Reuse Denim and Chenille in a Pillow Cover
Don’t throw those old denim jeans out! Reuse the denim and some vintage chenille to make fun comfy pillow covers.
Grab vintage chenille bedspreads when you find them 2nd Hand!
One of the things I pick up at garage sales or thrift stores when I find them is vintage chenille bedspreads. Even if they are in bad condition, they are great for so many projects. And I particularly like the combination of cream chenille paired with faded denim. I kept my husband’s old work jeans he was getting rid of (to his surprise!). True worn denim is such a great fabric to reuse in all kinds of projects. As soon as I found a few more fabrics to add to the combo (which also came from garage sales!) I had all I needed for this project.
Collect fabrics that speak to you, and plan out your project
I wanted to make a quilt-inspired pillow cover as a start for a coordinated set that I’ll pile in a corner. It seems to just invite you to curl up and get cozy in. Because I’ve quilted for years, I looked for a star quilt pattern that was a bit complex (I’m only making one after all). Once I found this version of the Texas Star pattern I was set.
You can make any sort of pillow covering you’d like, anything from simple squares or a variety of different square and rectangle shapes, to any of the hundreds of quilt patterns you could find online, to something more abstract and fluid. Whatever best suites your style and personality will ultimately make you the happiest.
Prep your Materials
Cut out all the pieces for your project before you begin putting it together. It’s so much easier to go from one stage to another only once, instead of back and forth. If your project is simple, you probably don’t need to be so precise with measurements. When you’re only making one of something it doesn’t need to be exact. And if you don’t have a plan on how the pieces will go together – that’s ok! You can certainly take several pieces of fabric and put them together however it’s pleasing to you.
Complete your project and plan out the next one!
Once I completed the quilt top, I layered it with a thin batting and cotton fabric back and quilted it along the seams. I used another piece of the chenille bedspread for the back of the pillow cover and sewed it together with a flap opening for the pillow. So simple!! And the beauty of this project is that all the materials were 2nd hand, or about to be thrown out after years of use (which is when the fabric is super-soft and perfect for snuggly pillows!). So, reuse your denim and chenille and make something comfy! And I still have a lot of the materials left so I’ll be making more pillows for this set and will update this post with additional pictures and instructions. Stay tuned!
Note: Because this is not a quilting tutorial, I haven’t included any quilt-specific instructions. Please refer to YouTube if you need instructions on how to quilt or sew.