20+ Creative Ways To Repurpose Old Jeans | Recycle & Upcycle Your Denim

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Don’t throw away your old jeans – upcycle them with one of these creative ways to repurpose old jeans! Turn your old denim into something beautiful and new. Here are 20+ creative and sustainable ideas to upcycle your jeans to get the most out of them.

There are so many ways how to repurpose old jeans – and there is so much to love about denim:

It has a classic blue colour that goes with almost anything.
- Like with a great pair of jeans, you can dress your decor up or down with repurposed denim.
It ages really well. It gets worn and interesting looking, like the patina on an antique furniture piece.
It’s durable.
- Your projects can withstand a bit of abuse with a tougher fabric like old jeans.
- For example, our DIY denim quilt is made of old jeans and has sat outside on our porch for years. It looks even better with this abuse!
Plus who doesn’t have old jeans to repurpose?!
- We always have a pair or two that are just too worn out to wear, but have so much great fabric to craft with.
If you don’t have old jeans, they are easy to source.
- Garage sales and thrift stores have tons for a bargain.
- Of course you can pick up brand new denim fabric too – which is helpful if you need larger pieces for a project.

Creative Ways to Repurpose Old Jeans | How to Recycle & Upcycle Your Denim

1. New Decor from Old Jeans Hacks:

how to reuse jeans to make denim quilt — How to Make a Denim Quilt Using Old Jeans (An Ultra Simple Sewing Project!) from Us!

old jeans into window seat cushion cover — How to Make a Simple DIY Window Seat Cushion – from Reclaimed Denim Jeans from Us!

old jeans chair seat cover — Reupholster a Chair with Colorful Denim from DIY Candy

old jeans ottoman — One Tough Denim Pouf from Michele Made Me

old jeans throw pillow — Pleated Denim Ruffle Pillow from Make It & Love It

2. Accessories and Clothes to Make out of Old Jeans

old jeans apron — Farm Girl Apron Tutorial from Recycled Jeans from Creative Green Living

old jeans bracelet cuff craft — Upcycled Jeans Cuff from Sum Of The Stories

old jeans hair band — Dollar Store Denim Rosette Headband Tutorial from Creations By Kara

old jeans spiral necklace — DIY Upcycled Denim Necklace from Salvage Sister and Mister

3. Kids Crafts with Old Jeans

old jeans kids purse craft — Teddy Bear Purse from Red Ted Art

old jeans pencil holder craft — Easy Sew Denim Pen Organizer from Beginner Sewing Projects

old jeans wall organizer pockets — Great Denim Pocket Organizer from Pillar Box Blue

old jeans jughead hat — Upcycled Denim Play Crown from Creative Green Living

4. What to do with Old Jeans No Sew

old jeans dog toy craft — No Sew Denim Dog Toy from Artsy Fartsy Mama

old jeans owl pillows — No Sew Denim Owls from Growing Up Gabel

old jeans bookmarks — No Sew Elastic Book Band from Sustain My Craft Habit

old jeans leaves wall hanging — Denim Feather Wall Decor from Pillar Box Blue

old jeans coasters — Fabric Crochet Coaster Pattern from Petals to Picots

5. What to do with Leftover Jean Legs

old jeans storage bins — Upcycled Denim Storage Bins from The Happiest Camper

old jeans wind chime — Upcycled Denim Wind Chimes from A Crafty Mix

We are big fans of creative ways to upcycle old clutter into beautiful and new things! Check out a few more of our ideas:

20+ Unique & Creative Upcycled Crafts with Old Books
20+ Beautiful & Inspiring Ideas for Painting an Old Hutch
20+ Creative DIY Upcycled Christmas Decorations

Robin & Ed Hicken

Robin and Ed are a DIY-loving couple with over 20 years of design and build experience. Also, Robin is a former Registered Dietitian and Ed is an award-winning Business Educator. We share strategies for living a rich life on a DIY budget: creative money-savvy ideas for a stylish home, healthy meals and family fun. Our work has been published in the pages of Farmhouse Style and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.