Sewing With Nancy

"Who uses minutes has hours to use. Who loses minutes, whole years must lose." That great quote sums up how I sew. Ten minutes here, 20 minutes there. I use this minutes-to-sew principle for fashion, quilting, and craft sewing, including recycling jeans, the current topic of this series. The first project of today's program are soft-sided bins. Store craft items, sewing supplies, toiletries, and even stationery in these flexible bins. The ready-made pockets give double the storage space. Ten, 20, 30 minutes to recycle jeans, that's what's next on Sewing With Nancy.

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For the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting, and special effect threads, because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios, fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, making a difference in sewing, quilting, crafting, and needle arts for over 90 years. Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. When working with jeans to create soft-sided bins, I've broke down the construction and the deconstruction element into about, oh, 20 minutes here, 15 minutes there. And within about an hour, you can create one of the soft-sided bins, especially if it has the raw edges, as you see here. There are two panels that are created. They can be overlapped, stored flat with elastic as the belt loops and button jeans, if you would like to use, and you can feature some pretty interesting pockets from recycled jeans. For the larger size, we'll be cutting slightly larger squares. We're recommending about eight inches for this regular-size bin, and 5 1/2 inches if you're using raw edges for the junior size of the bin. Now, when working with jeans, what we'd like you to do is to kind of analyze your fabric, the fabric being the jeans itself, and here, we have two jeans with larger patch pockets. We'd have to cut eight-inch or 8 1/2 inch squares. If you're going to finish the edges, like we have here, where the edges aren't closed, we'd just make it a little bit bigger, but we're gonna work with the raw edges right now, so eight-inch squares. Four pockets, so you'll need two pair of jeans as well as two eight-inch, or 5 1/2 inch, which I have here, 5 1/2 inch squares for the base. So have two units like this, meeting right sides together and sewing the seams. After you've created both units, then you're going to cut the lining and the craft interfacing using the jean itself, the panel, as your pattern. Now, we have used batik lining and cut two panels the size of the jeans--jean panel, and then here's some craft interfacing, really stiff, and we want to keep-- even though it's soft-sided, you need a little support to that--that bin, so we've trimmed this a little shorter, 1/2 of an inch in length, a 1/2 an inch in width so that it's not included in the seam allowance area. So with each lining and with each craft interfacing, gonna stack the two together, and then just baste them together, as often as you'd like. We just did two per each panel. So pretty simple. Then you're going to stack... Here we go right here. We're going to stack the panels, and they don't have to be exactly even because, really, we're gonna trim it a little bit. Now, you can see on my next sample that I've used clips. You can certainly pin, but there's a lot of fabric here, a lot of stiff fabric, and if you have clips, sewing clips, it works out really well to sew them together. And you can stitch in the ditch; sew in the well of the seams. Speaking of stitching this, when you're recycling jeans and making projects, make sure that you use a jeans needle or a topstitching needle. You'll need a larger size eye and a stronger needle to accommodate the thickness of the fabric. So you stack these together, meeting wrong sides, and then machine stitch around the edge. And we've tried to use thread the same colors the decorative stitching, just about a presser foot width, around the edges. Just stitch, stitch, stitch. So you're gonna make two panels just like this. And since they're raw edge, we can finish the edges just a little bit by using a pinking blade or a pinking shears and trim off the excess fabric. And you get a nice finish to that edge. And make two of these panels, just like this. Even though I haven't finished trimming, you would do that and stack the bases together. And to pin it, just kind of pin or clip in the corners. Here's a close-up. I'm just stitching the bases together so that it's attached. To make the bins a bin, you need a button loop, and we've used elastic. You can use elastic thread or a ponytail holder and then just tack it down, a jeans button that you can apply, or a regular button. It really doesn't matter. And then you button them together. If you'd like, you can add seam allowances to these measurements and create panels, stitching right sides together, turning right side out. You can see this is a great way to create storage in kind of a funky-looking storage bin. When you need flexibility in sewing, create the Double Duty Mat to use as a sewing station or a pressing mat. First, the sewing station. Set the machine on the largest portion of the mat, and it provides a handy area for notions to be stored directly below. Or slide the mat completely to a flat surface and use as a pressing area, again with storage options. Outdated jeans provide the stability and pockets for this upcycled project. There's no definitive number or measurement that you should use for this mat. We're just gonna give you some guidelines. Because you're working with fabric that doesn't lie flat, you can make this any size you'd like. But our finished mat measures 23 inches in width and 25 inches in length. And it was--it's been a good guideline for us to use. As the sewing machine, you can-- As a mat, we let the pockets hang, as you saw earlier, and used as storage areas. As a pressing mat, you just put it flat on the surface. There's a lot of padding in here. Do test the heat of the iron and your surface to make sure that you have enough batting or this insulation fabric in the middle. But I think this--when you see what we have, you'll be pleased. Again, you're gonna cut pieces from recycled jeans. And you can't cut a square out like this. You can't make this 23x24 because there isn't a leg that lies flat like this. So we have pieced elements together, then trimmed it down to 23x24. In the book that accompanies the program, we give you the dimensions we use, but you could use any dimensions you'd like. So this is the backing fabric, where they've been stitched together. The top area is made up of a pocket section, and this section was cut the 23-inch width by eight inches, 23x8. And then the addition of the padded surface, we had 23x17. A lot of numbers, but I think you can figure that out pretty easily.

Three layers

a Teflon-coated fabric for ironing; a insulated fabric-- can kind of see the shininess of that insulated fabric; and then a cotton batting. And we've pinned these together, these three layers, as if they were a quilt. And you would lay these together as if wrong sides together. Now, the pockets-- what make it really functional. We've cut eight-inch squares, three different pockets from different pairs of jeans. It'll be more than one pair of jeans, or you can just cut a 23-inch length by eight inches that you could topstitch some pockets on. Now, we've trimmed the pockets from the jeans, cut 'em out-- cut 'em off, I should say, and then beveled the scissors. It's just a basic recycling jeans technique so that you trim away the excess fabric as close to the stitching as you can get. And on the underside, trim away the back so that you don't have a lot of bulk. And that's what we've done on all these pockets. Position them the way you'd like. No two mats will look the same. And here, you can see me topstitching it, just topstitching it with clear thread so that the beauty of the stitches that are in the jeans show through. Then, after you have attached the pockets, I think you can kind of see how this all goes together, even though this is not stitched down. You would overlay the pocket section on the lower portion. You could sew in divisions. Add binding, if you'd like. Add finish, a trim. And then the final area, like a little quilt, like a mini quilt, is bound around the edges. We've done many programs on adding binding. You can go to NancyZieman.com online and watch how to bind quilts, and you can use that same technique in this area. So whether you're making a sewing mat or a pressing surface or area, this is a great way of using your old jeans and give your sewing station some character. Create a casual bag that's just the right size to carry essentials-- wallet, keys, phone, or a tablet. Recycled pair of jeans pr ovides automatic pocket space without any extra sewing time. You'll soon see that the crossbody bag can easily be made in a little over two hours. Each bag will be different because your fabric is different-- the jean sizes, the shape of the jeans. You may want to look for a pair of jeans that's more straight across the top rather than having a heavy curve or a deep curve. We have two fronts. So we're gonna use the two fronts of the pattern to create this small bag, perfect for a tablet, electronic tablet size. And I like all these extra pockets. The size bag that we're going to make is going to be a little larger because this pair of jeans is slightly larger. And I've started by first pinning the waistbands together. I have matched the side seam and the center. So I've kind of stacked the belt loops and stacked them together. And you're gonna cut off the extra length one leg at a time. I have the inseam and the outseam stacked and measured down six inches from the crotch area. Mark a horizontal line, and cut. And save this fabric for later on. I think you'll find plenty of projects in this series that you'll be able to use that fabric. So you cut off both legs and-- of the jeans. And then do some shaping to create, as flat as you can, to create this crossbody bag. So we're gonna work with the front piece, and I'll show you two options, because of sizing things, you're gonna have to consider. I've cut one--a generous one inch beyond the side seam, and that will allow me to easily sew that side seam together. And I'm going to finish cutting on the opposite side. And, really, you don't have to measure. Just eyeball one inch. If you want to measure it, you certainly may. And then, to shape, to make this lie flat-- I'm just gonna turn this around-- and to cut the fabric right along the seam. So here, we have the flat-felled seam, and bevel that scissors again. With a sharp scissors, cut right along the fold. And take your time to cut this. It's not really gonna ravel. And then you're gonna overlap. Overlap the decorative side onto the plain side. And pin. And this is what it's gonna look like for at least part of it. And here's a close-up of topstitching using clear thread to topstitch this area into place. So you have now kind of a flat piece of fabric. It's not even across the bottom-- lower edge, I should say. But you would fold this, if that had been sewn, and put it on your mat. And align or get it kind of a look how you'd like this to be. It's going to have to-- it's not square, so you're gonna have to determine what is square and what is not. And let me grab a ruler and a cutter. And you would align this area. Make sure I don't have my pin in there. And align across the lower edge and cut. And it's easier to cut, let me tell you, on a flat surface. So we'll just cut one more time. Well, third time is a charm. One, two, three. Do you ever have that problem? Cutting upside down is not one of my best attributes. So we've cut, made a square bag, and we'd sew the side seams together. Now, if your bag has narrow side seams-- because on this particular jeans, the pocket was so close that I could not get a one-inch length added-- use a zipper foot to sew the seam. Here's a close-up of-- so that the bulk of the fabric is away from the foot so you don't have to ride that bulky edge. You can sew the lower edge of the bag straight across, or you could create a gusset, cutting out a one-inch square in the stitching line area and then stacking the lower seam to the side seam and sewing that little angled corner. When I turn this right side out, you'll see that we're getting the shape of the bag. You can create a strap using your favorite technique. You could line it, if you'd like. And in the book that accompanies today's program, we show you how to line it, if you'd like, but to create a strap, you could cut a wide seam and just topstitch this as a seam. So when you are looking at recycling jeans, you have many options, from placemat to a crossbody bag. Make two aprons from one pair of jeans, a recycling bonus. One apron will feature the front pockets while the other the back, adding binding, a ruffle, and add fabric and belt for functionality and a little bit of frill. I like to consider this program of "10-20-30 Minutes to Recycle Jeans" as an idea program, because you will never be able to replicate this apron just as you see here because this was a recycled pair of jeans. Different sizes, different shapes, but you get the idea. It gives you an idea. It will take you a while to disassemble the jeans, maybe 20 minutes or so. And you're gonna cut them apart just the way we cut apart the jeans for the-- or comparable for the past project for working with a crossbody bag. We're cutting it-- you could cut it two inches or six inches below the crotch seam, and then do that same overlapping that we did. This is a small pair of jeans. And then do the same for the back 'cause we're gonna use the front and the back piece. And notice right now nothing's straight. To use the full back and the full front, we've used the seam ripper to rip apart the seam allowance so that-- Take a little time and rip apart the seam, not cut along the seam. And then, at the waistline, you're gonna do some creative cutting just right up the middle. So you have one piece, now two pieces. So you have an apron for one, apron for two. And this side seam is going to be a little uneven, so this is really simple. Just even it out. Even it out on both sides. And then, with your rotary mat and ruler, you can straighten out the edge to make it even. And this looks pretty good. This is not square. This is not quilting. This is recycling, making fun things. We've cut binding strips, crosswise strips of fabric, not on the bias, just crosswise strips, about 2 1/2 inches wide. And pin them to the side. Now, the binding strip we pin to the side and then overlapped to the underside, just lapped it over. So after we've done this first straight stitching and pull it to the right side, you can see that the top edge is finished. And then you'd bind it around and either stitch by hand or machine to attach the binding on both sides. And on this particular side, we've started to stitch in the ditch. Stitch in the well of the seam from the right side to catch that binding. And you can finish it however you'd like. This is just one idea. Now, your sewing room's gonna get to look like my table, with lots of lint, lots of threads. This is pretty common when recycling jeans. The lower edge of the apron is going to be ruffled, if you'd like to add some ruffles.

And we have used our favorite ruffling technique

measured the lower edge and doubled it. So if this measures 20 inches, you would cut a ruffle length 40 inches. We've cut six-inch strips, folded it in half, and then gathered the upper edge with two rows of basting stitches. Or, if you prefer, you could use a ruffler foot. A ruffler foot, as you see here, easily gathers evenly. It's just one more way of creating ruffles. If you're using that ruffler foot, add a little extra length so that you have some play of fabric to work with. After gathering the lower edge, you'd simply quarter-- one, two, three, four quarters. We folded it in half. Fold it in half again. And mark the pins, and then quarter the ruffle. And you'd sew the ruffle to the lower edge and turn to the right side. Again, an idea show, so you can finish that lower edge however you'd like. You can create a belt of fabric, or you could use whatever you'd like to use. But this kind of tied the bottom of the project along with the top. So we have binding on the sides, a little ruffle accent, and then you would do the same to the front piece so that you'd have matching pair-- one to give away and one to wear. Today's Nancy's Corner guest started a project to create awareness for the needs of foster care and adoption. Please welcome Diana Jasany, who's a sophomore in high school and a prolific quilter. Welcome to Sewing With Nancy, Diana. Thank you. When I read about your story, I could not believe all the things that you have done in this short period of time, and could you tell our audience about your project and why you began it? Yes, well, I was working on my Girl Scout Gold Award project, and I wanted to do something that was meaningful to me. Mm-hmm. So because I was adopted from Russia at 14 months old, I wanted to do a project that would give back to my orphanage and help the teens aging out of the foster care program. So I created my project Diana's Golden Needle, where I'm making twin-size quilts for teens aging out of the foster care program. Now, you started this, Diana, in January of 2015. And here's a pretty impressive number,

which you're going to tell our audience

how many quilts you've made, along with your mother Laurie, so far. I've made 97 quilts that have been donated. -

laughing

which you're going to tell our audience

You put us all to shame. You give us encouragement to do this. And we have a great picture of your parents, Laurie and Dan-- Dave, excuse me-- Laurie and Dave and you in Russia. And it was-- You didn't look like you were having just the best time. I know our little boy, when he came, was kind of afraid at first. But a nice-looking family, though. -

laughs

which you're going to tell our audience

Thank you. And you soon became happy, right? -

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which you're going to tell our audience

Yes. There's a photo of you that shows you just smiling and having a great time. We wanted to show kind of you several years ago. But, Diana, the quilts that you made--make, the pattern is quite significant. It has a nice tie-in, some symbolism tied into it. Yes, I picked the pattern "Scrappy Trips Around the World" by Bonnie Hunter, and I picked this because my family went around the world to come get me. It gives me chills going up and down my spine right now. Now, you have some of the fabric, some of the quilting, et cetera, donated. So explain a little bit what happens there. Yes, well, on my Facebook page Diana's Golden Needle, I have over 3,000 followers, and people from all over the world ask to donate all kinds of different services. I have donations from all 50 states and 13 different countries. That's impressive. And because you have lots of pieces of fabric in this design-- as you can see, there's a "S crappy Trip Around the World" behind you. And you sometimes have your quilts on display, correct? Yes. And just to show off your work. I think they're-- they're just amazing. Now, before you send them, you also package them in a fabric bundle or a fabric bag. Yes. I make pillowcase bags so they can-- the quilt goes in there and gives it to them. And they also have a pillowcase or a bag to keep the quilt in. Because the children, as you say, time out of the foster program, so they no longer have a place to be. Yes. And that's the awareness that you're making aware and trying to provide something for them. Yes, exactly. Now, our audience may think that all you do is piece quilts, along with your mom Laurie, but you're an active 16-year-old. -

chuckles

which you're going to tell our audience

Yes. Tell about some of your sports and your extracurricular activities. I run cross-country and track. I play basketball. I'm on my student council. I'm in Girl Scouts. Well, you're impressive. You're impressive. You're a person to watch, and I thank you so much for making this project. What has it taught you the most? It taught me that you can give no matter what your age is. Mm-hmm. - You can still help people. And I think that's a perfect statement for whether you're young or old. Everyone can give and make a huge difference. Well, Diana, you are making a difference. Thank you. And I thank you for taking time off from school today to be our guest and for joining us via Skype. Thanks again for being with us. Thank you. And a special thank you for you, our viewers, for watching this program of Sewing With Nancy. And we'll be back next time with our second follow-up of sewing with denim or recycling denim. Remember that you can re-watch this episode or many episodes of Sewing With Nancy online at NancyZieman.com. You can join us on our Facebook, blog, Pinterest, or all the other social media pages just by going to NancyZieman.com. As I like to say at every program, thanks for joining me. Bye for now.

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Nancy has written a fully illustrated book that can be used to create the projects featuring repurposed jeans included in this two-part series and more. The book is $14.99 plus shipping and handling. To order this book, call 800-336-8373, or visit our website at sewingwithnancy.com/3007. Order item number BK3007, "10-20-30 Minutes to Recycle Jeans." Credit card orders only. To pay by check or money order, call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at NancyZieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing With Nancy, TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman,

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Baby Lock, Madeira threads, Koala Studios, Clover, Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Riley Blake Designs. Sewing With Nancy is a coproduction of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.