I picked up a bad habit from my younger sister. Instead of rinsing my paint brushes in the sink I often find myself wiping them on my blue jeans. Whether I'm painting tights, silk screening a onesie with pantyhose, making a wee witch shrine or painting a black velvet picture of Dolly I tend to wipe my brushes on my pants before they hit the sink. I can't keep a pair of jeans paint free to save my life. For once this worked to my benefit.
Recently my favorite painters pants started to die a slow painful death. The holes in the knees didn't bother me, but when the holes in the crotch started I knew it was time to retire my favorite jeans forever. I couldn't bear the thought of just throwing my jeans away so instead I thought of a way to up-cycle them so that they could be with me always. Today for I Love to Create we are turning old blue jeans into new necklaces.
SUPPLIES
Old Painters Pants
Ping Pong Balls
Fabric Fusion Glue
Sewing Machine
Thread
Scissors
Don't let the picture fool you, I didn't end up using the wooden beads I opted for ping pong balls instead. The bigger the better right? The first I thing did, I should say we did since my mom helped with this project, is cut out strips of the blue jeans.
Measure your strips so that when they are sewn into a tube they will fit snugly around your beads or balls. Once you have your strips the size you want sew right sides to right sides to create your tube.
Once your tube has been sewn you will need to turn the fabric right side out.
The next step is to start stuffing your balls or beads into your denim tube. I cut small strips of leftover blue jean to tie in knots in-between each ball. I decided to only stuff the part of the tube with paint.
To make sure that my knots did not come undone I went through and added a dab of Fabric Fusion Glue.
All that is left to do is wear my snazzy new necklace. I just tie the lose denim edges and presto. I think it might also be cute as a belt or as a Jeanne Bice Quacker Factory style headband.
