Hello, darling. This bit of sewing hardly counts as sewing, but after the sewing draught of 2023, I was too excited not to share it. I took an old pair of the Husband’s blown-out jeans and sewed a little tile bag for our newly acquired Rummikub game. The Father got Feebs and I hooked on that game, and it really helps to have a larger bag to shake up and draw from. It was nothing grand; I just selected the length of the pant leg with the side pockets. I thought that it would look pretty cute, and I wasn’t disappointed. Technically, this is my first sew in over a year, AND it counts as an upcycle! Hence the reason I had to post about this. I was too excited not to.
What went right?
I am really happy with the placement. I originally thought that it would have been a little better if I could have gone up another inch, but then I would have had to cut into the back pocket. Since I am hoping to reuse more of the jeans, I don’t want to waste something as precious as a pocket. Because this was for me, for my family’s use, I wasn’t precious about measuring or being fancy with the inside. I made it big enough by eye and sewed the side seam and the bottom seam with a boxed bottom. I also had to cut out the inseam stitching in order to protect my needle. I forgot that pair had a reinforced knee, and I had to cut out the extra layer of fabric in the front, or I would never have been able to box the bottom. I struggled enough on the outside seam since I couldn’t cut it off without interfering with the pocket (and the pockets were the entire reason I wanted to use that particular section.) I ended up seam-ripping the bottom of the seam and removing the remaining strip of extra layer, then refolded the rest and sewed through it. I sewed little drawstring channels (I even had to hand sew the little bit of outseam that I had to cut to make room for the channels.) I threaded through a random drawstring that I picked up off the floor earlier in the week. It was probably a rogue drawstring from a pair of his shorts that we will go crazy looking for in a couple of weeks. I threaded it through (trying different ways to make it work) and ta-da! She was done.
What went wrong?
When I say ta-da, what I mean to say is ta-done. Ta-done is Mrs. Collins’s speak for done is better than perfect. The drawstring doesn’t cinch closed. The denim is so thick, and the channel is so bulky that there is a significant gap, no matter how hard you pull the drawstring. This is not the end of the world, and I am not devastated. If I had made it for someone else, I would have had to come up with a different solution. But since it is for me, and I made it significantly deeper than the amount of tiles that will be stored in it, it works just fine. I am able to wrap the drawstring around it to close it off so nothing falls out.
Final thoughts?
I am really happy with this little bag. It was really nice to try something new. It felt good to just have an idea and go with it. It is not the best thing I have ever sewn. It is not even the best thing I have ever upcycled. Still, I am proud of myself. I sewed something. I problem solved and figured out how to overcome some challenges. I didn’t need to fudge anything, but I did have to adapt to a couple of things. Oh yeah… and I used the rotary cutter to cut off the inseam, and good lord, those things just aren’t my forte. I end up trimming bits off of the ruler when I use them. I also need to cut about thirteen times in seven different locations in order to cut all the way through one single line of fabric. You can completely forget about straight, clean edges. If I decide to get fancy, I could always line it with thinner fabric and create a new drawstring channel. I can’t imagine doing that, but it is something to think through in the event that the Father wants one, also. If I make another one, I will be sure to make the insides neater and to take better pictures. Oh well. I sewed something! Hooray!!!
Loves,
M
Mrs. Collins Makes Stuff 