Question about blankets from old blue jeans

Question

I want to make a denim blanket from old blue jeans, but I want to crochet the squares together rather than sew them. I'll have to make small holes along the edges for the initial yarn to go through. Do I need to reinforce the holes, or is denim sturdy enough not to tear? If I need to reinforce the holes, how would I do it?

thanks!

Answer 1

small button holes...it is so stringy after awhile....my daughter has one where it is sewed together but they cut the edges of the material...it has cotton materials in it too...its very pretty..just got a thought...use a punch to make the holes..it will move the threads and not break them so you can get the hook through

Answer 2

This is honestly gonna take you ages longer than just sewing them. I made a denim blanket in about 4 hours. I just sewed each piece together with 1/2 in. seams, I even put the seams out so they would fray. I sewed enough together to make it  as long as I wanted it, then made more strips the same way and sewed them onto the 1st strip til it was as wide as I wanted it. Then I put a piece of flannel on the back and sewed around the sides. There are no 'finished' edges, some of my seams dont line up, and its the blanket my family fights over!!!

Answer 3

Do you have a sewing machine?

Could you fold over about half an inch to give you a double layer of fabric to crochet through?  

I've seen awls (there may be one in the tool box if not the sewing basket) that could be used to poke holes through the fabric instead of cutting holes through - the hole should only need to be large enough for a loop of the crochet thread (yarn) to go through.

If you have any OLD computer paper - the continuous fold kind - using that as a template for even spacing of punched holes could work nicely.  If you don't have the prefolded paper to rip the punched strips off of - chalk marks wash out easily.

Answer 4

Make a couple test squares first.   I think the holes in the denim will have to be reinforced, but I am not sure how.  

This could be one of those projects that seems like a good idea, but very difficult to do.

I made a quilt out of old blue jean squares sewing with a machine.  Very easy to do and sturdy.

Answer 5

Here's a kit that you can use. At least you can get some tips if you don't buy it.

Leave one alone, use fraycheck on one and try an iron-on stabiliser tape on the wrong-side edges of another. I would punch/join the squares then wash & dry it as you would the big blanket. Now you will know the best way to make your blanket.

A note about the iron-on stabiliser tape: They sell spools of tape, but if you have a rotary cutter, you can save a bunch of $ making strips from a large sheet of iron-on stabiliser.

Edit: If you decide to use the iron-on stabiliser tape, iron it on your jeans before cutting into squares.

Answer 6

Sounds like a great project!

Although I believe denim is a sturdy enough fabric that should not necessarily 'tear', it does tend to fray, so I would reinforce the holes.

I would recommend reinforcing the holes perhaps with a buttonhole type stitch on your machine, or you can go to your local craft and/or fabric store and purchase some reinforcement tape.   Otherwise, you could use 'fraycheck if you didn't want to reinforce, reinforce?

Good luck, and happy stitching!