Three Magee: The Upcycled Jean Quilt

I wanted something that was soft, warm, durable, washable and most important kid friendly. Extra perks are green (this one was free and saved these jeans from the landfill or the goodwill) and stylish or cool. I realize that style is personal so if this isn't yours I'm okay with that. I saved a lot of jeans. It helps if you drop a few pounds and can use your fat jeans, that means the quilt will double as a good reminder to get your heiney off the couch later. I also had a big blanket that was still really soft on one side but not so soft on the other. Sorry I did not take pictures during the process. Forgive me? I'll try and be extra clear on directions.

First cut out all your jeans, I used 5 adult pairs and 5 kid pairs. I left the hems on mine (they will come in to play later) and tried to make them as straight as possible. Once have all of the big pieces in one pile and the scraps in another decide how big and what shape you want to make. Mine is a rectangle. I wanted for us to be able to sit on the couch together and have it cover the length of the couch plus some and be wide enough to snuggle up in, but still go over our toes. The only thing I used to measure with was my couch. Because I'm a rogue sewer.

I laid all of my pieces out so that the hems were facing out making the border. Next I trimmed and pinned. You can do the next part one of two ways. You can sew the pieces together with the edges facing out or right side up, which will give a really cool fraying effect that will get softer with each wash or you can sew them where they face down and will be on the inside of the blanket which will be smoother. The choice is up to you, I wanted the fray! Once you have sewn all of the pieces together now is the time to add any embellishments that you want. I added a few pockets for fun.

Now for the backing with that other blanket. I put the jean quilt top on the floor. You could have made yours the same size as the blanket to begin with but I didn't. I was out of jeans! I made sure that the edges were lined up with the edges of the jean quilt. I then cut out the middle and re-sewed the blanket up the middle. This way the finished edges were all on the outside. With wrong sides together I pinned the blanket bottom and jean quilt top together and sewed along the edges. Because the edges were already finished it gave it a double layered look and it was a lot less work than a normal blanket or quilt. Note: It really helps to do this part during nap time, otherwise people will be ~~driving you crazy~~ helping you.

The verdict? This is my families favorite blanket. It is so big that we can all use it and it is so so so warm! I've been working hard at saving all of my newly too big jeans as well. It helps to have kids that are growing like weeds as well. I want to make a more traditional quilt with jean blocks, but that one will probably take much longer to put together. This one took about 3 hours total cutting, piecing and sewing. Of course that 3 hours was divided up over about 2 days.