We donated some items at our local thrift store last month and they were having a sidewalk sale. These pants screamed out to me from across the parking lot. Not because they’re red floral pants, but because being from Hawai’i, any aloha wear print calls my name. Hawaiian print and anything looking to be upcycled into a repurposed project. The pants were calling out to be upcycled into Hawaiian print wine gift bag to be specific.
We donated some items at our local thrift store last month and they were having a sidewalk sale. These pants screamed out to me from across the parking lot. Not because they’re red floral pants, but because being from Hawai’i, any aloha wear print calls my name. Hawaiian print and anything looking to be upcycled into a repurposed project.
So I bought these pants for a couple of dollars and absolutely no idea what I would do with them. But wearing them was out of the question for my boring conservative self.
Then one day I was working on putting Christmas gifts together for family. I knew that we were giving a bottle of wine as one of the gifts. I wanted to wrap the wine bottle in a festive way, but couldn’t figure out what to do. Then this pair of pants called out to me again.
Yes, I could turn one of the legs of the pants into a wine gift bag!
I simply laid the bottle down on the leg of the pants and cut it to the size I wanted. I made sure to leave the hemmed cuff and the less tapered (straighter) one of the side seams.
Leaving the cuff to use at the opening of the bag and one side seam meant that I could sew the bag up in less than 1 minute. Really. I did make sure to sew a piece of ribbon into the side seam as I was sewing. This ribbon will be used to tie the gift bag shut.
I wanted the bottom of the bag to sit flat like the bottom of a lunch bag so I lined the seams up and pinched the corner of the bottom seam like this.
I measured a line about 1 inch from the corner of the bag and sewed on this line.
I did the same for the other corner of the bottom of the bag.
And voila! An upcycled and very festive wine bag from a repurposed pair of pants. And all in less than 10 minutes. Really.
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I’m a mom of 3, a veteran and military spouse. I’ve moved into 20+ homes all around the world. My passion is helping busy people make the space and time for what’s really important to them.
Holly says
Hi Susan – Your creativity always astonishes me, and I look forward to seeing your new creations. If I would have purchased these – with or without reason – there would have been many eye rolls – I don’t know how you got away with it. But what a fun way to be festive, frugal, and honor the Aloha State! Hugs, Holly
Corinne Schmitt says
I love this! What a wonderful way to save money on packaging, use unwanted items, AND create unique and colorful packaging for a hostess gift. Thanks for the step-by-step instructions.
Cynthia Landrie says
First off, I love the wine bag, it is just great! Secondly, although I love the fabric, I just don’t see anyone wearing them as pants. Shirt yes, no to the pants. So glad you were able to save these pants and make them something beautiful!
Winnie says
Susan – you really are amazing!! How creative of you!!
It looks sooooooooooooo beautiful (I like the color) and I just can’t believe you made it out of old pants LOL
Darlene Nemeth says
Hey Susan, them there are some pretty fancy pants! Don;t you just love it when an item calls out to you -buy me so you do it even though you aren’t sure what to do with it? Those are the kind of things I have to hide from my family until I figure out what to do with them. By the way – nice gift bag.