Do It Yourself Jean Rugs

Measure and cut a piece of denim fabric to become the backing for the rug. Cut the piece 2 inches longer and wider than the desired dimensions of the finished rug.

Fold all four edges of the denim backing fabric 1/2 inch over toward the wrong side of the fabric. Iron the folds along all four edges. Fold each edge in another 1/2 inch, and iron these folds as well. Sew all four folded edges down with a 3/8-inch seam allowance to form a hem.

Measure and cut several 1-by-2-inch pieces of denim from old denim pants, skirts, shorts and jackets. You need one denim piece for every square inch of rug. If your backing fabric is 10 by 20 inches after hemming, you need 200 1-by-2-inch pieces of denim.

Lay the rug backing on your work surface, right side up. Draw a horizontal line across the backing 1/2 inch down from the top edge with tailor's chalk. Continue drawing horizontal lines across the backing at 1-inch intervals.

Place strips of denim on top of the first horizontal line. Place the strips so they are right next to each other, with long edges perpendicular to the line, and with the right side facing up. Center the middle of each strip over the line. Pin the strips in place as you lay them on the backing.

Sew horizontally across the rug backing, following the chalk line so the seam runs through the middle of the strips. Remove the pins as you sew the strips in place.

Flip the bottom half of the strips in the first row up so you can see the second horizontal chalk line below them. Place strips on this line the same way as in Step 5. Continue placing and sewing strips onto the denim rug back until all the horizontal lines are covered.

Fluff the denim fringe with your fingers.