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How to Quilt>Blue Jeans Quilts
Quilts from Blue Jeans
When many quilters clean out their closets, they usually don’t see old clothes. Instead, they see fabric that could have been used in a quilt. One of the frequently asked questions by quilters is whether they can recycle their old blue jeans into quilts. The answer is absolutely! When working with denim, you must remember to keep the other fabrics in your quilt similar in weight. A quilt made from broad cloth and thick work denim would be skewed over time because the weight of the fabrics are not similar.
There are many ways you can use the fabric from your blue jeans in a quilt pattern. Use the legs and cut the patches you need. You can open them at the seams, but if they have been worn several years, you might not like the results that the fabric from the seam offers. It probably won’t match the rest of the denim. Denim makes great rag quilts because it frays so well. Make your blocks of denim and alternate them with blocks of another heavy cotton. Sew the seams to the outside and snip them to allow the ragging to occur. Once you wash and dry the quilt, the seams should fluff up nicely. Denim also makes great accents on appliqué quilts. Use a snippet of denim to create the center of a flower on a casual quilt. Use it for the dress on a Sunbonnet Sue quilt appliqué or for the overalls on Sam or the Fishing Boy quilt block pattern. If you want the denim to have a frayed look on your appliqués, use a straight stitch to sew it in place instead of turning the fabric under and using an appliqué stitch. The more the quilt is washed and dried, the more the denim appliqué will fray. It is also fun to incorporate part of your old jeans into your quilts. For example, take the belt loops off several pairs of jeans and stitch them onto your border. Remove an old pocket and sew it onto the quilt in a corner for a storage pocket. This can be a lot of fun for children’s quilts, too. Just think -- you can send your child to daycare with his own quilt and tuck a small toy in the pocket to surprise him. Old jeans also recycle nicely into throw pillows pieced as nine patch designs. Use various shades of denim for the front. If you have a piece big enough for the back, that would be great. Otherwise, use another fabric for the pillow’s back. You can create a rag pillow, using the same technique as rag quilting, or create a “crazy quilt” pillow, using scraps of your jeans and other clothing. Since they’ll be foundation pieced like a crazy quilt, you won’t have to worry about the weight of the fabrics or the integrity of their fabric grain. While it may not exactly be a quilting project, you can also use your old jeans to make leg warmers. Use various techniques from your quilting skills to dress them up. To make a pair of leg warmers, cut the jeans up 6 to 10 inches from the bottom of each leg. Use an over lock or zigzag seam to serge the cut end. Decorate by adding strips of patchwork, appliquéing small designs like flowers or ladybugs, etc. You can also use your machine to “quilt” designs onto each leg section. Slide the finished leg warmers over your leggings for a cute look. They stand up very well in snow and add extra warmth to your legs, too.
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