Recycling Jeans: Making a Rag Quilt

Jeans make great quilts. The fabric is durable, washable, and best of all, free! Begin by stockpiling old jeans. This quilt was made from quilts worn and outgrown by my daughter. The jeans are sizes 12, 14, 0, and 2. I used a total of 8 pair and had leftovers. You could also purchase jeans from secondhand stores for a low cost.

This is an easy-to-make project, requiring a minimal amount of sewing ability.

Cut the jean leg open along a seam.


You are going to cut the leg of the jean into squares. I decided on a 6 inch square, as this size could be cut from all the jean sizes I am using. Your squares can be larger or smaller. Remember that the smaller the square, the more you will need, and the more time it will take.


I used a rotary cutter and ruler, but you could also use a pattern cut from paper and pinned onto the fabric. Obviously, that would take a lot longer!


Now cut squares which are the same size from flannel. In my case that is 6". Cut one flannel square for each levi square you cut.

Place the wrong side of the jean square to the wrong side of a flannel square and sew an "X".
You may want to buy a machine needle specifically made for jean fabric.

Close-up of one side of the x:

After you've sewn all of the squares together, sew the squares to each other, placing flannel sides together like this:

I used a half inch seam. You can use up to a 7/8 inch seam, but don't go smaller then 1/2.
Sew a long strip of squares together. My strips were 15 squares long.

Next, sew the strips together, again with flannel sides together.

My finished quilt is 15 squares by 12 squares. You can make yours any size you want. Sew all the way around the outside of the quilt, making sure the seams are open when you sew over them. Sew a half inch from the edge, or whatever size of seam you used on the rest of the quilt. Now cut "fringes" in your seams to the stitching, taking care not to cut through the seam. Make your fringe about 1/4 to 1/2 apart. You will want to use your sharpest scissors.

This step takes the most work. Don't forget to cut a fringe all around the outside of your quilt.

Now all you need to do is wash and dry your quilt. This is want makes the fringe look ruffly. When you dry your quilt, you need to empty your dryer lint trap a few times. This step creates lots of lint!

This is the flannel side. You can make a random pattern like I did, or arrange your flannel to make a pattern--checkerboard, diagonal, or whatever you'd like.