New Uses For Old Denim
by Roxanna Ward
If your family is like mine, we live in denim. From denim jeans to
denim skirts. We have plenty of denim in our house. With three
children, we go through plenty of clothes. Two of these children
being boys, many of these clothes are worn out before grown out of.
So I found myself with a lawn and garden garbage bag full of no good
denim. What is a frugal mother to do?
I'll tell you what I did. I rose to the challenge and went to work
researching. I found there are so many uses for this denim, that I
want more worn out clothes! Here are a few items you can make with
denim scraps:
QUILT:
Cut the good parts of the denim clothing into four inch squares. Sew
together to form a quilt. I did this and made a "rag" quilt. I
sewed the quilt and left the denim seams on the outside of the
quilt. Washed and dried for a little fraying and bam .. one
Christmas gift was finished.
PURSE:
Turn the jeans (I used shorts) to the inside and sew just below the
bottom at the beginning of the legs. I sewed a few times for extra
reinforcing. Sew on a strap using the waistband from another pair of
jeans. Lace a belt or use ribbon through the beltloops to draw
closed. I also put a strip of Velcro on the inside of mine to keep
shut.
PILLOWS:
I made "butt" pillows for our van the same basic way the purse is
made. Except you need to close the entire top with Velcro. Put a
ready made pillow form in and you can unvelcro for easy cleaning.
Just toss in the washer. I used an old pillow as the pillow form and
had no cost at all for my pillows.
APRON:
Use a pair of overalls for this project. Cut the seams of the legs
apart and then sew both of the front legs together and then both of
the back legs together. Slip over you head for a great apron. You
can also use as a great overall dress. Quick and easy.
So what are you waiting for? Go clean out your closets and see what
you can make.
Roxanna Ward, Community leader and staff writer for
BabyUniversity.com,
lives in Georgia with her husband and her three children. As a published freelance
writer the focus of her writing is concentrated on sharing household tips, her experience
with her frugal lifestyle as well as the phenomenal process of
breastfeeding, child rearing related issues and romantic
relationships. She is also currently the Editor of three newsletters:
What's New at BabyU?, Intimate Encounters and At Home with Baby
University. Roxanna can be contacted at Roxanna30135@aol.com