To celebrate Earth Day we tried to re-imagine a few items into something new this week. Unfortunately these jeans had a un-fixable rip where the pocket attaches to the pant so we couldn’t donate them and we wondered- what could we transform them into? This activity was featured on: http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/DIY-UPCYCLED-BEADED-JEANS-NECKLACE-FOR-KIDS Check them out for a wonderful collection of engaging, beautiful and fun activities! Materials Old pair of jeans (we used an adult size) Fabric scissors Embroidery floss Needle Sewing materials (we used a sewing machine, but you could sew it by hand) Beads Wooden beads Acrylic paint Floral foam BBQ skewers Pony beads Paint brush or brushes OR Purchase pre-painted wooden beads! We also find these items helpful: Directions Don your smock and cover your workspace with a table cloth or set out your craft trays. Painting your Beads Have an adult cut the sharp points off of the BBQ skewers. Put a pony bead at the bottom of your skewer. This will hold your beads in place and prevent them from sliding down when you paint them. “String” your beads onto your skewer. Insert your skewer into your craft foam. Don your smock. Paint your beads. We find it helpful to hold the skewer with one hand at the top while you paint with the other. Paint as many colours as you would like for your necklace. Allow to dry overnight. Jean Portion Cut off one leg of your jean and cut off one side of the leg as shown below. Cut off the cuff. Cut off the seams. We made a headband which was the width of the leg (as shown). For the necklace we went with approximately a width of approximately 2.5 inches/ a little over 6 centimetres which when sewn was approximately 1 inch/2.5 centimetres, using the foot of out sewing machine as our guide. (This a simple activity for learning how to sew a line!) Fold the jean in half with the good side facing inward. Get goofy with your scraps! Sew the jean together, along the cut side, using the foot of your sewing machine as a guide. This will form a tube of material. Be sure to use a needle in your machine suitable for jean. Turn your tube inside out. We found a piece of dowel handy for this process! (To gently push the end through.) Tuck in and sew the ends. Get a long length of embroidery floss. Tie a knot in it about 1/3 into the embroidery floss. Fold your jean with the end facing backward (so it will be hidden on the necklace when you wear it.) Go through the fold until you reach your knot. Our daughter is learning to sew so we did this together. Put a bead on snuggly to hold the fold in place. We like to go back through the end of the bead again so a bit of the floss appears on the bead. Fold the jean again. We alternated between one and two folds between each bead. (The one below will be a headband!) Make a secure knot at the end, leaving your excess thread on for the next step. For the ends we took an additional piece of embroidery floss and tied it to the end threads (making the knot in the middle of your additional piece) so we had three pieces to braid. We put the braid through the bead to hide the knot (as seen). Here is our finished project! Purpose Re-cycling materials, making them into other useful products. Developing one’s fine motor skills (lacing beads, sewing, painting etc.) Safety Notes Use scissors and a needle with care & supervision. Yarn, cord, floss etc. can be a strangulation hazard therefore it should be used with adult supervision and for the intended purpose. Be sure to wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces. Beads can be a choking hazard and therefore should be kept out of the reach of children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things in their mouths. Please like & share: Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Name* Email* Website Comment Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
