Patriotic Flag Banner - A DIY Upcycled Jeans Project

Turn an old pair of jeans into a cute patriotic flag banner for 4th of July or any other patriotic holiday! I don’t know if there’s any fabric that’s more perfect for a patriotic design than denim, particularly upcycled denim that’s a little distressed here and there.

Use an easy reverse applique technique to create the stars, and scissors and paint to create red and white streamers.

And to hang the patriotic flag banner, what’s easier than a wooden pants hanger? The clamp style hangers are just the right size and style for this project. And when you’re not using it to display your patriotic flag banner, you can still use it as a hanger.

Supplies

1 pair jeans

Wooden pants hanger with clamps

Red acrylic paint

White acrylic paint

Masking tape

Glue stick

Free pattern

Here’s how to make it:

Cut the legs off the jeans close to the top. (Photo shows just one leg being cut off, but you’ll need both of them.)

Cut up the inseams of both pieces and open out to create 2 rectangles of denim. (Photo shows just one rectangle but you’ll need two.)

Take one of the rectangles and place a strip of masking tape across it (short way), 8 1/2“ from the top.

Cut 6 long slits from the bottom of the rectangle to your tape to create 7 long streamers hanging the bottom of the rectangle, each one approximately 1 3/4” wide. These will be the stripes of your flag. Remove the tape.

OPTIONAL: My denim really liked to fray. I zig zag stitched around all the edges (even those streamers) to help control the fraying. It took a while to go around that many long edges, so you may not want to mess with it unless your denim is fraying a lot like mine was.

Paint the streamers red and white to create the stripes of the flag. I used a couple of coats to get good coverage, especially with the white.

Paint the rectangle area at the top of the banner white, leaving 1” around the edges unpainted. (Pardon the splotchy dropcloth in the photo. I reuse them again and again so there’s paint left over from a previous project.)

Now, take that second denim rectangle and cut out the star topper using the free template. You’ll end up with a rectangle with 5 stars cut out from it.

OPTIONAL: Zig zag the outside edges to control fraying.

Layer the star topper over the top of the painted denim piece. The area you painted white should show through the star shaped holes. Use a glue stick to glue baste it in place. After you’ve glued it down, give it a quick press with a hot iron to make sure the glue is dry.