My 'Casual Friday' Bag: A Blue Jean Upcycle

July 22, 2013

My 'Casual Friday' Bag: A Blue Jean Upcycle

Ahhh...sunsets. This picture was taken over the weekend on the farm my husband grew up on. His parents still reside there and we try to visit as much as we can. I have always been in love with sunsets. The Lord is good, isn't he? He gives us beautiful sunrises to greet us as we begin a new day and then beautiful sunsets to wish us goodnight. I was thinking about our God, the creator, as I sat in bed reading my bible and praying this morning. I started thinking about this post and my latest creation. I LOVE to create! If you are reading this blog, you probably love to create too. Our desire to create, and our ability to create, comes from God. We are made in His image, and thus parts of his character can be found in us. Flawed, of course, not perfect, as I demonstrate in my next project, but it is there.

So...to my next project. I wanted to make another bag, but I wanted this one to be bigger (to hold big notebooks and sewing books I am reading, etc..). It also needed be a bag that would be good for the rest of the summer months and through the fall. And, I wanted to create this bag all on my own, with my own little touches. This is what I came up with...

THE CASUAL FRIDAY BAG!!!

I had so much fun creating this bag. I truly did not know what I was going to do next during every stage of the creation process. I did know that I wanted it to have a quilt-like look to it. So, I took 5 pieces of fabric, cut them in 4 inch squares and it ended up looking like this...

Once I knew how much material I had to work with, I then found enough old jeans to complete the bag. I must say, it was very hard to cut up this fabric! I was tempted to turn it into a small blanket, but it really was not big enough. This piece measured a little smaller than 36"x36".

Once I had chosen all of my pieces, I was ready to begin.

The bag went together rather smoothly, until I finished it and then went to place my cell phone and other goodies in the pockets I was so proud of. Do you notice anything wrong with the picture below?

POCKET IS UPSIDE DOWN!!!! UGGGGGHHH!!!

There was an even bigger pocket on the other side! I had to take it ALL out and turn it around. boohoo!!

Looks much nicer now, doesn't it?

Since we were on the farm this weekend, I took advantage of all the great scenery and shot an obscene amount of pictures. :) Enjoy!!

These handles are made from the waist band. I stitched some of my pieced fabric to the top of each handle.

I wanted to give you a closer look at the 'GW' (my initials) and the flower in this picture. Can you guess what they are made out of ?

Here is a closer look. If you guessed BELT LOOPS and ZIPPERS....you are right! I'm loving the way it turned out.

I attached the bottom section of the bag with zigzag stitching.

So, here I am, loving my new bag!! If you like this one you might also want to check out my other blue jean upcycles.

Blue Jean Rosette Bracelets

Blue jean Camera Case

Upcycled Backpack with Vintage Embroidery

iPad Sleeve

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Blessings,

~Gina

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