Quilt in a Day Forums

Hello all...
I'm putting together a basic 4"×4" denim quilt from my daughters old jeans. I've never sewn denim before and am sewing by hand (lacking a sewing machine at the moment) any helpfulhints for sewing denim? Also, any suggestions for a backing? Is a denim quilt something to put batting in?

Hi! I love denim! But it does make a heavy quilt. I made a denim quilt for my son, used cotton batting, and backed it with flannel - boy is it heavy but he likes that it's so warm.

I don't think I'd use that combo again. Maybe using just flannel for the backing, no batting, and bring the flannel to the front to create a binding? Or regular cotton to make it lighter. Or for really warm, use fleece for the batting, backing, AND bring it to the front for the binding. I do that with reg cotton quilt fabric - love it!

For hand-sewing denim, a sharps needle might help. They're generally longer and stronger and the sharp point helps get thru heavy fabrics. You might also find a needle puller helpful. They're those little rubbery pieces that you grip the needle with to pull it thru layers of heavy fabrics. For a strong thread for piecing, I believe a cotton quilting thread is stronger than regular cotton thread. For quilting, personally I love big needle quilting where you use a size 5 embroidery needle and size 8 Perle cotton. I will do that on the next denim quilt I make.

I tied my son's quilt every few inches years ago. For quilting your quilt, I think you'd want to make your quilting fairly close together to help hold the heavy layers together.

Hope this helps, take care!
Cindy in OH

Thank you Cindy! Very helpful!!! I think you're right, just using no batting and a flannel backing will be the way to go!