My oldest two kids have their birthdays 3 days (and 4 year) apart. We had a big combo party for them this year and I got crafty… That’s another post or two… or three. But today I’ll show you something I made for one of Israel’s presents this year. It can be harder for me to come up with creative things to make for a boy. So when I saw this on Pinterest I was excited. There were some jeans in our giveaway pile so it was a fun gift that didn’t cost anything. All these roads were made from part of one pair of jeans. I’d already used 1/4 of a leg for another project.
Side note, if you’ve not heard of Pinterest.com yet, it’s a fun place to get inspiration and organize your own inspirations for reference. Being a very visual person it’s perfect for me! But I do be careful to filter… I only friend people who don’t post all those visual things I just don’t want to see!
Here’s the link to where I got my inspiration from.
I decided to make my roads more narrow, about 3″ wide. I made patterns on paper for the straight pieces, intersections, and 90 degree turn pieces… and traced them on the jeans and cut out. I then free handed a few from scraps for interesting curves. Drew and I painted the yellow lines.
The big pocket I made by cutting out the two back pockets of the jeans leaving about a 1/2 inch around the pocket and cutting up to and over the seam above the pockets. I sewed them right sides together along the bottom and sides, leaving the top un-sewn. Next I turned them right sides out and appliqued a race car cut from felt on the front. The tracks fit nicely inside the big pocket for storage and little cars fit well inside the outer pocket. Daddy traced out the race car so this gift was made by us all. So far the road pieces haven’t frayed. But I’ll use some fray check on the edges if they start.
Daddy may have outdone me by getting Israel a hotwheels track from us that mounts on his wall and is very fun. But he has played some with these roads as well. Israel did candidly ask me, “Mommy, did you make these from… pants?” When I said yes, he said, “Silly Mommy!” That I am…