When Good Things Happen to Not So Good Things

I've had this pair of jeans sitting in my closet for about 2 years now.  They were given to me....they fit, but they were not flattering....at all.  They had huge (almost bell-bottom) legs and back pockets that made my rear look....wide....really wide.  There really wasn't anything I liked about them aside from the nice dark denim wash.  I don't really know why I kept them - I suppose because they were new, and given to me.....but this weekend I FINALLY got around to cleaning out my closet to make room for my summer clothes (Yeah...all put away - you can read about that HERE).  So, I was about to throw these into my giveaway pile, but instead decided that they may make a good medium for embroidery.

A little while later I found myself cutting the legs and piecing the denim together into large rectangles with flat fell seams (I will share a tutorial on this soon) . 

I left these sitting on my cutting table for a while and finally decided to make a large tote.  And I just went with my gut from there on in.  No pattern, no planning....I just cut, sewed and made decisions on the fly. 

I started with the embroidery.  I had just downloaded a scribble leaf design from Meringue Designs and decided it would be perfect.  To my dismay, my machine jammed about 1/4 way through the stitching....I reset it and when I began stitching again, I found that the carriage had changed positions.  Very bad....it's pretty much impossible to re-position a design mid-stitch.  I decided to just finish out the stitching since there was really nothing I could do, and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  Thankfully the scribble design hides the fact that it didn't stitch properly.  Shhhh...don't tell!  And I really love that the embroidery compliments the stitching on the seam.

After that the bag just came together.  I placed the denim so the seam would run down the center. I created a bit of an angle so the top would be wider and created a nice rounded bottom.  I choose to use leather handles to add a bit more sophistication to the simple design. 

The bag is super deep so it can hold all of my kid's stuff.  I put a nice large zippered pocket on one side and two large slip pockets on the other.  I finished off with a magnetic snap.

 The interior fabric is Painter's Canvas in Mustard by Laura Gunn (Michael Miller). 
Once again, I choose this to compliment the stitching.  I really love that dark blue/mustard yellow mix.

So there you have it.  I think this may be one of my favorite 'off the cuff' creations to date.  I will be carrying this bag all summer long!

My take-aways from this project.... (1)Don't throw away jeans - they can be made into fantastic things.  (2) Don't give up on a project if something doesn't go right - go with the flow - it may work out better than you imagined!