The Denim Era

My college freshman roommate gave me a pair of jeans she didn’t wear anymore and said, “Turn it into something cool!” They were plain blue skinny jeans with white flower designs, and I knew immediately they needed color. This was during the height of my “turn-jeans-into-a-bag” phase. After sitting in my drawer for months, they became the perfect finals week decompression project. I have so many time-lapses of myself sitting on my dorm room floor, coloring in the flowers with POSCA paint pens; very therapeutic.The straps were made from a brown corduroy waistband that I removed from thrifted men’s pants using a seam ripper (a small sewing tool used to carefully take apart stitches). Then, re sewn on as handles. Honestly, one of the coolest projects I’ve done.

The dark denim came from an old pair of Zara shorts from my friend’s sister. I sketched what I wanted the new Honors College logo to look like in GoodNotes, vectorized the design, and then used an embroidery machine to have it professionally stitched onto the fabric. For the strap, I removed the waistband from a pair of acid-wash jeans (again with my trusty seam ripper) and attached the ends together using what I believe was an old metal bobbin. To create the “Honors” text along the border, I used a vinyl cutter to cut the lettering, ironed it onto the fabric (yes, it’s washable), and then hand-sewed the panel onto the body of the bag.

This bag also has a dark blue corduroy lining that I cut from an old H&M jacket, and it features my first-ever zipper installation. I even added a small leather tag to label it as mine. I believe this one now resides in the Honors College office.

Downtown Reno, NV

I think this picture is so funny because I was taking myself so seriously- the aviators, the hoops… please. I believe this was the first bag I ever made, and it’s tiny.

I think my seam-ripping obsession started with removing belt loops and waistbands from old jeans. It’s so satisfying. I used to work on these projects during slow shifts at my boring retail job, gossiping with coworkers after class.

I thrifted this beautiful purple corduroy from the SPCA in Reno and knew it would be perfect for a bag interior. I gave that one to my friend Melissa, and she still uses it as a book bag.

My favorite piece, I loved the interplay of embroidery and how the vines turned out. I remember sketching it during Bus 101 and knowing immediately it needed to become a bag. The vintage Levi’s denim look with the little red tag turned out so cute. I found a metal chain somewhere, and it gave the bag the perfect edge. Very Izzy Dalla core.