We were going through our closets this weekend trying to clean out some of our old clothes. Generally we give everything to good will when we can, but Alberto found a pair of old blue jeans that he decided to turn into a pair of shorts.
Creating shorts from pants is a tried and true way of reusing old clothes, but I always hate throwing away the leftover pant legs. This time around, we have the perfect opportunity to try fabric stiffener! We could sew the cut end of the pant leg together, add a little stiffener and mold it…that’s all you need to do to make a very cool looking and unique vase!
Here’s what we used to make the vase:
- Blue jean pant leg
- 2-Liter plastic bottle
- Stiffy fabric stiffener (it’s a brand name, no dirty jokes please…)
- Rocks or other weights
This is what we needed to put it together:
- Sewing Machine (optional)
- Needle, thread and scissors
Let’s Make a Vase!
- Turn the pant leg inside out and sew the pant leg closed at the cut end.
- Take one corner of the closed end and fold it into the center of the seam that you just created and using the needle and thread, tack the corner to the center of the seam. Repeat with the other corner.
- Place the end that you just sewed on a flat surface, and fold down the open end so that the blue side of the jeans are on the inside and outside. The original hem of the jeans should cover the bottom of the vase.
- Next place the 2-Liter bottle inside the jeans, and mark the bottle about ¼-inch below the top fold of the jeans and cut the bottle at the mark.
It’s a “Stiffy” Situation!
- Pour the Stiffy fabric stiffener on the jeans, and work into the fabric. You may want to do this in a glass dish or bowl.
- Once the fabric is wet with the stiffener, reshape the fabric to how you want the final product to look.
- Place the rocks or weights inside the 2-Liter bottle bottom that you cut, and place the bottle inside the jeans. This will help the bottom of the jeans dry flat.
- Set aside the jeans to dry (about 1 hour).
Cocktail Break!
We love the Fall season, but we’re still a little bitter to see the Summer end. In keeping with that mood, Alberto decided to create a Vodka Sour to go along with our sour pusses. At least this made the Summer end a little bit brighter!
Ain’t Ya Gotta Vase?!
- Now that the jean fabric is dry, it should be very stiff.
- Remove the rocks from the plastic bottle, fill it with water and your favorite flowers, and replace it back within the jeans!
We find that you can never have enough vases, and now we have one that is a little unique! Not only is it pretty, but it didn’t cost us anything! Now I can’t wait for our friends to see it!
Our Crafty Home 