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It seems we struck a chord in asking you to come up with new uses for your discontinued denim. Our challenge garnered more than 50 entries, including a shower curtain, yoga mat bag, knitted clutch purse, cat toys, and a beanbag chair. But the prize for most injeanious idea goes to Canadian crafter Lise Farynowski, of Whitehorse, Yukon, who repurposed her dungarees into a cheeky pair of pot holders.
Make It:
- Cut two 10" squares of fabric from the seat of the jeans, making sure that the back pockets are as close as possible to the center of each square.
- For the insulation, cut as many 10" squares from the legs of the jeans as possible, and distribute them evenly between the two pot holders, or use two 10" pieces of wool batting. Once the pot holders are assembled, each one will have three layers: the pocket side, the contrasting fabric side, and an insulating layer of denim or wool in between.
- For each pot holder, line up the middle insulating layer with the contrasting fabric, wrong sides together. Pin in place.
- Line up the pocket sides and the pinned pieces, with the right sides of the pocket pieces and the contrasting fabric pieces facing. Pin in place.
- Stitch around three sides of each pot holder with a ½" seam allowance. Take it slow to avoid breaking your needle, since the material will be thick.
- Turn both pot holders right side out and press, if necessary.
- Topstitch the two open seams closed.
- Dish up something delicious. (Extra points if it'll go straight to your hips.)
NEXT UP: DEAD PENS
{Deadline: July 31, 2007}
by Anthony Discenza
Have you ever wondered where pens come from? Of course you haven't, because you already know: the office supply closet, where boxes and boxes of black Uni-balls and stalwart Sharpies lay in steady supply. Of course, over time these cartons are endlessly emptied and replaced as their contents are depleted and, because pens are disposable, inevitably thrown away. I can surmise that most of these abandoned tubes of plastic and metal are idling in landfills, awaiting discovery by bored archaeologists of the future. "What was with these people and their obsession with disposability?" they'll ask. It's a reasonable question. Is the ink incredibly difficult to refill? Does the process require sophisticated algorithms and n-dimensional physics? My guess is no. But until these questions are answered, it's up to you, dear readers, to chart a new course for these inky vessels. The best penmanship wins a subscription and a ReadyMade T-shirt.
Send photos or projects to: MacGyver Challenge, 817 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94710 or articles@readymademag.com
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ARCHIVES
Peruse projects and features from past issues of ReadyMade.
Make It
POT HOLDERS
- 1 pair of old jeans with pockets big enough to fit your hands
- 2 10" squares of contrasting fabric
- Thread
- Wool batting (optional)
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Denim needle
- Iron (optional)
