Turn An Old Pair Of Jeans Into A Vintage-Inspired Oven Mitt

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There are more things you can repurpose in your home than you think. Before you toss away or donate items you've outgrown, pause and see if you can give them a second life first. For instance, you can upcycle an old pair of jeans into different household items, especially if you want to tastefully embrace denim decor. With a little bit of sewing, you can turn your old jeans into vintage-inspired oven mitts that are equal parts durable and charming.

Denim is a tightly woven fabric known for its durability, thus earning its reputation as timeless everyday wear – and a material that works well as an oven mitt's outer layer. To get started, find an old pair of jeans you wouldn't mind cutting up. And don't throw out your burnt or dirty oven mitts — you can use them for your denim mitt's pattern, and you can also strip the lining from them to reuse. 

Alternatively, you can source organic or synthetic padding to sew into your new, upcycled mitt. Some of the preferred battings include cotton batting or wool batting, like this YVIIWL Wool Quilt Batting. These naturally provide heat resistance with proper layering and handling. There is also The Warm Company Store's Insul-Bright, a synthetic lining that provides extra heat resistance compared to its organic counterparts, but contains foil or metallic fibers which makes it unsafe to use in microwaves. Standard sewing materials are also needed — ready your handy sewing machine (or the usual needle and thread), some pattern paper, and a few pins.

Start by tracing your old oven mitt's shape onto some pattern paper or directly onto the denim jeans to get the correct shapes for the piece. Next, cut two denim pieces based on your traced pattern. Afterwards, you will need to apply your lining of choice — not only to provide better insulation, but also to protect the wearer from high heat and burns. To do this, sew multiple layers of your padding of choice into each side — and quilt these layers together to ensure that the lining is secure and evenly spread before stitching the full mitt together. After this step, finish the opening by stitching in some binding for a cleaner edge — here, you can use the jeans' cuff portion for better thickness. Lastly, you can snip off one of the belt loops to sew into the edge of your mitt to make an easy hanging loop.

Finally, really get into the vintage vibe by embroidering designs onto the oven mitts, or use heat-transfer patches. Another way you can add extra personality to upcycled oven mitts is to sew different swatches of denim together, and get creative with quilting. If you have leftover patches of denim after this project, look into other clever ways to repurpose old jeans around your home and garden.