On a recent trip to New Zealand I wore out a good quality pair jeans but most of the material remained in good condition. I looked around for ways to recycle the material  and decided to try my hand at making a stuffed toy and a bag.

I created the whale first, and really tested my amateur sewing skills. It’s not perfect but it has lots of character and my Grandson enjoys it.

The bag seemed a more straight forward sewing exercise but it also tested my skills and my wife’s patience as she guided my efforts.

What did I learn?

Even the simplest activity requires some planning effort, creating a new object out of raw materials requires a very clear plan to ensure you don’t spend as much time fixing mistakes as I did with these projects.

Turning useless object into something new and useful is a rewarding experience, and one I wish to repeat often in the future.