Upcycling

Laura’s Blog Entry

So I’ve had this dream. To make something fabulous out of Neil’s old denim jeans. Some strive for world peace. I want to recycle jeans. There room for everyone to dream, I guess.

I’ve been saving them. The jeans, that is, for years. Bins of old, soft, worn jeans. Just waiting for the right project. I originally thought of doing handbags. I might get back to that at some point. In the meantime I hit upon the perfect thing to make. Quilts.

This summer I made the first one, as an oversized throw for the sofa. It turned out great. The squares are large (six inches by six inches, finished) which gives it a more contemporary look. I also decided to quilt it very minimally – just around each block – to stabilize the batting. I chose a nice cotton batting that is naturally processed without any chemicals or resins.

I found the perfect backing fabric. It’s a vintage-style black and white print. It was a nice compliment.

It is finished off with a black mini-print for the binding. Voila!

This one was a practice, and I learned a lot about quilting techniques from the internet and my resident quilting guru, Susan P.

It was so fun to make, and because I still have quite a few pairs of jeans in the bins, I decided to make one for my Etsy shop.

This one is a baby quilt, the perfect size for a crib, a floor play mat or as child’s throw.

It has another fun black and white backing, this one a modern graphic design. If you are interesting in the details you can check it out on my Etsy store: Worksmith.etsy.com.

I can’t wait to do more! The next project will be experimenting with using the denim to make key fobs. Wish me luck! I have hardware and everything. Should be fun!

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