Wisdom for cutting blue jeans for quilts
 

Can anyone share the best way to cut apart blue jeans to use the fabric for quilts? I've cut one pair and my fingers ache. :( There must be a better way. Thank you.

Well, honey, I must say that I have to pace myself because those suckers are thick and if your blade is not sharp, it is a LOT of work!

I usually open most of the seams (sometimes leave the double stitched one for decorative effect) because it will give me at least another inch in width, and sometimes a nice colour variation. But there is really no way of making it any easier than to keep a sharp blade and just do a bit at a time. That is why I rarely do rag quilts from denim--just too darned thick and hard to snip!!

I've lost a lot of weight and have been recycling my old jeans for a denim quilt. I snip a notch in the fabric and then tear.

p/s...Natalia Bonner has a great tutorial for a denim quilt. Check it out here:
http://www.pieceandquilt.com/2010/01...-tutorial.html

Keep those pockets foe other crafts, or stratagically place them.
I've used a rotary cutter kinda like a sem ripper to tear thru the fab.

Me too.

Qwerty

Thank you for all your quick replies. I have never been a part of anything like this so I appreciate your help. I was wondering, lynnie, when you use a rotary cutter what do you put inside the pant leg to cut against? Or do you? Or quite how do you use the cutter? With the scissors I cut up the seam or just next to it so as to gain the most fabric.

Thank you ladyjanedoe for the tutorial link. It is really interesting. I am making a rag style quilt but will keep that tutorial in mind for another project.

Be very careful when cutting blue jeans. It can put enough stress on your hands to induce damage (in my case, arthritis).

I have an electric scissors for cutting apart blue jeans, and I highly recommend them. Mine are very old and I haven't researched new ones, but this is similar in looks to what I have:
http://www.amazon.com/SKIL-2352-01-3...dp/B001B64ZEE/

The electric scissors make cutting the blue jeans apart ***enormously*** easier! You still have to subcut with a rotary cutter to get the shapes you want (an electric scissors is probably not accurate enough for this; I know mine is not), but at least your hands will be in better shape for that. Aside from making the job a lot easier, the electric scissors is also much faster than using a scissors or rotary cutter for getting the flat pieces.

I agree with Prism99 -- electric scissors. Ripping works, but denim is harder to rip than qulting cotton.

These are mine:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DRITZ-Premiu...item337abf58a2