A pair of favorite jeans

A couple my husband and I are friends with came to dinner last weekend to celebrate the thorough scrubbing of the porch – which is the beginning of summer for us. While we enjoyed a glass of wine, My friend pulled a pair of old overall jeans from her bag and looked to me hopefully.

“These are my favorite jeans,” she said. “They were my mom’s, too, in the ‘70s. I wore them everywhere, even on a humanitarian trip to South America. I remember hanging a hammer from the loop on the side while I was working there.”

She handed them over to me, her hands running over the large hand-painted patches on the knees. “Do you think you can make them into a shoulder bag for me?”

Oh—boy! That's a lot of confidence she has in me.

I agreed that I could make a bag for her and accepted the jeans. They are very soft, patched and worn but in durable condition. I would expect her to wear them teaching her animation courses rather than ask me to remake them into a bag to carry her course notes in around campus.

Last night I sat with her jeans, looking over the construction, the differences from the usual pairs I work with, the patches and the original labels. The stitches are in white thread, not the usual blue and gold, and the front bib is held closed by riveted buttons that I need to figure out how to keep in place. I can use the original fabric for most of it and supplement with a few pieces from my denim stash.  My favorite idea is to use one of the smaller fabric patches on the knee to make the decorative side tag.

I’ll keep both the hammer loop and the straight pocket at the side of the other leg and put them on opposite sides of the new bag. The bib and waist with pockets will be the front of the bag, with some extra fabric to square out the sides of the bib. The shoulder straps will become the handle for the bag and the two big pockets on the seat will be on the back of the bag. A large snap will close the top. I have a very cool button from my stash to cover the snap.

For the inside, I’ll find some durable fabric that looks like another one of the fabric patches. I’ll use that great patch on the knee to make a pocket on the inside and the patches on the other leg will be used on the hammer loop side of the bag.

Denim bags are my specialty but I think this one will be special. It is the first I’ve made specifically for another adult (the kids got burlap trick-or-treat bags last Halloween).

And since the forecast is rain every day for another a week, it’s going to be a good project to have.