The Frilly Denim Bag

This is my first tutorial so please bear with me. I know what I do but that doesn't always make it that easy to put it across to other people. The nice thing about this one is that it uses up an old pair of jeans and because denim is quite a thick material, you can get away without interfacing. I made the whole of this bag without going near an iron, an adage I try to live my life by!

I haven't done desperately close measurements as this depends on the size of jeans you've got and the width of the frilly stuff you get hold of.

Firstly, split your pair of jeans up the outside seam and open the leg up, then cut two panels from the widest section. Mine measured about 17" x 12".
Next is the creative bit. Pin on your first line of frilly stuff. (I know that this probably has a proper term, but frilly stuff is descriptively perfect). My top line was 3" down from the top, but put it where you like. As long as it looks right and you do the same on both sections so the sides line up, it really doesn't matter.

Sew this in place.
Then pin on the next line. For the width of my frilly stuff, I needed to pin it 2 1/2" down from the first line so that the top was covered by the higher frill. Repeat until you've covered the bag. Because my frill was quite wide I only needed three strips of it to cover the panel.
Then do the same on the other panel.

The next thing to do is to sew the panels together. Put them right sides together, line up the frills so that they make a continuous line around the bag, then sew together. I stitched up the sides first then tucked the frill that hung out the bottom in before attending to that bit. Turn right side out.

It was at this point I decided to put the pleats in. not the best time, I admit. It is a bit easier to do them before you sew the sides together, but on this size of bag its simple enough. From the central point, which is the seam of the jeans, I marked on a point at 2 1/2" then another inch, then another 2 1/2 ", then another inch on each side. Match the marks together pointing in towards the centre, to give two pleats on each side. (I really hope that makes sense!) Pin in place.

The strap was made by cutting off the waistband of the jeans. Perfect width and length and no folding or hemming or interfacing involved. Pin this on the right side of the bag, facing downwards. And make sure its not twisted. Done that before. Several times. Then all you need to do is machine base in place.

So that's the outside done, now to the lining. Here again, you can do what you want. In this instance I didn't add pockets because I wanted to create a quick bag. I also didn't put in any kind of snap or zip fastening, but if you want to do that, then now is the time. I cut two pieces the same size as the outside and sewed the sides and the bottom together. Just make sure that you leave a gap in the lining of about three or four inches to turn the whole bag through.

I then put the bag outer inside the lining, right side to right side. I pined the side seams together, then the central points together, then put pleats in the lining to match up with pleats on the outside. (Again, this is a fast way to do it, not necessarily the correct way.)

Now the fun bit (that's if you haven't been having fun so far). Machine stitch all around the top, then turn your bag out throught the hole in the lining. That's my favorite bit, when you can see your bag in its near completed state.
All that's left to do is slip stitch the gap in the lining and top stitch around the top of the bag. Take it easy at this point. This is definitely my swear word moment. Not only have I lost countless machine needles to denim but its also the most obvious piece of stitching on the whole bag and if you mess it up at this point its really irritating (that's me being restrained!)

So that's it, all done!
Any questions I'll try my best to coherently answer, all comments gratefully received.
xx