How To Make A Stunning Denim Patchwork Chair

Quick crafts are great, but I also love a bit of slow crafting, especially if it’s a portable one that can be done in front of Netflix whilst watching a box set like with this denim patchwork chair.

You see, I’m a bit of a fidget and find it hard to sit still in front of the telly unless I do something with my hands. I think I’ve been conditioned to panic if I’m not multitasking.

Watching Netflix and crafting are one of my favourite kinds of multitasking. It’s a win-win situation; I get to watch my favourite programmes guilt-free as I’m creating something at the same time. Hand sewing is a perfect craft for this.

Blue is my favourite colour hence the name of this blog. That’s one of the reasons I love working with denim, all those gorgeous shades of indigo.

DIY Hexagon Denim Patchwork For A Chair Seat Pad

What better way to show off the variety of indigo blues you get from jeans than with a denim patchwork? So when I bought some extra chairs for my dining room with seat pads that were crying out for a makeover. It had to be a denim patchwork cover.

And no, I didn’t run out of denim! I consciously broke the denim patchwork with three random patches in other coloured fabric. These chairs also go well with the Boho denim table runner I made for the dining room.

I love a hexagon shape and have made Chinese applique hexagon patchwork cushions and a patchwork recycled sweater blanket. So I decided to stick to that same hexagon shape with this denim chair patchwork. Hexagons are a popular shape to craft and DIY within home decor.

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What You Need

• Old jeans – I used denim scraps from at least three pairs of jeans. This was to ensure I had various indigo shades of denim fabric.
• Scrap craft fabric – 3 small pieces

• Chair with removable seat pad
• Electric Staple Gun
• Double Side Sticky tape
• Needle and thread
• 3″ Paper Hexagons
• Rotary cutter and mat
• Iron

How to Make Hexagon Denim Patchwork

There are many excellent guides and videos for English paper piecing patchwork on the internet, such as the sewing directory and youtube videos. I will still show you how I did it. For this denim patchwork, everything was hand sewn; however, if you want to, some bits can be machine sewn.

1.. The first thing to do is to cut out your denim hexagon shapes. Using the double-back sticky tape, tape a paper hexagon to the denim. Then using the rotary cutter, cut out your hexagon shape, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Carry on until you have enough hexagons to cover your seat pad. As well as the denim hexagons, I cut out three fabric hexagons from my fabric scraps box.

2. Next, take one denim hexagon and fold over the seam allowance over the edge of the paper. Using a needle and thread, hand sew your hexagons in place with a tacking stitch. (I do this without actually going through the paper hexagon). Repeat with all the remaining hexagon denim cutouts.

3. Next, iron all the individual denim hexagons flat. Gather the flat denim hexagons and sew them together one by one.

Place two hexagons right sides together, and sew them together along the top edge avoiding the paper using a running stitch.

Some people like to stitch the hexagons together into a flower pattern or in rows and then join the rows. I, however, just stitched them randomly together in no particular order.

I did this because I wanted to achieve a random effect with the different tones of denim. I also added my three fabric hexagons randomly.

4. Then, continue stitching the hexagons until you have a piece of denim patchwork large enough to cover your seat pad.

Covering The Seat Pad

5. Cut off all loose threads and turn your patchwork denim fabric over to remove the paper hexagons.

6. Next, unscrew the seat pad from the chair and remove the existing cover.

This will probably involve removing many staples from the seat’s underside.

7. Next, place the denim patchwork on the top of the seat pad. Then turn it over, and whilst pulling the tight patchwork, staple it to the frame of the seat pad.

Top tip: I usually start with the four corners and then work around. To ensure a snug fit, use many staples around the edge.

8. Finally, screw the seat pad back onto the chair frame to finish off.

So far, I have made two patchwork denim seat covers and have another two. I love how they have turned out; the hexagon patchwork highlights the different tones of denim. Since posting this, I quickly upcycled the other two chairs with fun, colourful tea towel upholstery.

I also love how the three random hexagons of coloured fabric make every chair slightly different. Hand sewing has made the result worthwhile. If this scale of patchwork looks a bit daunting, perhaps start off small with this free hexagon mug rug pattern.

If you don’t have the patience for hand sewing your hexagons together, there is a tutorial for machine sewing them on youtube. However, I think the hand-stitched hexagons look better.

I can’t decide which chair is my favourite yellow or blue. I think I will look for some fabric scraps with green in them for the random hexagons on my next chair pad cover.

I have even made some patchwork denim hexagon table mats to match these chairs. Like the chairs, they also have an odd flash of colour. However, the patchwork is slightly different. If you have some leftover denim scraps, you might want to try one of these no-sew patchwork denim fabric bowls.

I love the look of different shades of denim hexagons together so much that his project inspired me to make a fantastic denim hexagon fabric pinboard.

These denim patchwork chairs aren’t my only denim upholstery project. I have recovered an IKEA Skruvsta chair in denim and made a denim ottoman storage crate.

I’ve even made a denim handmade chevron patchwork rug from my living room floor. And a no-sew denim patchwork suitcase. I’ve also used diamond patchwork to create some incredible quilted denim star decorations.