Upcycle Jeans Into July 4th Pocket Favors!

Wondering what to do with that old pair of worn out blue jeans? Melony Bradley decided to cut off the pockets and recycle them into delightful party favors! Each pocket was embellished with dyed ribbons, canvas and wood shapes. To create a vintage-inspired look, Melony printed off nostalgic, patriotic photographs onto inkjet transfer sheets and ironed them onto beige fabric. Then patriotic sentiments or your guests’ names can be stamped onto dyed ribbon. So easy, and so much fun!

 

Living in the picturesque, small town of Hernando, MS, Melony has been designing full- time for the creative industry since 2004. Strapped to a cube in a marketing job prior to that, she dreamed of combining her marketing skills and talent for her love of all things craft! Her work has been published in national consumer craft and lifestyle magazines, including Women's World, Cloth Paper Scissors, Crafts’n Things, Create & Decorate, Christmas 365 and Sommerset Publications.

 

And here's the tutorial...

 

SUPPLIES:

• Rit Liquid Dye: Cherry Red, Royal Blue & Aquamarine

• 3 Recycled Denim Pockets (cut from blue jeans with back removed)

• ¼ yd. Natural Twill Canvas

• ½ yd. White 100% Cotton Twill Ribbon

• Assorted Wood shapes - 2 ovals, 1 star

• 3 Small Plastic 2 – cup containers for dyes

• Measuring Cup

• Light-Colored Beige Fabric with white floral print

• Inkjet Transfer Sheets by C & T Publishing

• Downloaded Vintage Images by The Vintage Workshop

• Jeweled scrapbook embellishments, brads, jeweled flower centers

• Glittered Scrapbooking Tape

• Tiny Alphabet Stamps & Black Pigment Ink

• Light Gauge Copper Wire (22-24 gauge) – 10” piece per pocket

• Heavy-Duty Hole Punch

• Tacky Glue

• Old cloth

• Paper towels

• Latex gloves

• Plastic table cover

• Long jewelry tweezers

• Sewing machine and thread

• Iron and pressing surface

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Measure center of jean pockets and cut two pieces of canvas to fit inside pocket measurement. For tag shape on “Liberty” pocket, cut a 1 ½” x 2” piece of canvas. Cut three pieces of twill ribbon to 4” lengths.

 

2. Cover work surface with a plastic table cover.

 

3. Dye Preparation: Wearing latex gloves, measure ¼ cup each of Cherry Red, Aquamarine and Royal Blue into separate containers. Add 1 cup very hot water to each container; stir well.

 

 

4. Submerge wood shapes, canvas pieces and pieces of twill ribbon into dye solutions: one small piece canvas & small wood oval in Royal Blue, one piece of canvas, large oval and two pieces of twill tape in Cherry Red, and one piece canvas, wood oval, star and twill tape in Aquamarine. Let pieces sit in dye solutions for approximately 30 – 60 minutes. Test colors by removing with long jewelry tweezers and lightly rinsing. If desired color is not achieved, return to dye mixture and continue dying.

 

5. When desired color has been achieved, remove pieces from dye using tweezers and placing on paper towels. Lightly pat dry and allow to dry thoroughly. Allow wood to dry completely. Hang ribbon and canvas pieces over a drying rack to expedite air drying process.

 

6. To transfer images, follow manufacturer’s instructions to print images onto inkjet transfer sheets. Using iron, transfer images to light-colored fabric. Cut out.

 

7. When canvas pieces and ribbon are dry, iron to remove wrinkles. Pin canvas to denim pockets and machine stitch edges with contrasting thread. Repeat for inkjet transfer images. For “Liberty” pocket with smaller pocket inset, stitch inkjet image to bottom of pocket.

 

 

8. Use tiny alphabet stamps and ink to stamp patriotic sentiments (Celebrate, Liberty, Freedom) on dyed twill ribbon, or you could stamp your guests’ names and use them as place cards. Cut into small pieces and glue to pockets with Tacky Glue. Use heavy duty hole punch to punch holes in sides of dyed ribbon and insert brads. For “Liberty” pocket with small inset pocket, adhere ribbon to small tag piece, place brads as before and insert into small inset pocket.

 

9. Use sewing machine to stitch glitter tape to top or middle of “Freedom” pocket, as desired.

 

10. To form backing for pockets: Trace three pocket shapes onto remaining canvas using a fabric marking pen. Cut out canvas shapes with scissors and pin to each pocket. Machine stitch around three sides with sewing machine.

 

10. Use heavy duty hole punch to punch holes in front of denim pocket, ¾” from each side. Cut 10” of light gauge wire for each pocket and insert ends into holes to form hanger. Use Tacky Glue to adhere dyed wood shapes and jeweled embellishments to pockets. Allow to dry thoroughly before filling.