Recycle Old Pants into a Child's Art Smock - Tutorial

Do you recycle your old clothes, or just throw them away when you can no longer use them?

Many years ago, I worked part time at Sears which meant that I had to have either black or tan pants to wear to work. I had one favorite pair of pants that I wore every time I worked, thus wearing them out by the time I left that job after my younger children were born. The other day I was cleaning out my closet and pulling out clothes I had not worn in a long time so they could be donated, and I came across this pair of pants which was the perfect fabric for an art smock my son needed for art class this year. I just knew I could do something with the generous amount of good fabric still available from this pair of pants. So I took them down to my sewing room and got to work. Here's what I did...and you can do it too! Just follow along!


I said an official good-bye to my favorite pair of work pants. They had served me well.


Then I proceeded to cut both legs off. (Don't look too closely at that piece of paper on my cutting mat. I was sketching ideas for my Halloween Apron Swap project!) My original intent was to make an apron type of smock for Sean, requiring only one leg of the pants. I would then use the other leg to make one for Grace who is not yet in school but of course thinks she has to have everything that her big brother has!


So I began cutting the fabric just like I did with my recycled jeans aprons. I cut up the inside seam and folded both pant legs so the raw edges were even. With the hem end of the pant leg being the top of the smock, I marked the armhole curve with a pen. All this is just eyeballed, so you can hold it up to your model (mine was Sean!) and just estimate where this line should be.


Then I cut out the armhole through all layers of the fabric, thus cutting 4 armhole sections at one time.

This is when I got the idea that I really wanted this smock to have sleeves. Art class can be messy, and uniform shirts aren't cheap, so sleeves really would be a good idea if I could pull it off.

I scrounged through my fabric stash and let Sean and Grace both pick the fabric that appealed to them. Sean chose the school print fabric, and Grace insisted on two fabrics that have nothing to do with each other and actually clash terribly. She couldn't be more pleased with her selection! Oh to be 4 again and not care what other people think!

Having many years of experience sewing clothing of all sorts, I decided that I would attempt a raglan sleeve design with 4 matching pieces: front and back which are the pant legs (Grace's will have to wait for another pair of pants!), and two sleeves which are cut out of fabric. In my head it seemed to work. But would it work in fabric?


I spread out my school print fabric, folded just as it came off the bolt, and placed the cut-up pant leg piece on top. I folded in the edges so they would be more straight since I did not want the sleeves to be too puffy. Then I cut out the school print fabric.


I matched up the armhole edges of each sleeve to the appropriate front and back piece and stitched the seams.


This is what I ended up with...the neckline which was way too big, but would be perfect when drawn in by elastic.


I trimmed off the pant leg hem which was now at the neckline so that it would be even with the top edge of the sleeves.


I cut a strip of fabric about 2 1/2 inches by the width of the fabric for the neckline casing.


I folded it in half lengthwise and pressed the fold. Then I folded in each edge and pressed it.



I pinned the strip to the neckline with right sides together, starting at the center back, folding over the beginning edge and the ending edge. Then I stitched this along the pressed fold.


I folded over the casing strip and pinned it all around so that it would cover the raw edge and provide a clean neckline edge for the elastic to be threaded through. Then I stitched it from the right side about 1/8 inch from the lower edge of the casing, thus catching in the folded edge on the inside of the neckline.


I threaded the elastic through the casing using a safety pin. This is a good point to try the smock on the intended wearer of it to make sure the elastic is loose enough to allow the smock to be put on and taken off, and also to make sure it is tight enough to keep it up over the shoulders. Adjust the elastic to the perfect size, pin it, remove the smock and stitch the ends of the elastic together. Pull the neckline to evenly distribute the casing fabric along the elastic.


Now on to the sleeves. While your little model is still wearing the smock, mark with a safety pin where you want the sleeves to end. Lay out both sleeves folded in half and layered together on your cutting board. Cut the extra fabric off leaving at least 2 inches beyond the safety pin marker to be folded up and stitched as casing for the elastic.


Spread the sleeve end flat onto your ironing board with the wrong side up.


Fold under about 3/8 inch from raw edge and press. Fold again about 1 inch from pressed edge and press. Do this for both sleeves.

Stitch side and sleeve seams together, with the end of the sleeve folded down at the 3/8 inch fold.


Then fold on the next pressed fold to complete the casing, pin in place and stitch, leaving an opening of about an inch to thread the elastic.


Cut a piece of elastic about an inch bigger than your child's wrist. Thread it through the casing with a safety pin just as you did for the neckline. It is a good idea to pin the other end to the fabric so it won't get pulled into the casing.

Pin the ends of the elastic together and stitch them, making sure the elastic is not twisted in the casing. Tuck the elastic back into the opening by pulling on the casing.


Stitch the opening closed.


If you like, cut 2 pocket shapes in whatever shape your child wants. Sean wanted a slash pocket on the front so he could put both hands in and have them meet in the middle! Some kids just know what they like! Sew the two pieces, right sides together, leaving a small opening for turning. Trim corners and turn right side out. Press.



Place the smock flat on your cutting mat and position the pocket where you want it. It may look like this one is off center because of the seam line in the pant leg, but if you look at the pant legs on any pair of pants you will notice that the front part and the back part are not the same size!

Pin the pocket in place and then stitch, making sure not to stitch the opening where little hands will go!

Hem the bottom edge however you like. I turned the bottom edge over once and zig zag stitched it using a contrasting color thread. You could also make more binding from your fabric and bind the bottom edge to make it look more finished. Or put a pretty ruffle on it for a girl. Dress it up or down however you like.


And here you have one old pair of pants, some almost forgotten fabric from my stash, a piece of elastic from inside my sewing chair, and about 2 hours of time. But we all know the real result of all this is one happy little boy excited about the next art class at school! Truly priceless!

Happy Stitching!

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Recycled Jeans - A Drawstring Bag This Time!

Ever since I cut up that first pair of old jeans quite a while ago to make an apron, then moved on to clothes pin bags using jeans, I have been having fun thinking up more and different ways to use the fabulous denim that still has so much life left in it from these old throw-aways.

Take a look at what I did...

Here's my latest creation, a little drawstring bag. Inspiration for this was taken from Helen's first Stitcher's Angel project that was just unveiled last week. It's awfully cute and I loved how she did the lining, so that's what I did here too, only mine isn't quite as high.


The denim is leftover from the leg of jeans that I used for this clothes pin bag. The print fabric is leftover from the vest panel fabric I cut up and used for this apron.


First I cut off the bottom hem of this leftover leg piece and threw away the hem. The part that was left would be the body of the bag.


Although I could have just boxed the corners, I decided I wanted a sewn-in bottom for this little bag, so I cut a very usable piece of denim from the pocket area which would do just fine.



With the right sides together, I pinned the flat piece to the bottom edge of the pant leg, easing in the corners and then stitched it up.


Here's the right side of the newly stitched bottom.


I cut a few little patches from the vest panel and sewed them onto each side of the bag.


This one is my favorite. I think the pot of flowers is so cheerful, and I love these colors.



Then I cute two pieces of the vest panel as long as possible with the top edge being all the nice design, and the bottom edge having some of the white background still included. This would be hidden in the seams and down inside the bottom of the bag anyway! The width of the fabric was cut just a bit wider than the bag itself.

I did not take any measurements for this project. I just eyeballed everything and used the outer bag to measure up the fabric for the lining. Use what you have in whatever size works!


I stitched the lining pieces right sides together, leaving about a 2 inch opening in the bottom to turn the bag, and of course leaving the top edge open too. Then I boxed the corners so they would match the outer bag, again just eyeballing it. The lining will be tucked inside anyway!


After pinning the raw edges of the top of the lining and the denim right sides together, I stitched all around the top using about a 1/4 inch seam.


Then I pulled the denim bag through the opening that was left in the bottom of the lining...


...and stitched the opening closed on the machine.


After pushing the lining to the inside of the bag and getting it all straightened up and nicely fitted, this is how much of the lining stood up above the denim. Using free arm on my sewing machine, I stitched just under the edge of the lining through the denim and inside lining, then stitched again about 1/2 inch above that through the outside and inside layers of the top lining to make a casing for the drawstring.
Here you can see the two stitching lines which make the casing. You can click on any picture to make it bigger and see the details better.


After using my seam ripper to open up the seams on both sides between the casing lines, I threaded one length of drawstring through going in one direction, then another going in the other direction so that the two strings could be pulled away from each other to close the bag. You could use just one drawstring to close the bag if you wanted.


And there's my little recycled jeans tote bag, just big enough to toss in a book or small needlework project, cellphone, package of tissues, car keys and wallet for a trip to the doctor's office or the school parking lot or wherever you might have to do a little waiting.

This bag is not one of my Stitcher's Angel Swap gifts, but from what I hear from my secret partner, she would like these colors. I have been corresponding with her anonymously and gathering good information about what she might like. Such fun! Even if you're not in the swap, head over to Helen's website and check out each project as it is introduced at the beginning of each week. They are free and available to anyone who wants them from some very talented and creative designers.

Happy Stitching!

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Recycled Another Pair of Jeans into a Clothes Pin Bag

One just wasn't enough for Bonnie, so here's my second recycled jeans clothes pin bag. This one has butterflies on it!



For this bag, I reused the hanger that Bonnie's old clothes pin bag had been on since she likes the way it swivels, and I even used a pair of old jeans she gave me to recycle!

The bias binding was another scrap in my pile of Better-Keep-This-In-Case-I-Might-Need-It-Someday ribbons and trims and bindings and other little stuff. Doesn't everyone have one of those piles? Mine happens to be kept hidden away inside the seat of my sewing chair too! I love that feature!

The butterflies were hanging around in my cabinet, just waiting for their chance to fly away on something that would be used outdoors. What better place for them to fly than in Bonnie's backyard!

Happy Stitching!

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Recycle Jeans into a Clothes Pin Bag!

After making a few aprons using old jeans, I started thinking of other ways to recycle jeans into useful household tools. Recently a friend of mine asked if I could make a hanging bag for her clothes pins since she likes to hang her clothes out on the line in the nice weather. So I let some ideas stew in my brain for a few days and then I got to work.

Here's a little photo tutorial on how I made a clothes pin bag using an old pair of jeans, a small plastic hanger and some leftover bias binding.


This is the second leg of the jeans that I cut up to make the ladybug apron. I took a small plastic hanger from my children's closet and placed it at the point on the leg where the edges just met the edges of the pant leg. Then I used my white fabric marking pencil to trace the slanted lines above the hanger.


I cut about 5/8 inch above the lines I had traced, to allow for the seam.


I refolded the pant leg so that the front was folded in half and drew half of a teardrop-ish shape on the fold starting about 2 inches down from the top.


Then I cut straight down the fold from the top to the beginning of the teardrop-ish shape, and then cut around the shape to make the opening which will be on the front of the bag.


Of course you can't really see the cut-out in this picture because the denim is all the same color on the inside and the outside, but you can see a little bit of the white line left behind.


I then bound the opening edge with a piece of extra wide bias binding from my scrap collection. I thought the yellow was a nice contrast to the black denim. Homemade bias binding of any width would also work well, or any width of ready made...whatever you have one hand!


Just to add some detail, I picked out one of the hardly-ever-used fancy stitches on my sewing machine, and stitched around the binding.


Then I turned the whole thing inside out and pinned the top edge. I stitched it using about a 5/8 inch seam allowance, then I stitched it again about 1/8 inch inside the seam allowance for extra strength.


Then I decided how long I wanted the bag to be, and cut off the extra from the bottom. I stitched up the newly cut bottom edge, and stitched it again for strength.

After turning the bag right side out again, I stitched the seam allowance at the opening to the back of the bag for added strength where the hanger will be coming out of the bag.


This is that same stitching at the opening shown from the back side of the bag.



I put the hanger into the bag and there it is!


But wait! Look what I found in my closet! A cute little appliqué to iron onto something. And I think this is the perfect something, don't you?


So there's my recycled jeans/leftover bias binding/extra plastic hanger clothes pin bag, dressed up with a cute little bumble bee appliqué. It only took about 1 1/2 hours and didn't cost me a dime. Sure beats the ugly things you pay money for in the home center stores or bed and bath stores! And just think of the cute bags you could make with bias binding leftover from other projects you've done. The possibilities are endless. Just use your imagination, and save those plastic hangers!

Happy Stitching!

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