7 DIY Rugs You Can Weave Using Old Jeans (Before You Throw Them Away)
There’s a pile of old jeans in most homes — the pair that no longer fits, the ones with the blown-out knees, the faded ones you keep telling yourself you’ll donate but never do. Before you bag them up for the thrift store or, worse, toss them in the trash, consider this: denim is one of the most durable, versatile, and forgiving materials you can work with in textile crafts. A pair of jeans that has seen better days still contains yards of tightly woven cotton fabric that can be cut, braided, knotted, or woven into a rug that lasts for years.
Denim rugs have been a quiet trend in sustainable home décor for a while now, and it’s easy to understand why. They’re hard-wearing enough for high-traffic areas, they wash beautifully, and the natural indigo and blue tones blend with almost any color palette — from rustic farmhouse to modern minimalist. Better still, making one costs next to nothing if you already have the jeans.
This guide walks you through seven distinct rug-making techniques, each suited to different skill levels and design preferences. Whether you’ve never picked up a needle in your life or you’re an experienced crafter looking for a new challenge, there’s a denim rug project here for you.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Before diving into individual projects, a few universal supplies will come up again and again. Having these on hand before you begin will save you multiple trips to the craft store.
For most of these projects you’ll need sharp fabric scissors — the duller your scissors, the harder cutting denim becomes, and dull blades will leave you with frayed, uneven strips. A rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat are worth the investment if you plan to make more than one rug. You’ll also want a ruler or yardstick for measuring consistent strip widths, a seam ripper for dismantling jeans quickly, and a fabric marker or chalk for marking cut lines. Depending on the project, you may need a large blunt tapestry needle, a crochet hook (sizes N through P work well with denim strips), a wooden loom or even a homemade cardboard loom, a non-slip rug backing, and fabric glue or hot glue.
As for the jeans themselves, aim for variety in shade and weight. Mixing dark indigo, mid-wash, and light-wash denim creates beautiful natural texture and tonal interest without any dyeing. Old black jeans, chambray shirts, and denim jackets can all be thrown into the mix.
To prepare your denim, start by cutting off the waistband and hems, which are too thick to work with easily. Then use a seam ripper or scissors to open the inseams and outseams so you have flat panels of fabric. From there, cut your strips — most of these projects use strips between half an inch and two inches wide, and the width you choose will depend on the technique.
Rug 1: The Classic Braided Rug
Braided rugs are one of the oldest floor-covering traditions in American homes, and denim is practically made for them. The finished rug is dense, cushioned underfoot, and virtually indestructible.
Start by cutting your denim into strips about one and a half inches wide and as long as possible. The longer the strip, the less joining you’ll have to do. When you run out of length, join strips by cutting a small slit near the end of each strip, threading the new strip through, and pulling it back on itself — this creates a secure, nearly invisible join with no sewing required.
Take three long strips and knot them together at one end, securing the knot to a fixed point (tape it to a table, clip it to a clipboard, or tie it to a door handle). Braid the three strips together, keeping the tension even and consistent. As you go, the braid should be firm but not so tight that it distorts. Keep braiding and joining strips until you have a long, coiled-up rope of braid.
To shape the rug, lay the braid flat on a non-slip surface and begin coiling it from the center. Use a large blunt needle and a doubled length of strong thread or thin twine to stitch each coil to the one beside it, catching both edges of each adjacent braid. An oval rug is the easiest shape to achieve — simply fold the first section of braid back on itself rather than starting from a tight spiral. A rectangular rug is also possible with a straight center.
The result is a chunky, tactile rug with an heirloom quality. A small accent rug about eighteen inches in diameter uses roughly two to three pairs of jeans. For a larger bath mat or kitchen rug, expect to use five or more pairs.
Rug 2: The Woven Loom Rug
If you have any experience with basic weaving, or even if you don’t, a loom-woven denim rug is a satisfying project that gives you a flat, structured result with a neat grid-like texture.
You don’t need a professional loom. A simple frame loom can be made from a wooden picture frame with finishing nails hammered in at regular half-inch intervals along the top and bottom edges. Warp the loom by wrapping a continuous length of strong cotton twine or thin rope up and down between the top and bottom nails. This creates the vertical threads through which you’ll weave.
Cut your denim into strips about three-quarters of an inch to one inch wide. Using a tapestry needle or simply your fingers, weave each strip over and under the warp threads in an alternating pattern. Push each row of weft firmly down against the previous one to create a tight, dense weave. Alternate your denim shades as you go — dark, medium, light, dark, medium, light — or work in blocks of color for a more graphic effect.
When the loom is full, remove the rug carefully by sliding the warp threads off the nails and knotting them together along the edges to prevent unraveling. Trim the ends and either fold them under or knot them decoratively. A backing of non-slip fabric stitched or glued to the underside will keep the rug in place on hard floors.
The woven loom rug works especially well as a small accent rug or a decorative wall hanging if you get adventurous with your color arrangement.
Rug 3: The No-Knot Knotted Rug (Latch Hook Style)
This project mimics the look of a traditional latch hook rug but requires no latch hook tool and uses denim scraps instead of yarn. The finished rug has a shaggy, textured surface with an almost sculptural quality.
You’ll need a piece of rug canvas (sometimes called monk’s cloth or latch hook canvas), which you can find at any craft store. Cut your denim into short strips — about four to five inches long and half an inch wide.
To attach each strip, fold it in half and push the folded end through a hole in the canvas from front to back. Then pull both loose ends of the strip through the folded loop and pull tight. This is the same basic knot used in rug hooking and creates a secure tuft that won’t pull out with regular use.
Work across the canvas in rows, filling every hole or every other hole depending on how dense you want the pile to be. The closer the tufts, the more plush and durable the finished rug. Once the canvas is filled, trim the ends of all the strips to a uniform length — usually about one and a half to two inches — for a neat, even pile.
This style allows for real design creativity. Because each tuft is a small square of fabric, you can easily create patterns, gradients from dark to light denim, or even simple geometric shapes by planning your colors in advance on graph paper.
Rug 4: The Crocheted Denim Rug
Crocheting with fabric strips, sometimes called “plarn” technique (although that term usually refers to plastic bags), produces a wonderfully thick, springy rug that works beautifully in bathrooms or next to beds. If you know how to crochet, this is simply a matter of swapping yarn for denim strips. If you don’t, the basic stitches used here — chain stitch, single crochet, and slip stitch — are among the easiest to learn and can be picked up in an afternoon.
Cut your denim into continuous strips about half an inch to three-quarters of an inch wide. The easiest way to do this is to cut the denim panel in a spiral, like peeling an apple, so you end up with one long continuous strip from a single piece of fabric. Roll the strips into loose balls so they don’t tangle as you work.
Use a large crochet hook — size N (9mm) or P (10mm) works well with denim strips at this width. Chain a foundation of however many stitches you need for your desired width, then work rows of single crochet back and forth for a rectangular rug, or work in a magic ring and increase outward in rounds for an oval or circular rug.
Denim crochets differently from yarn — it has less stretch, so your tension will feel stiffer and your hands may tire more quickly. Take breaks and don’t grip the hook too hard. The stiffness actually works in the rug’s favor, as the finished piece holds its shape beautifully and compresses very little underfoot.
Stitch the back with non-slip fabric or use a rug pad underneath to keep it from sliding.
Rug 5: The Twined Rug
Twining is an ancient weaving technique that predates the loom, and it produces a rug with a herringbone-like diagonal texture that looks far more complex than it is. It requires no loom at all — just your hands and a flat surface.
Cut long strips of denim, about one inch wide. You’ll work with two strips at a time, alternately wrapping them around vertical warp threads that you’ve strung between two fixed points — two chairs, two C-clamps on a table edge, or two strong nails in a board.
Set up your warp by stringing a series of parallel lengths of heavy cotton twine or denim strips about an inch apart between your two fixed points. These are your warp threads. Take two working strips of denim and fold them in half over the first warp thread at the left edge. Then, holding one strip in each hand, cross the front strip behind the first warp thread and the back strip in front of the next warp thread — effectively twisting the two strips around each warp thread in turn. This creates the twining pattern.
Continue across the entire width, twist by twist, and push each completed row firmly downward. The result is a tightly interlocked surface that is naturally firm and very hard-wearing.
Finish the edges by knotting the warp threads together and trimming them, or folding them back and stitching them down with a needle and thread.
Rug 6: The Macramé-Style Knotted Runner
Macramé has made a massive design comeback, and denim strips are an unexpectedly great material for it — the fabric’s slight stiffness holds knots firmly without slipping, and the frayed edges of cut denim give a wonderfully organic, boho texture.
For this project, cut your denim into very long, thin strips — about half an inch wide and as long as you can manage, ideally at least six feet for a small runner. You’ll work with multiple strips at once, knotting them onto a dowel rod or a thick piece of driftwood.
The two basic macramé knots you need are the square knot and the half hitch. Using groups of four strips, tie alternating square knots across the full width of your dowel, then offset the groupings in the next row (using two strips from one group and two from the next) to create the classic diamond macramé pattern.
The more rows you add, the longer the runner becomes. You can keep the pattern tight and regular for a geometric look, or vary the spacing between knots for a more relaxed, open feel. Finish the bottom edge by evening up the ends or leaving them deliberately uneven and frayed for a bohemian fringe.
This style works particularly well as a narrow hallway runner or a decorative accent piece rather than a high-traffic floor covering.
Rug 7: The Fabric Coil Rug (No Weaving Required)
This is the simplest project on the list and requires no weaving, crocheting, or knotting skills whatsoever — just cutting, rolling, and gluing. The finished rug resembles a mosaic of fabric coils and has a wonderful three-dimensional texture.
Cut denim strips about three-quarters of an inch wide and twelve to eighteen inches long. Take each strip and roll it tightly from one end, like a tiny jelly roll, securing the end with a small dab of hot glue. You’ll need a lot of these coils — for a rug roughly twelve inches in diameter, expect to make sixty to eighty coils.
Once you have a good supply of coils, arrange them on a piece of non-slip rubber backing or a piece of thick felt, packing them as tightly together as possible. When you’re happy with the arrangement, glue each coil down to the backing with a generous amount of hot glue or strong fabric adhesive.
For a more polished result, press a second piece of backing fabric on top, sandwiching the coils between two layers and stitching around the perimeter to seal everything in.
You can mix denim with strips of other fabrics — old t-shirts, canvas, even burlap — to add color variation. Pale denim coils alternating with darker ones create a checkerboard effect; arranging them in concentric rings of light and dark produces a bull’s-eye pattern.
Tips for Finishing and Caring for Your Denim Rug
No matter which technique you choose, a few finishing steps will dramatically extend the life of your rug. Always add a non-slip backing — either a purchased rug grip pad or a sheet of non-slip fabric stitched or glued underneath. This protects both the rug and your floor and prevents dangerous slipping.
Trim any loose threads or stray fraying before first use, and do a gentle first wash to remove any remaining dye bleed. Most denim rugs are machine washable on a cold, gentle cycle. Air drying is strongly recommended over machine drying, as heat can cause the rug to shrink or distort, especially in woven or crocheted versions.
Store unused denim strips in a dry place to prevent mildew before your next project — old pillowcases make ideal storage bags.
Why Denim Rugs Are Worth Your Time
Beyond the obvious satisfaction of making something with your hands, denim rugs represent a genuinely meaningful act of material reclamation. The fashion industry is one of the most pollutive on the planet, and denim manufacturing is among the more resource-intensive parts of it — it takes roughly 1,500 gallons of water to produce a single pair of jeans. Extending the life of that fabric, even in a small way, is a concrete contribution to reducing textile waste.
There is also something deeply pleasurable about a material that is already broken in. Old jeans have been washed a hundred times, softened by wear, faded in the sun. They carry a kind of history. A rug made from them will carry that quality forward into your home in a way that no new, mass-produced product ever could.
Start with one pair of jeans, one afternoon, and one technique. The pile on the cutting room floor will surprise you with how much it can become.
