garden Mulch. For those old jeans (or parts of) that are just too worn to make into something else garden mulch is the perfect use.  Tear the jeans into strips and lay around your plants--keeps down weeds and holds in moisture.
35. Ties.  Use the french seam (usually the inside seam) to make ties for tomatoes, beans, etc.
36. Hat.  What a lovely sun hat.