Use Old Jeans To Make a Rug With These 10 Blue Jeans Rugs Tutorials

There is something deeply satisfying about transforming worn-out clothing into something beautiful and functional for your home. Old jeans are one of the most versatile materials you can repurpose, and making a rug out of them is one of the best projects you can take on — whether you’re a seasoned crafter or someone just getting started with DIY home décor. Denim is durable, widely available, and comes in a range of shades that blend together naturally, making it ideal for rugs that look intentional and polished rather than patched together.

If you’ve been holding onto a pile of old jeans and wondering what to do with them, this is your answer. Below you’ll find ten detailed tutorials for making blue jeans rugs, each using a different technique so you can find the one that matches your skill level, your tools, and the look you’re going for. From braided and woven styles to knotted and crocheted designs, there is truly something here for everyone.

Why Denim Is the Perfect Material for Rugs

Before diving into the tutorials, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate why denim works so well for this kind of project. Denim is one of the most durable woven fabrics in existence. It’s designed to withstand heavy daily use, which means a rug made from jeans will hold up to foot traffic far better than one made from softer, more delicate fabrics like cotton jersey or linen.

Denim also frays in a controlled and predictable way. When you cut it into strips, the edges will soften with washing and use, giving your rug a beautifully worn, lived-in character over time. The color range of denim — from pale, almost-white washes to deep indigo to black — means you can create rugs that are monochromatic and serene or richly varied in tone.

From an environmental perspective, making a rug from old jeans is a meaningful act of upcycling. Denim production is notoriously water-intensive and resource-heavy, so giving a pair of jeans a second life rather than sending it to a landfill is a small but real contribution to reducing textile waste.

Finally, jeans are almost universally available. You likely have some in your own closet, and you can supplement your supply easily at thrift stores, where jeans are among the most common donations.

What You’ll Need Before You Start

Most of these tutorials share a core set of materials and preparation steps. Here’s what to gather before you begin:

Several pairs of old jeans in various washes and sizes will give you the most material to work with. The heavier and more worn the denim, the easier it typically is to cut and work with. You’ll also need a good pair of fabric scissors — denim is thick, and dull scissors will make the job frustrating. A rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat will save you time and give you cleaner strips if you have them.

For tutorials involving weaving or braiding, you’ll want a large blunt-tipped needle or lacing needle for sewing strips together and finishing edges. For crochet or knitting tutorials, you’ll need appropriately sized hooks or needles — generally in the larger size range, such as a 9mm or larger crochet hook, to accommodate the thickness of denim strips. For loom-woven projects, a simple wooden frame loom can be made at home with nails and a board.

Rubber-backed rug liner material or non-slip mat is optional but recommended for most finished rugs, as denim rugs can slide on hard floors.

Tutorial 1: The Classic Braided Denim Rug

Braided rugs are one of the oldest and most beloved rug-making traditions, and denim is an ideal material for them. To start, cut your jeans into long strips approximately one inch wide. You can cut them into rings from the legs and then snip each ring open to create one continuous strip, or cut straight down the leg in a spiral pattern to maximize length.

Gather three strips and knot or safety-pin them together at one end. Braid tightly and consistently, adding new strips as needed by overlapping the ends and stitching them together or simply tucking them in as you go. Once your braid is long enough — aim for at least several yards before you start coiling — begin to coil the braid flat on a surface and whipstitch the edges together using a sturdy thread or a thin strip of denim itself.

Continue braiding and coiling until the rug reaches your desired size, then finish the end by tapering the final strip so the braid ends neatly. Secure the end firmly with several stitches. A circular braided denim rug of about 24 inches across typically requires four to six pairs of jeans.

Tutorial 2: Woven Denim Rug on a Frame Loom

This tutorial produces a flat, tightly structured rug with a grid-like texture. Build a simple wooden frame loom or use an existing one. Warp the loom with strong twine, cotton rope, or strips of lighter fabric spaced about a half-inch apart. Cut your denim into strips about an inch wide and begin weaving them over and under the warp threads, alternating rows to create the classic plain weave pattern.

Pack each row down firmly with a comb or your fingers to keep the rug dense and sturdy. Vary the shades of denim across rows to create a subtle striped or ombre effect, or mix light and dark strips randomly for a more eclectic look. When the weaving is complete, knot the warp threads off in pairs and trim them, or fold them over and stitch them to the back of the rug for a clean edge. This method produces a beautiful rectangular rug that works especially well as a kitchen mat or a bedside runner.

Tutorial 3: Crocheted Denim Rug

If you know how to crochet, making a denim rug is a rewarding project that goes faster than you might expect because the large hook size means you’re covering ground quickly. Prepare your denim by cutting it into strips about half an inch to one inch wide, depending on the weight of your fabric and your hook size. Join the strips by making small slits at each end and pulling one through the other to create a slip-knot join — no sewing required.

Roll your joined strips into a large ball before you start. Using a 9mm or larger crochet hook, start with a magic ring and work single crochet stitches in a spiral, increasing evenly each round to keep the rug flat. The key to a flat crocheted rug is increasing consistently — typically adding six stitches per round for a circle — and not pulling your tension too tight, as denim doesn’t have much stretch. A 30-inch round crocheted denim rug might take 10 to 15 pairs of jeans, so gather more material than you think you’ll need before starting.

Tutorial 4: T-Shirt and Denim Combined Rug

This tutorial combines cut denim strips with strips from old t-shirts to create a rug with a softer texture and a wider range of colors. The t-shirt fabric adds a bit of stretch and drape that contrasts nicely with the rigidity of denim. Use the same braiding or crocheting method described in the tutorials above, but alternate denim strips with t-shirt strips throughout.

This is particularly effective when your t-shirts include colors that complement the denim — white, gray, and navy create a clean coastal palette, while rust, olive, and cream alongside denim make a warm, earthy combination. The finished rug will be slightly softer underfoot than an all-denim version, making it a nice choice for a bedroom.

Tutorial 5: Knotted Denim Rag Rug

This tutorial requires a base — typically a piece of burlap, jute mesh, or canvas — through which you knot short strips of denim to create a looped or cut-pile texture similar to a traditional rag rug. Cut your denim into strips about six inches long and one inch wide. Fold each strip in half, push the folded end through a hole in your mesh base from the front, then pull both loose ends through the loop and tighten to create a lark’s head knot.

Work across the entire base, spacing the knots every half inch or every inch depending on how dense you want the pile. Once you’ve filled the base, you can leave the loops intact for a loop-pile rug or cut through the loops with scissors for a cut-pile effect — the cut version will fray slightly at the edges of each strip over time, giving it a shaggy, textured look. Finish the edges of the base by folding the burlap or canvas under and gluing or stitching it down.

Tutorial 6: Denim Strip Coil Rug (No Sewing)

This is one of the more accessible tutorials because it requires no sewing machine and minimal hand stitching. Wrap denim strips tightly around a length of rope or clothesline, keeping the wrapping close and even. As you wrap, coil the rope and use hot glue or a heavy-duty thread to secure each coil to the next. Continue wrapping and coiling until the rug is as large as you want it, then cut and tuck the end of the strip to finish.

The rope core gives the rug excellent structure and durability, and the coiled construction creates a beautiful spiral pattern on the surface. This method works especially well if you want a rug with a very firm, flat profile — the kind that lies perfectly still on the floor without any curling at the edges.

Tutorial 7: Woven Potholder-Style Mini Rug

This tutorial uses the same principle as a classic potholder loom but scaled up significantly to create a small accent rug or bath mat. Build or buy a simple wooden peg loom and use wide denim strips as both your warp and your weft. The resulting weave has a chunky, handmade look that’s very on-trend in modern farmhouse and boho interior design styles.

Because the strips weave over and under each other at full width rather than being braided or twisted, the finished piece has a very flat, tight surface that’s comfortable underfoot and easy to shake clean. This style of rug is best suited to smaller sizes — up to about 20 by 30 inches — because larger sizes become unwieldy on a simple loom.

Tutorial 8: Denim Patchwork Rug with Fabric Glue

This tutorial skips weaving and knotting entirely and instead involves cutting denim into uniform squares or hexagons and arranging them in a pattern before gluing them to a canvas backing. It’s a good choice for people who want a more geometric, design-focused result. Cut your pieces carefully using a template and rotary cutter for clean edges, then experiment with light and dark denim to create checkerboard patterns, diamonds, or more complex arrangements.

Use a strong fabric glue to adhere each piece to the canvas, weighting the pieces down while they dry for a good bond. Finish the edges of the canvas with folded denim strips glued or stitched in place. Because this rug lies flat without weaving or braiding, it tends to be thinner than other styles — adding a thick rug pad underneath will make it more comfortable and help it stay in place.

Tutorial 9: Chunky Arm-Knitted Denim Rug

Arm knitting — the practice of using your arms rather than needles as the knitting tool — has become popular for creating chunky, oversized textiles quickly. It works beautifully with very wide denim strips, roughly two to three inches wide, which are thick enough to give the stitches good definition. The finished rug has an open, loose weave that’s slightly stretchy and very tactile.

To arm-knit, make a slip knot and loop it over one wrist. Cast on a row of stitches by looping the strip over and under your arm repeatedly, then knit by transferring stitches from one arm to the other, pulling loops through loops. Work until you have a rectangle of the desired size, then bind off and weave in the ends. Because the weave is open, this style is best suited to accent rugs rather than high-traffic areas, and it benefits from being placed over a solid rug pad so the open stitches don’t catch on the floor.

Tutorial 10: Denim Fringe Rug

This final tutorial takes a slightly different approach: instead of weaving or knotting denim strips, you create a rug that’s essentially a canvas base with denim fringe attached to it in overlapping rows, much like a fringe throw blanket or a layered grass skirt. Cut your denim into strips about eight to ten inches long and as wide as you like — anywhere from a half-inch to two inches creates different effects.

Start at the bottom edge of your canvas base and glue or stitch one row of strips along the edge, letting them hang down. Work your way up the canvas in overlapping rows, spacing each row so it covers the attachment point of the row below. Alternate light and dark denim for depth, or keep it all the same shade for a sleek, monochromatic effect. When finished, the fringe layers over itself to create a shaggy, layered texture that looks wonderful and is very forgiving of imprecision in cutting.

Tips for Getting the Best Results

No matter which tutorial you choose, a few general tips will help you get the best possible outcome. Always pre-wash your jeans before cutting them. This removes any sizing or residue and allows the fabric to soften slightly, making it easier to work with. It also means your finished rug won’t shrink the first time it’s washed.

Cut your strips as consistently as possible. Uneven strips make braids look sloppy and can cause woven rugs to pucker. A rotary cutter and ruler are worth the investment if you’re planning to make more than one rug.

When joining strips, test a few different methods to see which you prefer — the slip-knot join, the straight-stitch machine join, and the hand-stitched join each produce different results in terms of the bump where two strips meet. The slip-knot join is nearly invisible when pulled tight, making it ideal for crocheted and braided projects.

Finally, don’t be afraid to mix different weights and washes of denim. Some of the most beautiful denim rugs come from mixing your darkest and palest jeans, letting the natural variation in denim color do the design work for you.

How to Care for Your Denim Rug

Denim rugs are surprisingly easy to care for. Shake them out regularly to remove dust and debris. Spot clean stains with a damp cloth and mild dish soap. Most braided and woven denim rugs can be machine washed on a gentle cycle in cold water, though you should always let them air dry rather than putting them in the dryer — the heat can cause shrinkage and may weaken any glued or stitched joins.

Over time, the edges of cut denim strips will soften and fray slightly, which is part of the natural beauty of these rugs. If fraying becomes excessive, a quick pass with scissors to trim the loose threads will tidy things up without affecting the rug’s structure.

Start Your Denim Rug Project Today

Whether you work through every tutorial on this list or find the one technique that speaks to you and make a dozen rugs in that single style, the process of turning old jeans into beautiful home décor is one of the most rewarding crafts you can take on. The materials cost almost nothing, the skills required range from beginner to intermediate, and the results are genuinely impressive — durable, original rugs that carry the history of the denim they’re made from.

Look through your closet, visit a thrift store, and ask friends and family to save their old jeans for you. In a weekend or two, you’ll have a handmade rug underfoot that you made yourself, from materials that might otherwise have gone to waste. That’s a win for your home, your wallet, and the environment all at once.