Turn Jeans into a Waistcoat

I have a few pairs of jeans some are as good as new and get sold on Getthrifty, others however are suitable for the bin - but I dont want to send clothes to landfill.

You need to see 'Clothes' as 'Material', unpick the original sewing and you have a blank canvas to work from, right?

I recently bought a denim waistcoat from Topshop - and I didnt like the price! not one bit! but I really wanted my daughter to have one too. So this will be my first project.

Where to start...

Remove the legs, leave enough room at the top to make a skirt? shorts? or bag?

Remove both legs

Use an unpicker to unpick the seems

I did this whilst watching Tv and took me around 30-45 minutes - so you could do this faster

This is what you should be left with, I have kept the original seams to save on more sewing

Draw around an item of clothing that fits, I was lucky enough to have a waistcoat but its just as easy to use a shirt and fold in the sleeves

Sew your denim together and with a chalk mark the shape of the template over the denim.

Cut out your template.

Hem the edges, I have pinned mine first

Sew the hem

I have now decided to add a Lining to make it more pretty

Use pins to keep the lining in place, fold over the linen to act like a hem and sew

Now, Sew the shoulders together, try and keep with the natural shoulder which generally points downwards away from the body, you could also place the waistcoat on and pin to fit.

Well, My daughter was impressed, and even if she just uses it for dress up its better then sending it to landfill!

The waistcoat took me around 3-4 hours to complete.

I had some more material left over from the jeans, so heres what I made, each item took less then 30minutes to make.

Beans bags (filled with rice and lentils) we set up a bowl and had to get the bags in the target! great fun

I used the top of the jeans to make my daughter a little handbag, add some ribbon and pretty things.

A coin purse from just cutting the pocket out

If you wanted you could add some fringing

What have you made to recycle, upcycle your old denim jeans? Please leave a comment, and even links to your upcycled items.

Recycled Glamour

I didnt need no fancy title to get you reading, the words Recycled Glamour instantly draws you in.

You may have seen me share, like and comment on this ladys work before, you wouldnt believe how lucky I am to have such a talented family, this lady is in fact my Auntie,  Estelle, my Dad's sister.


I wanted to find out more about my auntie Estelle, when did she realise she had such an amazing talent? I asked her a few questions and heres her response.

'Way back in 1994 I was fresh out of art college, full of ideas and out of work, living in Bristol in the UK... No longer able to spend the day welding metal together I had to think of a new way to be creative.

I loved the quirky designs of fashion designer Wayne Hemingway and his label Red or Dead, so inspired, I picked up an old treadle singer sewing machine at a junk shop and started making purses out of AstroTurf that a green grocer gave me with little Subbuteo football players on them or fake daisies... Recycled Glamour was born!

Over the last 17 years I have made 100's of bags and purses, at one point I had a stall at the very wonderful Spitalfields Market in London and I sold in boutiques in London, Bristol and Brighton... I've had many other careers as an Art Teacher, Ceramics technician, artists assistant, lighting designer/maker. But I always come back to my handbags and purses!

Estelles Gorgeous set up at a Vintage Craft fair

I now live in Auckland, New Zealand (a very crafty part of the world), After the upheaval of moving halfway round the world I've started again!

I have a studio in a 1960's caravan in my garden and take what I make to the many craft markets that are around in Auckland and sell online through felt.co.nz

Lots of my ideas for my bags are inspired by long ago happy memories of my Grandmothers house on Dartmoor in Devon, England. So Tweed, linen,  Houndstooth, silk scarves, Liberty Lawn and floral fabric feature in my designs.'

Estelle Pemberton

Recycled Glamour

Purchase Estelles Handmade products from felt.co.nz

This is enough to make you want to get on a plane and visit Estelles Crafty Caravan, Her latest project is a top made from vintage silk scarf, I will be the first to put an order in, Im so excited.

Visit Estelle on Facebook to see what shes up to. Recycled Glamour