Recycled Denim Heart Purse
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I have crafted some recycled denim heart purses.
Here are two of my creations.
I want to provide a tutorial on how to make these easy and cute little purses. I have included the following picture tutorial for your use so you too can take those old jeans and turn them into some wonderful re-purposed purses.
First I made a heart template with paper. My paper heart is 6-3/4″ wide by 7-1/2″ long. You can make yours larger or smaller as desired. My finished heart purses measures 6″ x 7″. Cut 2 denim hearts from an old pair of jeans and 2 fabric hearts. Put right sides together as shown using one denim heart with one printed fabric lining heart.
Click on any of the photos to view in larger size
Pin and stitch around the hearts using a narrow hem. Leave a small opening in your heart at the lower edge for turning. Clip and trim seams. Turn right sides out through the small opening. Push out all edges so your heart is shaped nicely. Press and turn the opening hole seam in to match sewn seam. You should now have two hearts, one side denim and the other side is the lining.
Fabric side of heart pressed out before and after.
Denim side of heart shown before and after.
Pin the two hearts together with denim sides facing out. The printed fabric lining will be inside your purse. I added red stones on one purse as embellishment before stitching the hearts together. This purse has a strap that was made by cutting a 2″ wide piece of denim for the purse strap. My strap is 28″ long. I pressed and folded it over twice to enclose all the unfinished edges. Stitch down the center to finish the strap. Insert the ends of the strap just inside the side edge of the heart and pin in place. Stitch slowing around the heart starting at the top edge where strap starts. Because you are stitching through both layers of hearts, make sure you’re using a denim sewing machine needle. Stitch down and around the heart edge to the other side where strap is inserted.
Here is a picture shown using a shorter strap. It was cut from a side hem piece and measures 9-1/2″ long. On the 2nd purse, I inserted this short strap inside the lining and the denim before I stitched it in place. That way the unfinished ends do not show.
Click on photos to enlarge
Here is the other denim heart purse shown with a magnetic closure and lace trim. The closure and lace were put in place in the first step when you pin the denim heart to the fabric heart.
Finished inside picture shown here of both purses.
There are many different variations that can be used in making these heart purses. I have shown you just a few options with some embellishments. Be creative — add additional decorations to your recycled denim purse to make it a special Valentine’s Day gift.
Tags: denim. denim-crafting
Jan 26, 2008
Love the heart purses oh so cute. Great job very unique for Valentines day.
Jan 27, 2008
Nice work! Your creativity is impressive. I am trying my best to use my own bag while buying things to reduce the usage of plastic bags.
Regards.
Jan 27, 2008
Lesa: Thanks so much for the nice comment.
Helix: Great job using a reusable bag for shopping. It truly does help!
Jan 30, 2008
Hi Cindy,
This is soo beautiful. U’ve let ur creativity blossom! By the way, u’ve been tagged by me in one of my earlier post. Do check it out!
Let the creativity soar…Keep smiling š
Jan 30, 2008
Imagine a girl with a pony tail, red shirt, white jeans and red shoes with the last two hand bag….. š
Jan 30, 2008
These are really cute and I think that my little girl would love one. You come up with so many ideas!
Jan 31, 2008
Oh those are so cute. I know my little girl would love those!
Feb 01, 2008
LOVE the heart purses! You are so creative!
Feb 04, 2008
[…] always felt that making stuff was far more fun than playing with any toy I ever had. My Recycled Bags shares her own Valentine’s project for all ages using recycled denim. The instructions are […]
Feb 04, 2008
Can your patterns be copied free of charge. I liked the heart purse made out of denim, but could not print it out. Thanks for your help, Helen
Feb 04, 2008
Helen,
Yes my patterns can be used for private, personal use. Just use your browser to print the pages. Let me know if you need any more help. Thanks for your interest in my crafts.
Feb 05, 2008
Some cute ideas– and for year-round, too, not just Valentine’s day.
Of course, for me to make a purse out of my old jeans, I would have to be realistic and give up thinking I’ll actually FIT in those jeans again. (Haha) But that sort of issue goes beyond the scope of a tutorial. š
Feb 05, 2008
Adorable idea! Very cute..
Feb 09, 2008
This is a great idea. My husband has junk jeans. I could make a pretty purse out of them. :)))
Live Love Life – Jojo
Feb 13, 2008
Cindy,
You’re so creative to make those pretty heart-shaped purses just before Valentine. I’m sure many crafters will be well-pleased with your contribution.
Feb 14, 2008
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Mar 12, 2008
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May 10, 2008
I love these bags and my daughter is going to love helping me make them. Great post.
Feb 25, 2009
Thanks for the ideas! There are also a lot of cute bag ideas at:
http://shop.yumetenpo.jp/goods/goodsList.jsp?st=wowo-net.com&category=1:1&action=category
The page is in Japanese, but you can enjoy the pictures. This lady takes apart jeans to make her bags. She has a page showing how to take jeans apart, and recommends Levis as being the easiest to rip apart (because you can just pull a thread and get them apart fairly easily.) Once the seams around the rear are removed,the pieces are flat and easy to use for bag designs.
Oh–the page on how to rip apart jeans is here:
http://wowo-net.com/yume_purchase.html
She also sells patterns and bags elsewhere site, but I visited for the ideas. I have no connection to this company. I was just doing google searches in Japanese because Japanese sites have lots of good ideas.
Now, off to find some Levis!
Amy