Making A Simple Bag from A Pair of Jeans

I have always been fascinated by handbag made from jeans. Not just the material denim but a pair of jeans. I was given one when mom went for a trip to Bandung about a decade ago. I dreamt of making one but the thought of cutting up my favorite jeans always stops me. Anyway, recently I bought a pair at a jumble sale just for this purpose.

Constructing the bag was very easy. It may as well be the easiest bag I have ever made.

 

I cut the jeans as shown above. The outer seams are used to make the bag handles.  I used the cut jeans itself as a template for cutting the lining (I used striped cotton for this). I added a zipped pocket inside  but I decided to use the existing pockets of the jeans as the bag's pocket/compartments. As for the main body of the bag it is made just by sewing straight accross the crotch area. In my haste to complete the bag I forgot to take step by step photos (anyway, it was an experiment so I didn't know how it would turn out) but I promise I will do so for the next  Jean's Bag I make.

My small shopping handbag

 

I have been thinking of making this bag for a long time. It is a fairly simple bag to make with a single compartment with a zippered pocket on one side. The outer material is heavy cotton I bought from Fabric  Buffet and the inner is cheap polycotton I got from Nagoya. Strap was made also from black heavy cotton and this was embellished with various sized button and a letter L was sewn on it (L is for Lynn, in case you're wondering).

 

The finished bag is 20cm(length) x 22cm (height) and the base is about 10cm wide. It is just nice for me to put my compact camera, my handphone and my wallet: suitable to a quick dash to the supermarket.

 

Scrub Hats

Scrub hats are fashion accessories in the dull world of operating theatre. OT attires are generally dull grey or blue which is usually drab looking. For the OT fashionistas the only different thing will be the caps. Caps are needed to keep the hair in check - preventing stands dropping into the sterile wound hence is needed to minimise OT infection or contamination.


Recently I got the idea of making my own scrub hats after seeing so many of the anesthetic team wearing their own hats instead of the usual disposable ones. Apparently, they buy these online from eBay and usually ends up getting them from the USA or the UK. Getting inspiration from McDreamy and A Gifted Man, I searched for nice looking patterns online; ended up purchasing a set of patterns of various hats. However, I had to tweak the patterns to my liking.

A GIFTED MAN - with his red scrub hat.

After spending so much on patterns and fabric I decided to sell the hats to my friends - mainly to cover the costs of my sewing hobby and addiction to fabric.Currently, I have 2 patterns that I make regularly i.e. female all elasticated hats and male tieback version.

FEMALE ELASTICATED CAPS

MALE TIE BACK CAPS

Latest hats ordered by my friends

Latest perfected male hat with a colleague as a model (hat was given as token of appreciation)

These caps can also be used in any setting where sterility and cleanliness is needed.

If anyone is interested, they can see my FB album for the fabric choices
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150677329618430.412582.520963429&type=3

Folded Wristlet- vintage prints

Bought this material in Petaling Street about a year ago. It is old (I think it has been in the shop at least past 20 years) cotton with nice simple prints. I finally decided to make this folded wristlet.

It can fit a phone, wallet and a few other stuff. I call it folded wristlet because when I made this the zipper was at the center and when I fold the bag in two walla... I get a wristlet