This upcycled no-sew drawstring bag project is sponsored by giffgaff, though all opinions are my own. Sponsored content like this allows me to continue sharing free craft projects with you. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me blogging! 🙂
Last year, a pair of my trousers got a rip in them. I sewed it up, of course. But after a few more wears, the hole kept reopening (and the fabric was getting threadbare). Try as I might, there was no salvaging them! 🙁 But instead of throwing them away, I stashed them with my craft supplies – knowing that I would cut them up and use the fabric one day. That day has come!
Earlier this month, giffgaff contacted me about a campaign to celebrate Recycle Week. It was the perfect chance to get out those old trousers and think up a crafty way to repurpose them.
Instead of simply cutting up the fabric and sewing it into something new, I wanted to maintain original elements of the trousers and use them in a different way. Inspired by the drawstring shorts I made recently, I figured out a way to remove the back pockets and transform them into a small, no-sew drawstring bag. That’s right – absolutely no sewing is required to make these upcycled bags from old trousers! Just a seam ripper and a dab of glue. Easy.
About giffgaff refurbished phones
This project is all about celebrating the importance of upcycling and recycling (something I’m very keen to promote). And giffgaff are the ideal partner for this! They have a fantastic refurbished phone offering on their site, as well as an opportunity to recycle your phone over at giffgaff recycle (and make a little money in doing so!). This saves them from landfill, and allows customers to get quality phones for lower prices. They kindly sent me a refurbished phone, which I’ve used to take all of the tutorial photos in this post. I also used it to film this Instagram Reels video. The quality is as good as new, you’d never guess it’s a secondhand device!
DIY no-sew drawstring bag from upcycled trousers
Tools and supplies
- Old trousers/shorts with a back pocket
- Seam ripper
- Fabric scissors
- Fabric glue
- Drawstring, rope or ribbon
Tutorial
1. Turn back pocket of your trousers inside out, making sure to pull the lining as far out as possible. You’ll see that the pocket is basically a little bag, stitched into a hole in the trousers.
2. Using a seam ripper, unpick all of the seams that are holding the pocket to the trousers. There’s no neat way to do this – just get stuck in and keep at it until there’s nothing left to unpick!
3. When you’ve finished unpicking the join between the pocket and the trousers, there might be a few sections that you need to cut through to remove the pocket completely. Carefully cut these with fabric scissors to release the pocket.
4. Remove all of the loose threads and bits of fabric from the pocket/bag.
5. You’ll notice that the pocket/bag will be made up of a lining, and a strip of trouser fabric along each side of the open end. Carefully unpick the side seams of the pocket/bag, up to the point that the trouser fabric reaches the lining fabric.
6. Turn the bag the right way round, so the overlocked side seams are hidden on the inside.
7. Lay the bag flat. Fold over the top strip of trouser fabric, up to the point that you unpicked in step 5. For example, if you unpicked 3cm, then you’ll need to fold the top strip over by 3cm.
8. Apply a thin strip of strong fabric glue to the edge of this folded section, to fix it in place. (Alternatively, you can sew it.) Make sure not to glue the entire thing flat, as you’ll need to thread a drawstring through it! Likewise, leave each end open – you’re basically creating a long tunnel with open ends.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the other side. If one of the sides has a raw edge, fold the raw edge over by 1cm to hide it, before moving on to step 8.
10. When the glue has completely dried, thread a drawstring through both sides of the bag and tie a knot.
This upcycled drawstring bag is great for storing small cables and chargers. It makes a great accompaniment to the refurbished phone that giffgaff sent me! And I love that it’s made from fabric that might otherwise have ended up in the bin.
If you give this project a go, let me know in the comments below. Or tag me in a photo of your makes over on Instagram, I’d love to see!
To learn more about giffgaff’s refurbished phones, you can visit their website here. And thanks again to them for sponsoring this post – I love working with brands that share my morals and interests. 🙂
Happy crafting – Mike.
Be sure to save the image below to Pinterest!
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