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How To Make Denim Feathers & A Stunning Wall Decor

Inside: A step-by-step tutorial on how easy it is to make denim feathers from scraps and then how to hang these feathers as lovely Boho wall art.

I got the idea for this denim feather wall decor over the summer whilst making denim tassels. It wasn’t a great leap to work out how to make denim feathers from old jeans. The principle was the same as the tassels, fraying scraps of old denim. I just had a few details to work out, like the feather spine and shape.

You can make indigo or white feather from one piece of denim scrap. The colour depends on how you lay the template onto the scrap fabric.

Like with the tassels, this was an excellent craft for those of us who find they have fidgety fingers when watching TV.

I made these feathers whilst getting stuck into the brilliant Netflix series Ozark. That’s probably why I made loads of the feathers and made them into a wall hanging.

As well as making a feather wall decor, you can use individual denim feathers to make earrings, bag charms, and gift toppers.

DIY repurposed denim feather wall decor

These denim feathers are featured under the letter F in the A to Z of denim upcycles.

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What You Need To Make Denim Feathers

denim scraps needed to make denim feathers.

How To Make A Denim Feather Wall Decor

1.. The first thing to do is to cut out a feather shape from your scrap of denim. If you are not confident about doing this freehand, you can download my feather template and use this to draw around before cutting out the feather shape.

Make sure that the template lies in the same direction as the weave of the denim. The way you lie the feather template on the denim will depend on what colour feather you will make. Denim is made up of a weave of blue and white threads.

Denim feather template
Feather template on denim scrap

2. Cut a piece of twine a couple of inches longer than the denim feather shape.

cut denim  shape and twine

3. Cover the twine in fabric glue and stick it to the centre of the denim feather shape. This will create a spine for the feather.

You can stitch the twine in place if you prefer that to glue. However, the glue is better as it also stiffens the twine which helps the denim feather hold its shape.

Sticking on the twine spine to denim feather.

4. To make the feathers, fray the denim by pulling out the threads. Denim is frayed by removing the threads of one colour.

Therefore, removing the white threads will end up with blue feathers. If you remove the blue threads, you will have white feathers.

Cut the feather shape long, with grain for one colour and cut across the grain for the other.

how to make denim feathers

Making The Denim Feather Wall Decor

5. I used this same method to make several white and blue feathers in various sizes.

To make the denim feather wall decor, I first threaded the twine of a blue feather and a white feather through the same wooden bead.

Threading the wooden bead.
Blue and white repurposed denim feathers

6. Finally, the pairs of repurposed denim feathers were hung from a wooden stick. They were attached to the stick with a drawing pin at the back.

Denim feather wall decor
Denim feathers made from old jeans

I love how the denim feathers have turned out. You can make a collection of feathers in different shades of indigo using denim scraps from other pairs of jeans.

I think these denim feathers would also look great on a cushion or simply hung in glass frames.

Denim isn’t the only fabric you can use to make faux feathers. I have used tartan and plaid fabric to make DIY feathers. These tartan/plaid feathers look fabulous as they have colour and pattern.

I’ve also made paper feathers out of old maps and made them into a gorgeous paper angel wings decor to hang above my bed.

I love to use old branches for my wall hangings and have used them with this paper Mache watercolour heart decoration.

framed upcycled DIY denim feather
Denim feather wall art
Yield: Denim feathers

Denim Feather Wall Hanging

Denim Feather Wall Hanging

These gorgeous denim feathers are so simple to make and require no sewing.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Active Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Difficulty Easy

Materials

  • Scraps of old jeans
  • Branch or driftwood
  • Twine and wooden beads
  • Fabric glue

Tools

  • Scissors

Instructions

  1. Using a template cut out a leaf shape from a scrap of denim
  2. Cut a length of twine and stick to the center of the leaf shape
  3. Starting with one side of the leaf pull the cross threads out one by one to fray the denim
  4. Repeat on the other side of the leaf
  5. Make several feathers, thread wooden beads on to the twine.
  6. Hang from a branch

Notes

The colour of the feather will depend on which way you cut the denim. Pulling white threads out will result in blue feathers. Pulling blue threads will result in white feathers.

If you like this, you may want to check out some other denim upcycles on Pillarboxblue. Such as the boho jeans pillow, upcycled denim gift tag, and a fantastic denim rug. And many other things you can make from the rest of an old pair of jeans, such as these cool denim bow decorations.

If you are looking for some other feather wall decor, check out these beautiful free vintage illustrations of feathers.

Flowers are a fun thing also to make out of denim. I’ve made two types of denim flowers, roses and thistles, from repurposed jeans. Other fun nature-themed denim crafts include this faux moth taxidermy.

I even have ideas for denim Christmas decorations

Old Jeans No-Sew Projects

what to do with old jeans no-sew projects

Janice

Wednesday 25th of January 2023

Can you just use the seam as the middle of the feather?

Claire Armstrong

Thursday 26th of January 2023

You can try it all depends on how the jeans are made. It will work well with some but not others.

Sami

Tuesday 7th of June 2022

Looks so good

Claire Armstrong

Wednesday 8th of June 2022

Thank you.

April Iris McLeod

Tuesday 9th of November 2021

Beautiful! Can you use stretch demon for these?

Claire Armstrong

Tuesday 9th of November 2021

Thank you, some stretch denim works, just give it a try and see how it turns out.

Margie Anderson

Monday 31st of May 2021

I love these!

Claire Armstrong

Monday 31st of May 2021

Thank you so much.

Pat niichel

Friday 19th of February 2021

I think I may do these for my brother and sisters from my late husbands denim shirt scraps I have made memory pillows for my kids and grandkids and making wine bottle covers too . My husband loved denim shirts!

Claire Armstrong

Friday 19th of February 2021

That sounds like a lovely idea.

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