One thing I have plenty of is used jars from my kitchen. Ever since they stopped recycling glass jars in our area I just can’t stand to throw them out so they have been piling up in boxes in my pantry. This month’s Sustainable Pinterest Challenge was a perfect excuse to upcycle a few of the small jelly jars in to adorable sewing kits.
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This post is part of the February Sustainable Pinterest Challenge hosted by Julie from Sum Of Their Stories. The challenge is to recreate an idea from Pinterest that also has an sustainable aspect to the project whether through recycling or repurposing.Â
This month I am excited to join in with the following talented bloggers for the challenge. A link to all of their projects will be at the end of this post.
Julie | Sum of their Stories
Gail | Purple Hues and Me
Terri | Terri Steffes
T’onna | Sew Crafty Crochet
Julie | Treasures Made From Yarn
Lydia | Life Beyond the Kitchen
Allyson | Southern Sunflowers
Mel | Decor Craft Design
Donna | Modern on Monticello
Linda | Crafts a la mode
Niki | Life as a LEO Wife
So Easy DIY Sewing Kits From Jelly Jars
Jelly jars, spaghetti sauce jars, salsa jars, and every other leftover jar from the kitchen you can name, I probably have it in a box right now. I hate the thought of throwing them in the landfill so I either try to avoid buying anything in glass jars or I just keep stockpiling them in boxes. Thankfully in North Carolina where my family lives they still recycle glass so every trip I make home to visit I load up the boxes of assorted glass jars and take them with me.
But I still need to find more ways to reuse as many of these jars as I can, so projects like these jelly jar sewing kits are a great idea.Â
The inspiration for these jelly jar sewing kits came from this Mason Jar Sewing Kit pin from DecorHint.com.
This was a great solution to not only use up a few of the jelly jars I have in a box, but also lots of craft items out of my stash such as fabric swatches, cotton batting, and magnets.
This is such a fun and easy DIY!
For this project you will need:
- Used jelly jars – or purchase new
- Canning jar lids with the separate rim and lidsÂ
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Fabric swatches
- Poly-Fil Cotton Fiber Fill Batting
- Pencil
- Magnetic Strip
- Scissors
- Sewing supplies like miniature scissors, spools of thread, buttons, needles, thimble, etc.Â
- A printout of these Emergency Sewing Kit Tags or make your own.Â
- Twine
To start, I had to soak the jars in warm soapy water to help make removing the labels a little bit easier. It also took a couple of treatments of Goof Off to remove all of the sticky glue.
Originally the jelly jars came with a regular one piece jar lid, but for this project I needed the jar lids that have separate tops and rims like for canning. Thankfully I also have plenty of them in my craft stash that will fit the jelly jars. I might upcycle the old lids in to coasters or something in the future.Â
In my craft stash I selected several swatches of fun and colorful fabrics. I even pulled out a brand new shirt with a cute little turtle design to use. Yes, I cut up a new shirt!Â
While you are shaking your head at me, let me explain. My daughter ordered this shirt for her husband as a gift and had it sent to my house. I mistakenly laid the package on the kitchen counter in eyesight of our German shepherd puppy, who considered the package a gift to him. When I realized my mistake, the shirt and package had already been carried to the back yard and were full of holes, as you will notice in the photo. Needless to say, I ordered my son-in-law a replacement shirt and this one went to my craft stash.Â
The fabric was too cute to just throw out!
Out of my craft stash I also choose acrylic paint to coordinate with the fabric swatches.  I decided to use multi surfaces acrylic paints so it would be easier to apply and cover the glass jars.
The jars took three coats of paint and were then sealed with Triple Thick Glaze clear coat spray.
Making the pin cushion for the lid.
For the next task for the jelly jar sewing kits, the separate rims and lids for the jelly jars will be used to make pin cushion tops for each sewing kit. Â
To start, trace the outline of the lid with the pencil on the back of the fabric swatch.Â
Then create a second circle to cut out that is at least 1 inch wider or more than the first circle. The pin cushion top is created using these two cut out fabric circles.
Each pin cushion top requires two fabric cut out circles to cover the lid.
Apply hot glue to the top side of the metal canning lid and attach a small amount of the fiber fill to the lid. Â
Then flip the lid so that the stuffing is upside down on to the back side of the larger fabric swatch cutout circle.
Fold over a section of the fabric over the rim of the lid and use hot glue to hold in place. Repeat this step around the edge of the rim leaving just one small section open to be able to stuff in more fiber fill as needed. Then glue down that edge as well.
Glue the smaller fabric circle, decorate side up, over the back of the lid to hid the folds of the other fabric and to give the inside a finished look. Â
The magnetic strip can be glued to the inside of the jelly jar rim or to the inside of the lid. Or not at all.
Cut a small 1-2 inch piece of the magnetic strip that will be used to hold needles and pins inside of the jelly jar. Here you have two choices, you can either attach the strip to the inside of the glass jar to hold the needles and the pins, or glue it to the inside of the fabric covered lid. I chose to glue the magnetic strip to the inside of the lid to make these things easier to find.
Insert the fabric covered lid – now turned pin cushion – inside the metal rim with the pin cushion on top. Â
Fill the jelly jar with sewing items you may need for emergency repairs like missing buttons or torn hems. These items can easily be found in miniature sewing kits or shopped for individually. I had a small pair of scissors from an old sewing kit to use for this kit but to fill the others I may purchase several folding travel scissors as well.Â
I made six little jelly jar sewing kits for this project so that I could use them as gifts this year. Â
For fun, I created little gift tags with a funny reminder as to why you always need an Emergency Sewing Kit. These will be perfect little gifts for a couple of college girls in my church that I am their “adoptive’ mom this year as part of our College ministry. Â
You can easily download a copy of the Emergency Sewing Kit Tags.Â
Be sure to visit the other creative sustainable ideas from the other bloggers who participated in the Sustainable Pinterest Challenge this month.
Hugs,
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Pin For Later
What a cool project. Yours turned out great.
I love this idea! It’s so cute and definitely will come in handy! I love the pincushion in the jar lid.
I think I need to make these for my Christmas gift to the ladies next year! I have plenty of time to make these if I start now!
They don’t take long at all so you should be able to make plenty of them. Save those jars!
Your sewing kits turned out to be the absolute cutest and perfect for gifts! I also love the tags you made with the funny button saying. Great idea for upcycling jelly jars!
I love these! They would make the perfect gift. I have a ton of glass jars because I can’t bring myself to throw them away either. Right now I’m trying to think of a way to gift these to my son’s teachers for Valentine’s Day lol. I’ve got to come up with a printable that combines V-day and sewing lol. By the way, I keep torn clothes to use in projects too. I can’t throw anything I might craft with away. Thank goodness I have a whole craft room lol. I’d love to have you come share this on Crafty Creators Link Party on Thursday (open until Monday). You can also share on Happiness is Homemade (open now).
XOXO,
Niki ~ Life as a LEO Wife
Thanks Niki. I will go over and share them now.
What a fun project! I can see them as handy gifts or maybe something to sell at a holiday bazaar. Love it! 🙂
Thanks Lydia
What a great idea for gift giving, Donna! And a great way to upcycle jelly jars, too! I would love to put one of these wherever I am in my home. How many times have I wanted to sew or darn something while sitting in a chair, or looking at tv, and just didn’t feel like getting up to go get a needle and thread rooms away! These would be great to put in a table drawer or self (they’re pretty enough to display) for quick mends!
I have this same dilemma with cross stitch projects. I should have a kit waiting for me in every room.
I should make one for myself. It’s useful and looks pretty by my sewing machine. I love all your patterns, Donna, they’re so cute!
Thanks Mel!
Perfect for your college girls, Donna and I know I could have used one in my desk, at work! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Ann. Me too when I worked in an office. It would have come in handy.
What a lovely gift! You’ve been so busy making these!
I think the addition of the magnetic strip is genius, and putting it on the lid seems the most sensible to me too.
I love that you explained about the shirt, it IS great fabric and great that it’s being put to good use now after puppygate!
Thanks Julie. I still have plenty of fabric from the shirt to make something else.