What Can You Make with Denim?

Do you have some old jeans that you’d like to repurpose? Or maybe you’re left with extra denim after finishing a project or have your eye on some cool denim materials. What can you make with denim, anyway? Let me show you some cool ideas that help avoid fabric waste.

Denim Upholstery

Denim is undeniably a robust fabric that withstands a lot of wear and tear. Therefore, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that many enthusiastic upcycles consider it an excellent material for upholstery fabric. You may even arrange the pockets in your jeans to provide you with a space to store the television remote.

Pocket Organizers

The pockets from an old pair of jeans are ideal for repurposing. These craft stations and home office wall organizers made from old jeans are good examples of how these recycled organizer boards can appear trendy. I’ve seen a lot of other pocket organizers that don’t look as good as these ones. 

Denim Wallpaper

Denim wallpaper and wall coverings aren’t exactly new, but chances are you haven’t heard of them before now! A good adhesive that can hold it all together would be ideal, but a little top trim can do the trick.

Dog Toys

Imagine being able to make a cute plushie for your dog using an old pair of jean shorts. Cutting the fabric is pretty easy; you can use loads of different fibers for the stuffing. You can use old clothes to stuff a bone-shaped denim plushie. 

Be careful; if your dog chews through the denim fabric, you don’t want them to expose any potentially harmful materials (like silica beads they could choke on). 

Denim Apron

When you first picture a denim apron, you’ll be left wondering why you didn’t come up with the idea yourself. It’s a genius way to repurpose your old pants into a crafting apron with pre-made pockets! This would be an excellent solution if your old jeans were discarded because of knee rips.

Denim Rug

Creating a denim rug out of recycled denim yarn can be the perfect project for you if you want to upcycle some old jeans without drawing attention to the fact that you did so. It’s not the most straightforward task on the list, but the end result might be very special!

Jewelry

Denim can be a great material for creating stunning handmade jewelry items. The best part is that you can use even the smallest pieces of this craft. Let’s say you have some leftover denim scraps from when you made a denim rug. You can use them to embellish earrings or even make a denim bracelet. 

Placemats

Denim placemats can withstand a lot of wear and tear, making them a great choice for BBQs and picnics. You just place the cutlery in the pocket, roll them up so they fit nicely in a picnic basket, and enjoy your day outdoors!

Sofa Organizers

Imagine never losing the remote control again! Or your reading glasses! Or pretty much any trinket you want to have nearby while sitting on the couch. 

Your old pair of jeans already have pockets and openings that you can utilize to create an efficient over-arm sofa organizer for storing remote controllers and periodicals.

Jeans Bag

Without a denim bag, there wouldn’t be a list of creative ways to repurpose your old jeans. In reality, you’re free to mimic the design of any bag shape you desire with this one. 

The best part isn’t even the fact that you already have the materials needed for the project. It’s the fact that you can make a wide variety of products, from tote bags to beach bags. 

Book Covers

If you like crafting books, here is a real challenge for you. You can turn denim into the most adorable book covers ever seen. If you’ve made a book cover before (using any material), you might not need a tutorial for this one, as you’ll feel what the right steps are along the way. Plus, you can sew a lot of cool embellishments on a fabric book cover. 

Headbands

Making a denim headband is very easy because, in some instances, you won’t need anything more than some denim fabric, a needle, and some twine. 

You can make cool, twisted denim headbands and pair them with a sporty or casual outfit. You might also need one to hold your hair while performing your skincare routine. 

Quilt

Create a stunning quilt out of a rainbow of recycled jeans by cutting them into vertical stripes. After you’ve been to Goodwill and picked out pants in various styles, sizes, and colors, you should try this one! You can also use leftover denim pieces from your other projects.

Pouf

Relax in comfort with this one-of-a-kind footrest. This one-of-a-kind innovation involving recycled denim and patchwork is top-notch in my book. 

You can experiment with different pieces of denim or even mix patches of denim with some other fabrics. You can get a comfortable pouf that adds one extra seat to board game night. 

Coasters

Create denim yarn and then crochet coasters using the country motif. This project is effortless, and the finished coasters may be any size you want. You can also glue denim pieces to other stiffer materials if you’re looking to get away with less effort. 

Just grab whatever small pieces of wood you can find, give them a coaster-like shape and thickness, and glue some denim to the top side. 

FAQ

What is denim?

Denim is a robust cotton fabric woven using a twill pattern, resulting in a minor diagonal ribbing pattern. Denim is typically used to make jeans. The presence of diagonal ribbing throughout the cloth distinguishes it from canvas and cotton duck, two other types of durable woven cotton fabrics, by the presence of diagonal ribbing throughout the cloth.

Is denim a good material?

Denim is a robust and long-lasting fabric that is made so that it may be worn without difficulty, even in challenging environments. The twill weave is responsible for the fabric’s long-lasting resilience. 

Is all denim the same?

Denim is woven in a twill pattern and is always created from cotton fibers. This type of construction produces the characteristic diagonal ribbed pattern of denim fabric. There are many different kinds of denim, yet they all have somewhat different looks, even though denim’s overall appearance is the same.

Final Words

You can repurpose old denim for any of these projects, but definitely consider getting some new material to work with for larger projects. We have a huge selection of different types of denim to check out!