Frugal Friday - Using Up Old Jeans

Posted by jam - August 24th, 2007

 

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Hosted by Biblical Womanhood


I got two pairs of old jeans given to me by a friend. I had thought of making them into jeans skirts, but I decided that a mat for the kitchen was more urgent… so, I started cutting….It went from this:
jeans

To this:

jeans cut up

To this:

jeans mat on line

What I did, was basically cut as many 6″ squares from the old jeans as I could. I was able to cut higher on the front of the jeans than on the backs because of the pockets. (AFTER I threw the scraps away I found a good idea for using jeans pockets…. bother!) Then I got some fabric that I had bought a while ago for a little over a dollar per meter and which I have a LOT of, and cut 6″ squares of that as well. I cut 5″ square of batting (again, cut your batting into squares or rectangles as you go, then you have a pile when you need them), and got a nice little pile:

jeans squares

I then sandwiched the layers together and quilted the blocks with a simple line of stitches from corner to corner. One day I will do a tutorial on this so it is a bit clearer. It is a great beginners project. I sewed all the squares together leaving the raw edges out, snipped the raw edges and put it through the wash. You can see how nicely the raw edges have frayed in the picture of it hanging out on the line.

Now it is in its rightful spot under the sink, catching spills and keeping our feet warm! All from a few scraps of jeans and fabric…

jeans mat done

8 Comments

  1. I love this! Do you have to put a non skid pad under it?

    Comment by Carrie J - August 24, 2007 9:32 pm

  2. No, I didn’t put a non skid pad under it. I considered it, but some of my other mats didn’t have a non skid backing either, so I will just see how it goes. So far so good…!!
    I think it helps that we don’t actually wipe our feet on it like we would a door mat, if that makes any sense.
    Love,
    Joy

    Comment by jam - August 24, 2007 10:51 pm

  3. You are so smart to make that! I love to reuse my son’s old jeans and this is another idea to try! I have made quilts, pillows and rice bag covers from them. There lots of uses for the old jeans! Thanks!

    Comment by Debbie J. - August 24, 2007 11:01 pm

  4. Love that idea. I’ve been really in to making rag quilts lately and I never thought of doing a rug. I even have lots of leftover cut-up squares. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Comment by Western Warmth - August 24, 2007 11:02 pm

  5. This is beautiful and clever! I like that you have a full gallery; it makes it easier to see the pictures and visualize the final product, too.

    Comment by Sarah Lewis - September 11, 2007 3:32 am

  6. [...] started this raw edge quilt before I did the raw edge kitchen mat. I finished it a few weeks ago, and am finally getting a picture up to show you. It was easy and [...]

    Pingback by Busy hands and needles..... : A Joyful Keeper of the Home - September 14, 2007 10:13 pm

  7. Wow - that looks brilliant. You’re so clever!!

    Comment by Jodi - September 17, 2007 5:55 pm

  8. [...] use for the clothes we have, if they are too worn out to pass on to others (see my post on using old jeans). I can’t bring myself to cut up perfectly good clothes, however, because I know there are [...]

    Pingback by Frugal Friday - Old Fashioned Thrift : A Joyful Keeper - February 1, 2008 6:20 pm

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