Make a Chenille Denim Blanket
Do you have unused, worn out jeans? Got an old flannel sheet hanging around that you never use? Here's a recycling idea for you––make a warm, comfy blanket! It's cute, easy to do, and it recycles your old jeans and sheets.
Steps
- Obtain denim and flannel material. You may do this by collecting old jeans, or you can buy denim yardage if you prefer. In most cases, old jeans are better as they are a cheap and easily available source of material. A cheap source of flannel could be to use an old flannel sheet, but you may also purchase it new at a fabric shop.
- Wash and dry the fabrics.
- Rip the denim and flannel into rectangles and squares. Make the rectangles or squares a minimum of 8 to 10 inches (20-25 cm) wide (the width of the pant leg is usually sufficient). You can get a rip started by cutting a slit in the seam, cutting in the direction you want the material to tear.
- The object of tearing the material into the desired size is to begin the fraying process. You could also cut the material to shape and let the washing machine do the fraying for you later.
- Sew the equal-sized flannel and denim squares/rectangles together with the back sides together and front sides facing out. Sew diagonally from corner to corner and not around the perimeter. The purpose is to baste the materials together, so don't panic if your seams are not perfect.
- Begin to sew the stack of denim and flannel squares together in strips when you have a stack of them sewn. Do this by sewing the squares together with the flannel sides together and leaving a 1.5 inch (4 cm) seam allowance. For added seam strength, sew each seam twice.
- Sew the strips long edges together, with flannel sides together. Be sure to leave the wide seam allowance. You may choose to miter the seam ends to make it easier for your sewing machine to handle the thick material.
- Add strips to whichever edge of your "blanket" you choose. You can be quite random about this, so long as the edge you are about to sew is the same length of the strip you wish to sew it to. Always sew with flannel sides together and leave a wide seam allowance (it is recommend that you keep the seam allowance fairly consistent, but it can vary as much as .5 cm or a quarter of an inch with no problems).
- Sew a zigzag or satin stitch around the entire perimeter of the blanket, approximately 1.5 inches or 4 cm from the edge. Do this when the blanket reaches your desired size.
- Finish the chenille process by clipping each of the seam allowances to within a quarter inch (0.5 cm) of the seam. Make your clips approximately half an inch or (1.5 cm) apart. Clip all the seam allowances. You may also choose to clip the outer edge up to your zigzag seam.
- Wash and dry the blanket to fray your chenille.
- Cut any long strings off. Be sure to clean out your dryer's lint trap, as it will be full by now.
- Enjoy your cozy new blanket!
Tips
- If you need to get a finished size for your blanket, take measurements off a lap throw or measure the bed you want to use it on.
- You may want to do your chenille clipping in stages. Your hand will get pretty tired otherwise!
- Recycled jeans and flannel shirts are more troublesome to acquire than new material, but they fray more easily and give the finished product a "worn and comfy" look and feel.
- A heavy duty sewing machine that can handle 8 layers of cloth at a time is a must.
- It also works well to use bandanas in different colors instead of the flannel.
Warnings
- Exercise appropriate caution when handling edged tools such as scissors.
Things You'll Need
- Sharp scissors with comfortable handles
- Sewing machine that can handle sewing multiple layers of denim
- Old jeans (or purchase new denim fabric from the store)
- Old flannel shirts (or purchase flannel yardage from the store)
