Monday, September 9, 2019

DIY Denim Bowl - Upcycle Challenge Material



Hey everybody! It's the 2nd Monday of the month and time for another Monthly Challenge Blog Hop! I've joined a group of creative bloggers to bring you this monthly challenge blog hop!  

The theme for September is to create an upcycled project that is made from Fabric.
Upcycling fabric into something different or unique is the way to go these days. Imagine creating something very elaborate or something quite simple from old clothes and household goods like curtains, tablecloths, blankets and just about anything made of fabric! 

Denim is probably the most popular fabric to upcycle! You can find upcycle items made out of denim everywhere! Almost everyone has some type of old jeans in their wardrobe - except me! Lol! Until stretch jeans came out, I was never a jeans wearing person. They had no give and was always grabbing me in the wrong places and I never felt comfortable wearing them. However, the hubs loves them and since he has recently lost weight, has a few pair of jeans for me to cut up - I mean, to make projects out of! Yay!

So for this project, start with the legs, cutting off the hem, side seams, and the hip area! *And don't forget to save these pieces to make more upcycle projects! Then open and smooth out the fabric on your work surface.
Next, using a ruler or yard stick, mark off 1/2" points to make denim strips.
Begin cutting 1/2" strips, folding up the strips to size and cut. After awhile, and getting impatient with having to cut so many strips, I starting eyeballing the 1/2" width to cut out. That's the quickest way there is for cutting them out at this point!
 I cut out a total of fifty-one, 32" long strips of denim from one wide leg. That gave me 17 groups of 3 to braid.
To braid, take three denim strips and lay them on top of each other with the wrong side up. Tape down the strips to a flat surface to hold in place.  Separate the three strips, crossing the left strip over the middle strip, then cross the right strip over the new middle strip, making sure the right side of the denim is showing. Now listen to some music or a tv show to braid lots and lots of denim strips!
When you need to lengthen the strips, here's the most "popular" way to do it: by lining up a new strip on the bottom of the old strip and fold over. 
 Then make a slit at the fold creating a hole in both pieces. 
Thread the bottom strip through the top and bottom slits and pull, laying the connection flat.  
Repeat the same steps for the other two strips to lengthen, and continue braiding for one continuous long denim strip. I must admit that after connecting a few strips this way, I got impatient and starting gluing the ends together with fabric glue. That works, too, and a whole lot quicker!
To begin making the denim bowl, add a dab of hot glue to the center of an upside down glass bowl and press one end of the denim strip down on top. Start coiling the strip tightly in a circle as you add hot glue along the edges of the denim fabric, making sure to keep the strips flat as you glue. Try not to get the glue on the glass - but if you do, it will come off easily when removing the completed bowl.
Continue adding glue to the edges of the denim strips and coiling it flat around the glass .  .  .
until reaching the desired size.  Then cut off the excess denim strip at an angle and blend into the coiled denim fabric, sealing close with hot glue. 

 Gently remove the bowl from the glass by running your fingers inside between the glass and denim bowl, un-sticking any hot glue spots and pulling the denim bowl off.
I love how this upcycle denim bowl turned out  .  .  .
perfect to hold just about anything!




Now meet this month's hosts to see their creations!

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Click here to enter

14 comments:

  1. Your bowl looks great, Gail! And your tutorial is great, too. What a creative way to use those old jeans.

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    1. Thanks, Beverly! You keep us quite busy and creative with these challenges!You know I had a bumpy start with this challenge. So glad I figured it out with the denim!

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  2. I love your denim bowl! Your good instructions help a complicated-looking project into an easy one. The Fall colors that you added to the bowl look great with the blue.

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  3. Thanks so much Gayle! It's always great hearing from you!

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  4. Oh my Gail, that turned out so lovely. Between the hubby and I we have so many old jeans clogging up the cupboard. Me thinks they're going to be turned into bowls soon ;-)

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    1. That sounds adorable! There are so many things you can make out of jeans!

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  5. The denim bowl looks so good with the fall colors. What a great idea for an old pair of jeans. It's amazing!

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    1. Thanks, Jenny! Denim seems like the perfect fabric for fall!

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  6. Your bowl turned out so nice! And you gotta love those stretchy jeans - they are the best!

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  7. Wow how nice is this! You never cease to amaze me with your talents!

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  8. What a great denim project! I love this bowl! Such a wonderful idea, and I'm pinning it.

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    1. Thanks, T'onna! There are so many denim projects that could keep us busy for a very long time!

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