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is there problem fray check can’t solve?

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A friend of mine asked me to hem a pair of jeans for her. Last time I did this, I didn’t have to take them up too much, and I just tacked the extra material to the inside seam.

This pair needed to be taken up more than that, and there was quite a bit of denim leftover, making a giant cuff on the inside of the leg. My plan was to cut it off and serge the ends to keep it from fraying. When it came to the side seams, my serger had other plans. “No thank you,” it politely said as the denim refused to let go of the needle.

So I fell back on my tried and true method for raw edges: fray check. It feels a little stiff now, but I bet after one washing it will soften up.

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could cutoff jeans be more brilliant?

cutoff shorts

On the way to school: “Mom, my legs are cold.”
On the way home from school: “Mom, my legs are hot.”

I have a theory. Sometime, way back when, a child uttered those phrases over and over in a whiny voice, until her mother couldn’t take it anymore. The mother grabbed a pair of scissors and jeans with holes in the knees and BAM. Cutoff shorts were invented.

I’d like to thank her for that moment. You see, shorts and skirts are too cold for 50 degree mornings. Jeans and leggings are too hot for 80 degree afternoons. Cutoff shorts are just right. (This is starting to sound like a fairytale.)

My daughter just might wear these everyday until the first frost. Thank goodness I made two pairs.

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home ec class: hemming jeans

home ec class how to hem a pair of jeans

I haven’t abandoned my home ec class. I keep looking at the projects hoping to steal a bit of time here and there to finish some more up. This one was a necessity. When my daughter tore a hole in her best-fitting pair, I had to face the pile of size six jeans that are too long. It’s a big pile.

I knew I was going to have to hem most of them, but since she’s growing so fast, I decided to only do a few at a time.

I picked an easy pair to start with: straight leg. I only broke one denim needle — my machine’s motor is definitely not a match for that side seam. I stopped and started on either side and hand stitched that part of the hem.

I’m pretty impressed with how they turned out. The real challenge will be tackling flare and boot cut styles.

refashion: I like how the original hem is retained with this technique. They don’t have that “my mom hemmed these” look to them. I have a feeling that I’ll be using this skill a lot in the coming years.

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denim messenger bag for christina

I’ve been wanting to make a bag like this for awhile, but just couldn’t figure out the pattern. I fiddled around with a prototype that didn’t work out too well and then abandoned it for a few months. (OK, a year!)

upcycled denim bag

Then my friend Christina asked me to do something with her Fairy Jeans. I did a lot of sketching and research and actually got a lot of inspiration from diy skirt and maternity jean tutorials.

upcycled denim bag

When we went shopping for her wedding gown, she mentioned that she liked the color combination of dark blue and champagne. She also asked me to incorporate one of her finance’s blue silk ties. I used it for the lining of the flap and lined the rest of the bag with tan cotton.

upcycled denim bag

I’m going to make one more of these bags to make sure I’ve got my pattern down and then I’m going to offer it as a custom bag listing in my etsy shop. More pics of the bag in my sewing gallery.