Faux Cathedral Block/Recycled Jeans Skirt Part 1

Not the completed skirt, it's still full of pins!

So I saw a faux cathedral quilt made out of recycled jeans on Pinterest and I really liked it. But I've been wanting to make myself a patchwork skirt and I have plenty of worn out jeans, so I combined the two. My jeans always wear out by the seams on the inside thigh areas. Nowhere else, just there, and that leaves a lot of good solid material left behind. I've been patching the holes and wearing patched jeans because I just can't justify throwing out all of that material.

I'm going to show you how I made a skirt from jeans and an adapted quilt pattern!

You're going to need at least two pairs of worn out jeans that you don't mind cutting to pieces, or the equivalent in large scraps. One pair of jeans needs to fit you or the person you are making the skirt for so you can use the waistband, pockets, button and zipper section. You will also need the following:
1. Poster board or cereal boxes for templates;
2. A drawing compass (not a map or directional compass, we don't need to find North) or a push pin and some yarn or string to draw circles with;
3. Pencil, pen, permanent marker, fabric marking pencils;
4. Assorted rulers or tape measures, I used my quilting rulers and my flexible tape measure, plus a triangle for making my squares square;
5. Scissors or a knife for cutting out the templates. Be careful with sharp objects!
6. Sewing and quilting tools, rotary cutter, fabric scissors, straight pins, sewing machine, thread;
7. And of course assorted fabrics to add color and fun to your skirt!


So the first thing I did was lay flat my jeans that still fit me and I measured from the waistband to the bottom of the back pocket to make sure I didn't cut any off. On mine that was 9 inches.

Next I flipped over the jeans and cut straight across just above the groin of the jeans, making sure I was at least 10 inches down from the back waistband to leave enough space for a seam allowance without clipping the back pockets.

Be sure to save your cutoff pants legs, you'll need them.

Then I measured the cut edge to determine how many squares I would need to go around. My edge was 20 inches, then doubled because it is folded in half for 40 inches.

This means that I would need eight 5 inch squares, or ten 4 inch squares, or twenty 2 inch squares. I also did some math to figure out how big of a circle I would need if I used a 5 inch square. You can also just measure the diagonal on the square. I needed about a 7 inch diameter circle for a 5 inch square.

Here are my templates for the squares. I made one of each just to see the size comparison. I decided to start with 4 inch squares because I liked the way that size square looked with my jeans top. You will need the squares for further steps, hang on to them. I ended up using both the 4 inch square and the 5 inch square for my skirt, but I may use the 2 inch one in another project so I kept that one as well. You only need to make the ones you need for this project. 

I decided I wanted my skirt to flair a little instead of being a pencil skirt so my top row was the 4 inch squares, my second row I made a trapezoid, and the third row, or bottom row in my skirt I made from 5 inch squares. To make the trapezoid I drew a 4 inch line and marked the center (2 inches). From the center mark I measured down 4 inches making sure I was perpendicular to the top line. This is where the triangle came in handy. From that mark, using it as the center, I drew a 5 inch line parallel to the first, 2.5 inches to either side of the center mark. Then I connected the top left corner to the bottom left and top right to bottom right. Cut it out and you have a trapezoid template.

For a pencil skirt use all the same size squares. No trapezoids.

If I had been able to find a drawing compass I would have used that to create my circles, but I couldn't so I used a push pin and some cotton yarn. First draw in the diagonals on your square to find the center. Then tie a loop in the end of your yarn and stretch it to the corner of the square, push the pin through the yarn, template and another piece of cardboard pinning it down where your lines crossed. I continued to hold the pin while I drew my circle to keep everything in place. Keep your pen or pencil as upright as possible to keep the circle as even as possible.

A compass would have made this part a lot easier. My yarn slipped and stretched a little, but I still got an acceptable circle. If you are making a skirt with a flair, repeat this step using your 5 inch square template. Also, to keep track of which square and circle go together, I would mark which circle was made with which square, I did not at first and I got them confused a couple times.

Cut out your circles.

The 4 inch square and circle.

The 5 inch square and circle.

To make the circle for your trapezoid, I don't have any tips for measuring or using a compass because the center will be a little off center. However, I discovered that I needed a circle a bit bigger than the one I used for the 4 inch square, and that a Cool Whip container lid was just a little bit bigger. So I used a permanent marker to trace the lid to make a thicker line which I then cut around just to the outside of to make it even slightly larger and it ended up just about perfect. (When I cut out the fabric for these I also cut just to the outside of the traced line and then it was the right size circle, but more on that later.)

You can see I left the permanent marker line on the circle for the trapezoid.

After you have all of your cardboard templates, you will begin to trace your circles. I cut along the inside seam of the pants leg to open them flat. I managed to get all ten of my small circles (for the 4 inch squares) out of one leg. Trace each circle onto the wrong side of the fabric, what used to be the inside of the pants leg, with a fabric marking pencil to wash out, or a blue or black pen. The pen will not wash out but makes an easy to see line. Don't use the permanent marker here, it will bleed through and you will see it on your finished product.

You will do this for all of your circles. I needed ten of each size. The slightly larger circles I got nine from each pants leg, which is where your extra pair of jeans will come into play. I tried to match the colors of jean material, they are not exact, but they are close. If you do not have enough of one color jeans, mix up the pieces you cut from each color. What I mean to say is cut some of each size from each color and then scatter the colors in each row. Again somehow mark each size of circle to keep track of them.

Cut out all your circles. And keep them organized by size! You may iron them if you wish. I did not, I tend to be a lazy quilter and try to skip steps. Sometimes it works, sometimes I realize I should have taken a little extra time, in this case I was just fine having not iron my circles flat.

Here is where I'll leave you for today! Get your templates cut out, cut out your circles and think about what color or colors you want your finished skirt to be. I changed my mind several times on fabric colors before I finally settled on what I wanted to do. Next time I'll start to lead you through assembly. So make sure you come on back!