Repurposed Jeans Apron & Potholders Set

I made this set for my mom for Christmas. I was so giddy about how it turned out.

For the potholders, I followed Cheryl's tutorial at It's A Pretty Cool Life. She did a great job explaining the process. The one thing I did differently was use a different material for the back of the potholders--in this case jean. It also gave the potholders extra insulation.

I will try to explain how I made the apron.

I used a pair of jeans my son had outgrown. I seam ripped the inside and outside leg seams. Once the two pieces were separate, I laid the front out as flat as possible. Then I used my quilter's ruler to cut straight across both legs at the crotch. I seam ripped the curved area and tucked one side under the other and resewed it so there wouldn't be the pucker caused by the crotch.

After removing the rivets from the pockets and re-tacking the pockets down (I also had to trim the inside pockets off) I turned the seam allowance back in on the outside and tacked that down with a straight stitch. At the waistband, I simply cut straight up the waistband, then used fray check instead of hemming it.

For the skirt, I cut the fish material about 1-1/2 times the width of the jeans edge. I hemmed the bottom and sides, then gathered the top and sewed it to the jeans.

For the tie, I decided how long I wanted the ties to be, then cut my material that length and twice as wide as I wanted it to be. I used a cup as a pattern for the curve at the end of the ties. I folded it in half, right sides together and sewed it with a straight stitch, leaving an opening for turning. After turning, I top-stitched. I threaded this through the belt loops on the jeans and tacked it down under the loops so the stitches wouldn't show. My tie was wider than the belt loops and I gave it a little gather when I tacked it down.

This isn't the best tutorial, but I am posting this as an afterthought. I did not document my steps with pictures.


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