old jeans wall hanging

Click image to enlarge

Designer: Kendra McCracken

In our house, we form an unnatural attachment to jeans. We use them way beyond the point where they are acceptable for wearing in public. We wear long shirts to cover the holes in them. We patch them. And eventually, we have to face the fact that there's just not enough material holding them together for them to be of use any longer. But even then, I have a hard time parting with them! I'll often save pieces of a very favorite pair to use in some sort of sewing or scrapbooking project.

One day as I was sorting through old clothes and purging, I got the idea to cut the pocket off my husband's old jeans, thinking they'd be fun to recycle into a project. When I had collected enough of them, I decided to use them to make a wall hanging to hang over my son's desk to hold his art supplies. This frees up the space on his desk so he has more room to work and as it turned out, works really well with the cowboy decor in his room.

Difficulty rating

Instructions (Print version)

1. To begin, lay out the pockets as desired on a length of material and determine the dimensions of your wall hanging. Using the Fiskars No. 8 Razor Edge Scissors,a center panel to your dimensions, adding seam allowances. I used 1/2" seam allowances so the cut size of my front-side center panel was 30 x 12.

2. Using the 18 Inch x 24 Inch Cutting Mat, the 6" x 24" Acrylic Ruler and the 45 mm Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter, cut 4 strips from a contrasting fabric to create a border around the center panel. Add seam allowances to all sides of the strips. Using 1/2" seam allowances, my cut sizes were (2) strips at 2" x 32" and (2) strips at 2" x 12".

3. Pin the short strips to the short sides of one of the center panels.
4. Stitch them in place using 1/2" seam allowance.

5. Pin the long strips to the long sides of the panel and stitch in place using 1/2" seam allowances.

6. Use fabric glue to adhere recycled jean pockets to the center of the panel.

7. Cut a panel for the back of the wall hanging using the dimensions of the front panel and border, adding 1/2" seam allowance to each side. The cut size of my back panel was 32" x 14".

8. Sandwich quilt batting between the 2 panels which have been laid wrong-sides together. Zig-zag stitch around the edges to hold everything in place.

9. Use your favorite method to add a binding to the perimeter of the wall hanging.

10. Fold a piece of contrasting fabric in half, right-sides together, and using the ShapeTemplate - Stars-1, trace a star onto the top layer.

11. Carefully stitch over the traced line, cut the star from the fabric leaving about 1/4" seam allowance, and clip the points of the star to reduce bulk when the star is turned. Cut a slit in the back of the star and turn the star right-side out. Lightly stuff the star and hand-stitch it along the bottom of the wall hanging.
12. Add fabric loops, buckles recycled from overalls, or large metal grommets to the top of the wall hanging to allow for hanging on a wall.

Before throwing out those old favorite past-their-prime jeans, look for creative ways to keep them around a little bit longer.

Supply List:
94547097 No.8 Razor Edge Scissors
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_no-8-razor-edged-scissors.aspx
12-3717097 18 Inch x 24 Inch Cutting Mat
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_18x24mat.aspx
87627097 6" x 24" Acrylic Ruler
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_6-x-24-acrylic-ruler.aspx
12-97937097 45 mm Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_45-mm-comfort-grip-rotary-cutter.aspx
48567097 ShapeTemplateT Tool - Stars-1 w/Colonial Border
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_shapetemplate-tool-stars-1-wcoloni.aspx
other: old jeans, buckles, quilt batting, fabric