Here's a Quilt I Made From My Husband's Old Jeans
My husband had a stack of old jeans that were just taking up space so I decided to make them into a quilt. This is an I Spy quilt, all the fabrics are different, no repeats. It's also a rag quilt because the edges are frayed. I have a more detailed tutorial on my website. HangryFork.com
I cut pairs of jeans open along the seams. I used a pasta bowl and sharpie to trace circles onto the inside of old jeans.
I cut out the circles using a nice sharp pair of scissors.
I figured out what size square would fit inside the circle and made a templete out of a manila file.
I marked the square on the wrong side of half the denim circles. I sewed circles into rows.
Before I sewed the rows together, I used a ruler to join the square markings on half the rows. This is my sewing line.
I then joined all the rows together. I pressed the seams open like you see below.
Before I started this sewing project I ordered I Spy pre cut fabric squares from ebay.
I pinned the fabric squares to the denim. I did this on the ironing board and slid an acrylic ruler under the quilt to avoid pinning to the ironing board cover.
Then, I stitched down the flaps using the presser foot edge as my guide. I did the stitching in long rows. I did all the horizontal stitching and then did the vertical stitching. It goes surprisingly fast.
This is what the quilt looked like at this stage.
Next, I attached the binding. My daughter picked out this funky yellow fabric.
I carefully clipped the seam allowance and tossed the quilt in the washing machine. I washed it twice, cleaning out the lint from the washing machine in between cycles. When the quilt was in the dryer, there was a TON of lint and I cleaned out the dryer vent several times while the quilt was drying.
DIY home decor using vintage fabric
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I came across this about 6 years ago after losing my husband of 43 years and had been looking for away to make something for the rest of the kids and grands out of his stack of work jeans. I had already made Memory pillows out of his flannel shirts and T-shirts and embroidered sweet passages on to them. After finding this Jean pattern I cut up all the jeans and figured I’d use the scraps from the flannel shirts for the inside of the circles. But then life happened , grief hit me long and hard. But I’m back and so very thankful I found this pattern again! Fall and winter are coming up, time to do some sewing, will be great Christmas gifts!
thank you! 😊
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I’m sorry for your loss Lora. I think making gifts is a wonderful idea.
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So sorry for your loss. I think your quilt is lovely. I wish I was young enough to try something like that. But getting on for Eighty I don't have the patience or dexterity now, Still knitting though.
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wish I had seen your project first. I tried my own and made so many mistakes it still isn't finished. I keep putting it off. But yours looks great. Is it heavy? Mine sure is and if I ever finish it, it'll be perfect for camping.
Do you sell these?
Ten years ago I made a diaper bag using this method. I used mom’s and dad’s old jeans along with fabric from their Alma mater. It turned out so cute, although it was a bit heavy, it stood up to a lot of wear and tear and washings.