How to Reuse, Recycle Old Denim Jeans

No matter how worn out, torn up or out of style they might be, your old jeans still have some life left in them and are just waiting for you to recreate them into something fabulous and functional. Most importantly, don't ever let them end up in the trash bin - old denim can always be used for something and it's a terrible waste for denim jeans to end up in a landfill.

If you are the crafty sort, there is really no limit to how you can use your old denim jeans. But, you don't need extreme sewing skills or to be a mad crafter to find ways to reuse your jeans in fun, functional ways around the house or fashioned into new wardrobe pieces. With easy patterns and tutorials all over the Internet, anyone can recycle their used denim jeans into household items, décor accents, accessories and more.

With basic sewing skills you can create anything from a fun, funky tote bag to potholders and placemats to fashionable, hip skirts. Old denim is also great for cutting into squares and using for quilting, as well as creating tool bags (with pockets!) reusable grocery bags, plastic bag holders and even rugs.

To create a great, durable (and washable) rug, you don't even need a sewing machine. Using a traditional braided rag rug method, cut the denim into long thin strips and sew them together end to end to create three very long strips to braid. Braid the strips and then begin to wrap your long braid into a circle or oval, hand stitching each row together as you go.

Plastic bag holders are easy to make out of recycled denim jeans and are handy to have around for reusing all those plastic bags you still have from back before you started using reusable shopping bags. If you have basic sewing skills, you can create a more functional bag holder with a hanging loop and sewn elastic closure, but no sewing is required. Simply cut one of the denim jean legs in the length you prefer for your bag holder and use a cord or ribbon to cinch the ends enough to hold the bags inside with an opening for putting them in and pulling them out.

Having pre-made pockets on hand is a bonus for any crafter, so always keep the pockets from your old denim jeans to sew on to aprons, use as inside pockets for purses and tote bags or to create a craft organizer.

Here are a couple of tips for creating very basic handbags, purses and tote bags out of recycled denim jeans:

1. For the most basic, easy to create bag, cut the legs off of your jeans, flip the remaining top part inside out and sew a simple seam to close the bottom. Now you will have the body of your bag complete with outside pockets! Attach straps and you are ready to go.
2. If the belt loops are still sturdy and intact, you can run a rope, cord, braided fabric or knit strap through them to create a drawstring closure.
3. For a small, basic handbag simply cut out one of the back pockets and cut a strip of denim form one of the legs in your desired strap length. Then sew the strap onto the pocket and add a snap closure. For the same little purse with two pockets, cut out both back pockets and sew them together back to back, attach your strap and add snap closures to each side.