The denim disaster

Lately, whether it's painting or sewing, things are not turning out as well as I envision in my mind's eye. But there is still joy in the process.

So here is the problem I have been trying to solve:

Life at home means life in comfy clothes. Leggings or yoga pants are much more comfy than jeans. Top that off with a knit shirt from my bleach or paint stained collection, and I am happy to be puttering about all day. In the cold weather I wear a zip fleece in the house as well. And that means I have pockets..for my phone, my earbuds (wired, I find my ears feel funny if I wear blue tooth for any length of time), and some tissues and/or my glasses.

It's warming up and I am left without pockets for all this gear.  So I dug out my cache of denim, collected over many years of ripped jeans by three males who wear an inseam of 34 and higher. I had actually gone through this hoard and cut off the wastebands.

 I had a great collection of pockets that I have used for various things like this:



I even made an apron out of one leg of a son's carpenter jeans. Quick serger project it was.
Which I saw in my LQS And did not buy a pattern for. I washed it well before our old washing machine bit the dust, and I don't dare put a project like this into the new machine.  And I made some masks out of denim lined with tshirt fabric for the menfolks.

So, pockets. I squared up and stitched three pocketed pieces together. Then I sewed it to a piece of backing fabric and left the top open. Rummaging like a squirrel in another cache of old belts and webbing salvaged from I don't know what, I was ready to finish it. Here's where it turned into a bit of a disaster. I not only broke two needles trying to stitch through multiple layers of denim and webbing, I managed to knock the timing out of my 301 completely. After the first needle broke, I was handwheeling it through the webbing part.

So it turned out wonky (but the sides are not as uneven as this photo suggests!) and perfectly usable for indoors around the house.

So, I better get on pinterest and look up some easier projects, because that is a heavy bag of denim.  I don't need anymore totebags, but I could use a smallish crossbody bag to take to the grocery store, where I only need to carry a couple of credit cards, my phone and drivers license and my keys. Hmm. Maybe a japanese knot bag.  Maybe next week. 

Or perhaps some pillows stuffed with old batting leftovers (yeah, I have bags of that as well.)

What do you have squirelled away? How are you using it--is it part of your quarantine/isolation sewing goals.