How to Turn Your Jeans Into Earth Friendly Slippers

Last Updated: August 10, 2021 Approved

Don't fill up the landfills with those really old jeans! Make some slippers out of them instead!

Steps

1
Make sure your feet fit into the back pockets. Slip your feet into the pockets to check if they'll fit.
2
Take a pair of your old slippers or flip flops and put them on two pieces of cardboard.
3
Trace around each slipper carefully onto cardboard. Cut out the traced foot templates.
4
Set the cardboard templates on the lower (larger) end of the legs of the unwanted jeans. Make sure the material is long enough for your foot, and a seam allowance.
- Cut off the jean leg ends just above each slipper's seam allowance once you're satisfied with the length and width.
5
Turn the denim cut-off fabric inside out. Using tailor's chalk, trace around each of the cardboard foot templates onto each of the cut-off ends.
- Use straight pins to firmly hold together the two layers of denim.
- Once pinned in place, cut out the foot shapes in the denim fabric. Be sure to leave adequate seam allowance around the edges.
6
Leaving one side of the denim fabric open approximately the length of each slipper, sew the rest of the two layers shut for each foot. These are now your "denim slipper bases".
7
Use the cardboard template foot shapes to draw around on a thin sheet of foam.
- Cut out each foam foot insert and set aside.
8
Take the partially stitched up denim slipper bases and turn them right side out.
- Slip the cardboard foot template inside each denim slipper base, followed by the foam foot insert on top of the cardboard insert.
- Do this for both denim slipper bases, and then sew the seam closed.
9
Cut out the pockets that you sized previously. Cut as close as you can without cutting the pocket material. The pocket needs to come away completely intact, with both its front and backing sides in place (i.e., still serving as a real pocket).
10
Put each denim slipper base inside of each pocket. Align them squarely and neatly.
11
Start sewing the pockets onto the underside only of the denim slipper bases.
- Denim, no matter how old it is, can be difficult to sew through, although jeans using Tencel® fabric might be softer. Do what you can to make the sewing easier on your fingers (use a thimble!). If you have a sturdy sewing machine, try using that but be careful not to sew the front of the pocket down.
12
Enjoy the finished product. These make great gifts for birthdays and best friends.

Things You'll Need

Old pair of jeans
Cardboard (quality, corrugated carton style, needs some air cushioning and strength)
Thin foam
Scissors
Sewing machine and thread
Tailor's chalk
Marker for cardboard
Straight pins

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 13 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 74,180 times.

21 votes - 95%

Co-authors: 13

Updated: August 10, 2021

Views: 74,180

Categories: Featured Articles | Sewing Clothes