Upcycle Old Jeans Into This Cute Chevron Denim Cushion

It’s no secret I love to sew, and I particularly love to sew with recycled fabrics. This is for two reasons. One is cost—I live in the UK where fabric costs £14/meter, which is equivalent to $12/ yard. Secondly, because it’s kinder to our world’s limited resources to reuse where we can.

One of my go-to fabrics is denim—it’s so versatile and strong. One of my all-time favorite makes is a denim rag quilt (you can find the tutorial here). Today, I am going to share with you a chevron denim rag cushion. It’s perfect for using up scraps of denim from other projects.

Materials:

3 (or more!) pairs of old jeans
18″ navy zip
6 meters of thin orange ribbon

Directions:

Start with the back of the cushion cover. Check your jeans and pick the pair with a wide and straight leg. Cut off the hem of the jeans and then cut the leg off at 18″. Cut down the seam with the most curve, leaving a straight line. Next, cut a further piece of denim 18″ long from the other leg.

Place together—check that the two pieces will make a 18″ square. If not, add another panel.

Turn and press an edge, place along the zip. Pin and stitch using a zipper foot. Repeat for the other side of the zip. Trim the back of your cushion to 19″ square.

For the front panel, cut an 18″ square of denim. If necessary, piece together pieces of denim.

Using a quilter’s ruler and tailor’s chalk, mark down the center. Fold a square of paper diagonally in half. Place the square on your denim to use as a guide to mark the stitch line for your strips of denim. Mark several stitch lines both sides of the center.

Cut a number of strips of denim measuring 1 1/2″ wide. Pin to the cushion with ribbon down the center of the strip. Stitch in place to secure.

Place your next strip parallel, with your ribbons being approximately 1″ apart. Stitch to secure. Continue until you have finished one side.

Repeat for the second side, ensuring you are aligning the ribbons at the center of the cushion.

Snip in the denim strips up to the ribbon. Snip 1/4″ apart down both sides of every strip.

Partly unzip the zip. Place right sides together of the cushion. Stitch with 1/2″ seam allowance.

Turn right side out. Lastly, wash your cushion to roughen up the edges. Tip—do not place in the washing machine with other items because it will pull many threads of denim off your clothes (learn form my mistake!).