More, err, 'jeanius' ideas

So who'd have thought an old pair of jeans had so many possibilities?
  Determined now to complete this challenge and use up every single scrap of denim from these charity shop jeans, I have been somewhat busy in the last week. 
  Always on a quest to keep things useful, here goes:


1 The coaster

I stuffed this with some fabric from an old oven glove to protect any surface I should select.
  The possibilities are endless with this one but I stuck to a good old floral cup of tea motif this time. A quick and easy make for Mother's Day and birthdays or when you just want to jolly somebody along!






2 The pincushion

Inspired by a design in a back issue of Mollie Makes, this pear pincushion used up some odd scraps of denim which were starting to accumulate. I improvised the stalk with another odd shape of fabric and created the leaf by embellishing a leaf design (just the perfect scale!) taken from a small scrap of vintage fabric I found in the loft. 
  Already in use - you can never have too many pincushions!






3 The address book cover

Call me old fashioned but I cannot bring myself to digitise all my contacts and have a fondness for my Cath Kidson address book which, through use was starting to look more shabby than chic and most excessively 'vintage'. Too lazy to buy a new one and enter in all those details and besides, wanting to be thrifty here, I decided to revamp the well used book I have before it's too late. 
   I cut out some denim about 10cm wider and taller than the book, cut away at the spine and folded over at the sides and then sewed on some lazy daisy and chain stitches randomly along the spine and appliqued an old fashioned telephone motif in to the cover. Then I blanket stitched all the way round through two layers of fabric and the card cover to hold it all together.
 What's more, now that it's protected by this tough fabric I hope my trusty address book now has a few more years of wear!


4 The sunffly bunny

There was enough fabric on one of the jean legs to design a very simple rabbit shape. With wrong sides together, I cut two out and improvised some embroidery to embellish the ears, eyes, mouth and nose as well as the pads of the 'hands' and feet.
  I also worked out an easy way to stitch on some whiskers and couldn't resist a quick pom-pom for the bunny tail (as you can see in the pic below of the rabbit face down and 'asleep' with a 'friend')

 Always wanting to stay away from cheesy, cute and cliche as far as I can,  I love their quirkiness but my daughter insists the green eyes give him a sinister edge so the next version will have to look more 'cuddly'. Nevertheless, this bunny definitely most definitely has a benevolent side. He's mainly stuffed with lovely soft and eco wool waste but I also included in the middle of his tummy a muslin pouch containing eucalyptus leaves. This makes him interestingly scrunchy as well as nice to cuddle when you have a cold as the oil released by the leaves will give off a congestion clearing perfume to sort out the sniffles. 
  The idea of simple toys has given me the idea of incorporating small amounts of safe and gentle herbs and plants into stuffings for interest ..... hmmm!


  I reakon I can just about manage one of those and then I'm going to need some serious inspiration to tackle the mini mountain of tiny scraps which is all that now remains of the jeans!