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Recycled Denim Potholder

I’ve been on a bit of a kick recycling denim jeans lately. I’ve made several tote bags from old jeans which are posted here under the Denim Crafts category. I’ve been wanting to make a potholder and still want to make a oven mitt too. But first things first, right? Here is my recycled denim potholder complete with a jeans pocket!

Here is my denim potholder in use.

Old recycled denim makes great potholders. All you need is an old pair of jeans, some cotton for padding and I added a piece of insul-bright. Insul-bright is an inexpensive reflective material that is designed for providing padding for potholders, oven mitts etc. Use only 100% cotton towels and cotton crafting batting. Do not use polyester batting or towels as the heat passes right through that material. I paid less than a dollar for a small piece of insul-bright so I figure this is a bargain to provide a good insulation for my potholder. Plus I have leftovers for my future oven mitt project.

Below you will find my step-by-step picture tutorial on how to make this recycled denim potholder.

Denim Tote Bag Tutorial

Here is my completed recycled denim tote bag with tutorial. I recycled an old pair of my son’s jeans to create this tote bag pattern. I used just one pant leg for the body of the bag and the other pant leg to make the straps. I lined the bag with some thrift store material that I bought for only a dollar. I want to remind readers here that I have stated in the past that I am not a seamstress so if my tutorial isn’t quite right, please be gentle. First and far most I am a recycler who tries to crochet and sew green, eco-friendly products. So with that being said, here’s my step-by-step instructions on how you too can sew a recycled denim tote bag.

First get a pant leg as shown.
All pictures are clickable complete tutorial click on the read more link here […]

Recycled Denim Jean Bag

Here is my first machine-sewn recycled denim jean bag. I’ve been wanting to get this posted for quite awhile. I’ve been working on sewing denim totes from old jeans that I have. This is my first attempt and please understand that I am not a seamstress. This is truly a work in progress to create a small denim tote bag. I made this using only the pant leg of some old jeans. Then I added the outside pocket which I stitched around through the original pocket stitching to secure it to the tote bag.

I recycled an old curtain and cut it up to make my lining. I added in some pockets from an old denim shirt I had. This picture was taken when I just had the lining pinned in place.

Here is a picture of the handles I made for this bag. After I trimmed the seams, I turned them right side out. I then top-stitched the handles.

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Here is a picture on how I attached the handles. I put them inside between the denim and the lining. I then stitched around the top to secure the lining to the bag with the straps in place. Make sure you use a machine needle designed for heavy denim as they work much better and don’t break like regular sewing machine needles do. The finished size of this bag is 7-1/2″ wide x 11″ long with 18″ straps.

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I am working on a picture tutorial for a denim tote bag with a zippered lining. It will have step-by-step pictures. Once I have it completed, I will post it here for everyone. Recycling old denim jeans is really a lot of fun and I hope you’ll give it a try!