Different Ways to Re-Use Leftover Denim Jeans

Most of us wear plenty of denim throughout our lifetime. We start out in denim as toddlers and even wear jeans as old timers. The love for denim breaches all generations and seems to be a timeless article of clothing. With the demand for denim becomes the problem of what to do with leftover or heavily worn or faded jeans. We live in a time where we need to consider a green solution or alternative to throwing away these worn and torn blue jeans. Here are some helpful hints on making the most of your denim castoffs.

Using Leftover Denim for new articles of clothing

To this day, I still see people wear "cut offs" in the summer time. It isn't rocket science to possess the ability to take the old jeans worn in the knees and cut off the jeans to be converted into shorts. Kid's cutoffs can be enhanced with adding some themed patches, embroidery, or even fabric glitter.

If these sort of cut-offs seems too "seventies" for your taste, consider keeping the jeans with the blown out holes in the knees and simply patch them with iron on patches or cut fabric from another pair of worn jeans. You might not want to wear these faded duds out to your favorite restaurant, though these refurbished jeans will serve you well doing work in the garage or in the backyard.

Using Leftover denim for crafts

A very common use for leftover denim is using the fabric to construct a quilt. The quilt is great when combining with other types of fabric patterns or even if combined with other shades of denim such as the stone-washed, dark denim, and faded squares.

Keep denim in your plans when considering making a purse, lunch tote or diaper bag. The creativity is endless when you are able to use sections of the jeans such as the bag pockets. These bagged accessory projects are pretty easy to perform as long as you have the assistance of a durable sewing machine.

Another very common way to re-use denim is to make your own heavy duty pot holders. Cut a good eight inch square from each leg, fill with cotton batting, and sew back up and you are in business with some new pot holders.

Selling your denim

There are several brands of denim that will command decent prices even when they are used. The resale value of denim is promising when it comes to selling children sizes and upscale women brands. Take the items to a consignment shop or sell on e-bay and you will be surprised by the amount of buyers wanting these old jeans.

Donate your jeans

If you cannot find anywhere else to unload your jeans and they are still in decent condition, consider donating to your local clothing charity whether it is through a place of worship, organizations such as goodwill or clothing drives in your community.

Those jeans that are really worn down can best be served by donating to your habitat for humanity organizations which will recycle the denim into insulation for housing.

The use of old denim for crafts, accessories, and re-usable clothing are just a few ways of using leftover denim. Hopefully you will think of one of these many renewable jean projects before simply throwing them away.