“It is not a plastic bag under the black sedan parked outside your house! It’s a pair of discarded denim jeans…”
My old friend Maude, who lives across the road, texted me on her way to pick up The Artist Formerly Known as Pinkabelle from school.
Sure enough, the jeans were still there when Big Boy and I went walking the next morning. They were badly ripped and had possibly been run over.
“What. Are. You. Doing..?” asked my son, as I gingerly picked them up and brought them into the house.
I threw them into a sink with Napisan for several hours, then hot water washed them with laundry detergent in the machine. They came out nice and clean…
Serendipitously, I’d just been watching all the happenings of Fashion Revolution Week and reading some of their excellent publications. If you’re interested, you can read them for free online at Issuu – here’s a link to their second Fanzine titled Loved Clothes Last…
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Inspired, I thought it might be interesting to see how many things I could make from our roadkill jeans. It was such a fun challenge! Here’s what I ended up with…
One denim apron with a large double pocket
I unpicked the label and reattached it to cover up an oil stain that didn’t come out in the wash (unsurprising given that the jeans had been under a car on the street for at least two days). Here’s the pattern if you’d like to have a go at making one.
One denim placemat
I was so happy with how this piece turned out – it’s made from the flat-felled seams and waistband, cut to size and zigzagged together with matching thread. We use these all the time – the double layer of denim provides reasonable heat protection…
One useful bread bag
This was assembled from the leftover leg fabric and assorted scraps. If you’d like to try making this, have a look at our tutorial here (they’re very easy)…
Two zippered useful bags
As the scraps got smaller, I started stitching them together crazy quilt fashion. They’re perfectly imperfect! We have a tutorial for making these as well if you’d like to have a go…
One denim coaster and four denim rings
This post is starting to sound like a Christmas carol! The coaster was dead easy – I simply cut around the remaining back pocket and zigzagged around the edge to stop it fraying. A single line of white embroidery was added to make it a bit more interesting. These work really well for hot drinks – they don’t have an edge for mugs to fall off, they’re easy to wash and quite heat resistant.
The rings are an old favourite of mine – I made one from a belt loop and three from the stitching around the zipper. Sadly, I couldn’t find a clever way to reuse the zipper itself…
Two wraparound bracelets
I’m completely in love with these! They’re certainly not most people’s style, but I find them incredibly comfortable to wear and they keep my wrists warm. Pete likes them too – he says they’re “a bit biker chick without being hardcore”. Ahh men…
At the end of the challenge, only a small amount of scrap was leftover…and it went into the rubbish bin. Yes, I could have saved it for pillow stuffing, but once I start thinking like that, my house is going to overflow…
I’ve learnt so much from this exercise!
As always, I’m blown away by the resilience of denim – despite being heavily worn, left outside under a car for several days and possibly run over, most of the fabric was still in excellent condition. And it feels wonderful to give materials that would have ended up in landfill (or worse, the waterways) a second lease of life!
Have you been upcycling?
I’d love to know about any projects you’re working on! ♥
I’m planning on teaching my daughter to sew this year. Starting out with straight seams, so a picnic blanket from the boys’ old jeans is the planned project for her. I have jeans in various colors, so the blanket design is up to her. Will see how it turns out, but I think she’s old enough to start learning at 9 1/2 years old. Plus, she keeps asking to learn to sew.
For zipper ideas, head over to Pinterest and search for Things to make from zippers. Some of them are really quite beautiful.
Word has gotten out… unloved denim is making its way to you for a new life. I can’t help but imagine lost souls of jeans walking the streets at night… searching… searching.
Bloody genius!
Beautiful I have 2 aprons from Celia, I use them nearly every day when home in Tasmania SO GOOD
I love aprons made out of denim and I like yours too. I love the smaller items too. A good find. But shame on those dumping.
Hi Celia, just love your blog. Such great use of the denim jeans. Thought I’d let you know that you can put all cotton denim scraps into a worm farm. They will definately gobble it up!! Cheers Margaret..ox
Oh that’s a great tip! Thank you!
Loved Clothes Last is a fascinating read. Waste is such a problem (our lane is currently blocked as a lorry dumped an entire load recycled waste – industrial fly tipping is a big, big issue in the countryside). If only everyone had your imagination! I’ve just recycled a very small part of a pair of old jeans to patch my daughter’s boyfriend’s denim jacket. I was dying to do some visible mending but had to be very discreet as I don’t know him quite well enough to be bold. Next time …
your blog is always so much fun for me.. wish you were closer. you are fun girl, don’t change
Celia, you are a wonder, that’s what you are! Such a great way to start the day by reading all the creative things you did with one pair of roadkill jeans. But now I can’t get the idea of zombie jeans finding their way to your house. ;)
I want to be you when I grow up (maybe in the next life at this point.)
Inspirational Celia…actually I was thinking those pants didn’t look that bad. My gardening jeans are much more worn and trendy because of the ripped tears in the knees. I can’t bear to part with them up as they are so soft and comfortable.
I once saw a pair of denim overalls, faded and torn, priced at over $500 from Ralph Lauren. And they were ‘new’.
Roadkill Jeans..what a hoot and you put me to shame with that post. Loved it and will read the articles tomorrow! Thank you.
Brilliant!
Amazing re-using – incredible how far the denim of one pair of jeans goes – but also amazing that someone’s jean’s ended up as roadkill – would love to know why!
have you tried composting old clothes – I have read you can compost denim because it is cotton – a friend of mine tried it so I need to check with her about how it has gone.
Thanks for your inspiration Celia. From one pair of jeans I have made some denim “fabric” by zigzagging legs together, plus three zipper pouches, then, after your post, I went back to the scraps and patch-worked a lovely bread (more likely wine) bag. The rest goes into the compost!
It’s a very good habit to put up. Planning to preserve our items prepares us to receive additional items made from the ones we preserved
Just found your blog through Kate. Your adventures in working with the jeans remind me of the adventures I had in repurposing two pair of denim overalls into memory Christmas stockings, tote bags, and Christmas ornaments. I began to think I’d never use it all up. lol
Love this post, just happened to have an irretrievably ripped pair of my sons jeans that I couldn’t bear to throw out. Husband has been wearing my old floral apron as he cooks up a storm. I have now made and wrapped up a beautiful denim apron for his birthday this week. Thank you for the inspiration 😊
Steph
That’s the best comment! Thank you!! I hope he loves it! :)