Cute Baskets From Leftover Denim

If you remember my tutorial on how to make a craft show apron, you'll no doubt recall the amount of denim I had left in that pair of pants. There was no way I was throwing it out.

Since the apron used the waistline and pockets of the jeans, both legs and much of the seat were left. Using those two sections I was able to make an adorable set of denim baskets.

I started by cutting off the bottom part of each pant leg, one at 10 inches and one at 12 inches. This number will vary based on the width of the jeans: wide pant legs won't stand up if the basket is too tall, and thinner legs won't hold much if they're too short. Eyeball it and adjust accordingly to the style and fit of the jeans you choose.

Now you need a little math - but just a little, I promise. You need to find out how big of a denim circle you will need for the bottom of your basket. Use a tape measure to find the distance around the bottom seam of the jeans leg. (Mine was 20 inches.) Divide that number by 3.14 and that's the radius (half the distance across) of your circle. If you have a circle cutter, it's super easy to set it and use the pen attachment to draw your circle and then cut with scissors. (Mine was 6.2 inches.) If this is too many numbers for you, you can always stand the pant leg on end and trace around the outside, but it's much less precise that way and it won't be even when you go to put it together.

For this no-sew method, all you'll need is a hot glue gun to attach the bottom circle to the leg. I wanted the darker side of the denim to show both on the sides and the bottom, so I turned the pants leg inside out. Then I tucked the circle into the leg, dark sides facing, and hot glued around the edge. This will make a clean seam on the outside, with the cut sides glued together on the inside of the basket.

When I finished gluing all the way around, it looked like this before I turned it right-side out.

Then I just rolled the cuff to finish it off! These only take a few minutes each to make, plus you're using up something you would ordinarily donate or throw away. Now I have some darling accessories to organize any room of the house - everything goes with denim, you know.