Get on the road with a tiny backpack. It allows you to bring your phone, water bottle, purse, etc. without a fuss. A denim backpack is very easy to make from a pair of old jeans and two cords of 1.20 m (47,25 inches). Don't use thick denim for this, the fabric should be able to fold/wrinkle around the cords.

Cut the legs of the trousers, cut off the seams. Make a square patchwork from denim. Stitch them to each other, so you get a patch of 65 X 33 cm (25,60 X 13 inches). Iron the seams open and iron a small hem (5 cm) on the top edges.  If you want to decorate it with paint, patches, beads, or so: you should do it now. The strings of the seams can be used for the loops that are stitched into the side seam; on the bottom of the backpack. Cut two small pieces of 8 cm (3 inches), for the loops. Fold the fabric in half, with the right sides facing each other. Fold the strips for the loops and insert them into the side seam, about 1 cm above the bottom edge.  Now pin the side seams and stitch this approximately 1.5 cm (0,5 inches) from the edge, leaving 5 cm (2 inches) open at the top, for the tunnel. See the Figure below.

If you turn the fabric, the result should be a bag with two little loops at the bottom of each side seam. Now fold the top edge double, to make a tunnel and put the cords within, as shown in picture B. Each cord runs from the bottom of the side seam around the two tunnels; coming back at the starting point. Stitch the tunnels, be aware that you don't stitch the cords. After that, you can insert the strap through the loop and knot it tightly.

- - - - - - - - - - © - Amsterdam 2014 - Ageethe groenendaal - - - - - - - - - - - 

You can prolong the life of your garment by painting it. It will make the textile stronger and give it the look and feel of leather! So, make your old and worn - but still favvy - jeans unique by painting them with water-based textile paint. All that you need is a brush, water, a bottle of nice glossy textile paint and a textile marker or a textile tube to draw out the design. I use textile paint from the brand Pebeo. Draw the desired design with the textile marker on the jeans. Let it dry. Fill the design with the brush and paint. When you are finished, let the garment dry for over 24 hours. 

Do not forget to iron the garment after painting and drying for fixation! Follow the instructions written on the textile paint.

You can also use a template. Make a design (like little hearts, balls, stars, etc.) on hard plastic and cut it out with a sharp knife. Examples of how to cut a stencil you can find on Youtube. Or try to make a DIY screenprint from old nylon; as you can see here.