Your Old Jeans Deserve A Place In The Garage: Make A DIY Work Apron

Jeans make for a timeless staple in every wardrobe. Their story, however, doesn't have to end when you've outgrown them, or if they've simply seen better days. If you're done with your old reliable pants, throwing them out might not be the best option yet. This is a good opportunity to repurpose old clothing in your home — turn your old denim jeans into a work apron that can withstand crafting projects and all sorts of tinkering in your garage.

Denim is known for being durable and reliable; an ideal fabric for withstanding heavy work. Making denim involves strong cotton and a dense weaving pattern, so choosing to find other uses for your jeans can certainly help protect your clothes from paint splatters, grease stains, and other damage from garage projects that will otherwise break other types of thinner, softer fabric. (If you do most of your work outside, you can even upcycle your worn-out jeans into a gardening apron.)

Instead of resorting to cheap aprons made of thinner textile in place of that expensive work apron you've been eyeing at the store, grab that old pair of jeans sitting untouched in your closet, along with fabric scissors and a few sewing tools to complete this simple DIY.

To create a work apron out of old denim jeans, you will need to use fabric scissors to cut them into rectangular sections, which will be sewn together into a classic apron pattern. Use the wide pant sections for the apron's main body. Most apron bodies begin with a rectangle of fabric that's 21 inches wide and 34 inches long, enough to fit most sizes. Sew the wide pant sections together to create this shape, and reserve one-inch thick strips that will serve as the apron's ties. Stitch them onto the top corners of your apron's body using thread or affix them using a button sewn into the main part of the apron.

Additionally, you can use your old jeans' pockets and sew them onto the lower half of the apron to give the new denim garment its own set of pockets. For added utility, use the belt loops from your old jeans and sew them onto the bottom corners of the pockets — this way, you have hooks to attach tools that need speedy access to, so you can enact your next few garage organizational makeover ideas or at-home crafting activities.