Old Jeans Project #5: Jean's Pocket Purse/giftbag

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     The pockets of jeans are one of the most diverse parts of your jean's style.  They can be totally blinged out or just plain or anywhere in between.  There are so many ideas out there to repurpose the pockets from your old pair of jeans.  I chose to do this cute pocket purse for 3 reasons: 

1. I saw a really cute idea to use the purse as a giftbag.  I didn't save it at first and now I can't find it again to link back to it.  But, what I loved was the tag that the creator attached.  It said, "Pocket Change!"  How adorable is that.  If you are reading this and you came up with that idea, thank you and I'm sorry that I can't link back to you.  You have my permission to comment with your link so that everyone can see your cute idea.  Anyway, I had to recreate that tag in my own way, which I did.  I will give you my file farther down in this post. 
2. This purse requires very little sewing, so anyone can make it.  Depending on how you embellish it and apply handles, you may have to do some hand sewing.  I did sew a fabric on the back to cover what would be the inner portion of the pants.  But, you can also use Heat and Bond and not sew it on. 
3. Because my pockets are fairly plain, It was fun for me to embellish them with a bit of embroidery.  If your pockets are already blinged out, you can skip that step. 

These are my pockets from this pair of jeans. Pretty simple.

This is the side that shows the inner part of my jeans. I decided to back them with a fabric to make them prettier.

The Steps:

• Cut your pockets out of your jeans, cutting close to the outside of the seams.  Leave the back of the pocket attached to the front. 
• Choose a fabric to be the back of your purse.  I applied a fusible interfacing to the fabric and cut the fabric out the same shape as the pocket, with one exception- I extended the fabric a few inches above the pocket so that I could fold it over inside the back of the pocket.   

This is the fabric I chose. I actually stitched it around on 3 sides matching the seam stitching on the pocket.

This is the flap that I turned to the inside.

• You can see that I attached a side strap handle to this purse.  I used a seam that I cut from the jeans.  There are so many uses for the strong seams of jeans.  If you have already used all of your seams, you could also braid some strips of denim to use as a handle.   Stitch the handle in one corner of the top of the pocket by hand.  

• Now is a great time to do the embroidery  to decorate the pocket.  I used a simple iron on pattern to stitch with embroidery floss.  You will have to reach your hand inside the pocket and only stitch on the front of the pocket without catching the back. 

When you iron on the pattern, be sure to hold it a little extra long to be sure you can see it on the blue denim.

• At this point, you can decide if you want a snap or Velcro or a button to use to close your purse, or just let it be open, like I did.  Some jeans come with a buttoned down pocket flap, which would be awesome! 

     I think that this little purse would be so cute for any little girl aged 3-13! (or older)  Turn it into a giftbag first and fill it with candy and some cash and attach the gift tag.  I tied mine on with baker's twine.   

it says, "Sweets! ...and some Pocket Change!

Pocket change Tag

     To copy the tag, open the file by clicking on the button.  You can print one tag from there, or you can download the file to your computer.  Then, click on the file in your own computer and choose the options to print more than one per page.  Print them on cardstock for the best look.

     The extra nice thing is that most pairs of jeans come with two pockets in the back, so you can make two purses from one pair of jeans. 

Bonus Tip:

     Remember that braided denim that I showed you?  You can use that same method to make a handy key chain!  Make the braid, fold it in half like you did for the handle and stitch it around a keyring!  Voila, an extra little gift to tuck into this purse or just to hand to your kid to hold whatever key they need to keep track of! 

Rustic yet durable!

The First Four Projects:

1. Jeans Basket
2. Kindle Reading Pillow
3. Tee  Shirt and Jeans Pillow
4. Patchwork Quilted Denim Hot Pad

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