Denim Blanket Tutorial

We love a good craft trend, but our latest fave has to be crochet hacking - a fun and clever way of repurposing clothes.

Emma has done just that with a selection of holey jeans, cutting them up and adding a crochet border to create a unique patchwork quilt. Make yours as big or as small as you like, and mix and match denim hues.

MATERIALS
■    Phildar Phil Ecojean yarn, 48% cotton/47% polyester/5% other fibres, 50g/100m per ball, four balls in Bleached (1015)
■    4mm (UK 8, US G/6) crochet hook
■    Erasable fabric marker
■    Yarn needle
■    Leather punch
■    Old pairs of jeans

TENSION
Tension is not important, just aim for a neat finish

ABBREVIATIONS (UK)
ch chain
dc double crochet 
tr treble crochet 
ss slip stitch 
sp space

FINISHED SIZE
Approx. 80 x 120cm (31 1/2 x 47 1/4'')

 

1. Turn the jeans inside out and press thoroughly to remove any creases. Measure and mark strips 9cm (3 5/8") wide x the length of the leg. We've used the front and back of the legs, but you can use the whole of the jeans, even the pocket sections and waistband -these will just be bulkier.

2. Cut out the strips using fabric scissors or a rotary cutter and mat, then cut them into varying lengths, making some short and some long. 

3. Next, lay the strips out into 80cm (31 1/2") long rows, trimming down strips where necessary to create a design you like. We've mixed up the different shades of denim across the rows but you could create an ombré effect, group together blocks of colour, or make stripes.

4. Take one strip and turn it wrong side (WS) up. Using the fabric marker, measure and mark dots 1.5cm (5/8") apart along each edge, roughly 1cm (3/8") in. The short edges should each have six marks.

5. Use the leather punch, or a bodkin and cutting mat, to make holes at each dot. Place the denim strip back in its correct layout position, then repeat Steps 4-5 to make holes around the outside of each denim strip.

6. Work dc around each strip using the following pattern: Insert the crochet hook into a corner hole, wrap the yarn over and draw up a loop, ch2, 1 dc in same hole, ch1, work (2 dc, ch1) in each hole along the sides, (2 dc, ch3, 2 dc) in each corner, when you reach the first hole work 2 dc in the hole, ch3 and ss to first stitch to join.

7. Once all the denim strips have a crochet border, sew the pieces together using whipstitch. Start by joining the first two pieces from one row along the short edge, then add on the next piece, working along to complete that row. Sew each row in the same way, then whipstitch the rows together.

 8. To finish, join the yarn to a corner 3ch-sp of the blanket and work the following pattern: ch2 (counts as 1tr), 3 tr in same 3ch-sp, *1 tr in each dc and ch down each side, 4 tr in each 3ch-sp in corner; repeat from * to end of round, finishing before the first corner, join to 2nd ch from start with a ss, break yarn. Fasten off and sew in any loose ends.