Office Supply Organizer Made from Old Jeans

Things you will learn

You'll need 3 to 4 pairs of old jeans for the organizer — the more you use, the bigger the organizer.
Cut the backing as a rectangle from one pant leg, and back it with cardboard cut slightly smaller.
Cut pockets from the rest of the jeans and sew them onto the backing at random, and sew a strip of waistband along the bottom.
Attach the fabric to the cardboard with hot glue, a heavy-duty stapler, or grommets in the corners — whichever tools you have on hand.
Decorate the finished organizer with snaps and buttons, and add a fun doll face if you like.

What you'll get

You'll get a wall organizer for office supplies with several denim pockets on a cardboard backing, decorated with snaps and buttons.

Materials and tools

Materials

Old jeans, you'll need 3 to 4 pairs; look for jeans that are wide and sturdy — skinny jeans won't work
Cardboard, serves as a sturdy backing under the denim fabric
Snaps and buttons for decoration, used to decorate the finished organizer; you can also add a fun doll face if you like

Tools

Scissors, needed to cut the pant leg, the pockets, and the piece of waistband
Needle and thread (or a sewing machine), needed to sew the pockets and waistband onto the backing
Hot glue, a heavy-duty stapler, or grommets, any of these works to attach the fabric to the cardboard — pick whichever tools you have on hand

Preparation

Gather old jeans

Gather 3 to 4 pairs of old jeans — wide and sturdy, not skinny. If you don't have enough ready-made pockets, you can sew on a couple of extra ones.

Prepare the cardboard

Prepare a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the future denim rectangle — you'll attach the fabric to it.

Cut the backing

The organizer's backing is made from one pant leg and a piece of cardboard.

Cut and open up a pant leg

Cut one leg off a pair of jeans and cut it open to get a rectangle. Use wide, sturdy jeans — skinny jeans won't work.

A pant leg used for the organizer's backing

Cut a cardboard rectangle

Cut a matching rectangle from cardboard, slightly smaller than the fabric piece — you'll need to fold the fabric's edges under when attaching it.

A rectangular cardboard backing measuring about 25 by 60 cm

Sew on the pockets and waistband

Pockets and a waistband from other jeans get sewn right onto the rectangular backing.

Cut out the pockets and waistband

Cut all the pockets off the rest of the jeans. Cut a piece of the back, along with the waistband, off one more pair.

Sew the pieces onto the backing

Sew the waistband piece onto the bottom of the rectangular backing, and sew the pockets on at random across the whole surface.

Denim pockets laid out on the organizer's backing

Attach the fabric to the cardboard

Once the denim backing is covered in pockets, attach it to the cardboard using whichever method suits you.

Attach the fabric to the cardboard

Attach the fabric to the cardboard with hot glue, a heavy-duty stapler, or grommets in the corners — pick the method based on what tools you have.

The finished denim organizer with several pockets

Decorate the organizer

The final touch is decorating the finished piece.

Add snaps, buttons, and other decor

Decorate the organizer with snaps and buttons. If you like, you can also make and attach a fun doll face.

The denim organizer's pockets holding pens, markers, and scissors

Finish and variations

Finish

Use your organizer

The finished wall organizer with denim pockets is ready to hold office supplies at home or in a kid's room.

Variations

A doll face on the organizer

If you like, you can make and attach a fun doll face to the organizer — kids especially love this detail.

Troubleshooting

The jeans don't work for the backing

Problem

You can't cut a wide enough rectangle for the backing from the jeans you chose.

Likely cause

Skinny jeans were used for the backing, and they're too narrow for the rectangle you need.

How to fix it

Use wide, sturdy jeans for the backing instead of skinny ones — they make it much easier to cut a rectangle of the right size.

Not enough ready-made pockets

Problem

After cutting up a few pairs of jeans, there aren't enough pockets to cover the whole backing.

Likely cause

Too few pairs of jeans were used for the organizer's target size.

How to fix it

Use more pairs of jeans, and if you're still short on pockets, sew on 1 or 2 extra ones yourself.

The fabric buckles or pulls away from the cardboard

Problem

After attaching it, the fabric doesn't lie flat on the cardboard or pulls away at the edges.

Likely cause

The cardboard backing was cut the same size as the fabric, with no allowance for folding the edges under.

How to fix it

Cut the cardboard slightly smaller than the fabric piece, so there's room to fold the fabric's edges under when attaching it.

Not sure which attachment method to use

Problem

It's hard to choose between hot glue, a stapler, and grommets for attaching the fabric to the cardboard.

Likely cause

The choice of attachment method wasn't tied to a specific situation.

How to fix it

Choose the attachment method based on the tools you have on hand — hot glue, a stapler, and grommets all work equally well.

FAQ

How many pairs of jeans do you need for the organizer?

Usually 3 to 4 pairs of old jeans, but you can use more — it depends on how big you want the organizer to be.

What kind of jeans work best for the backing?

Choose wide, sturdy jeans — skinny jeans won't work for the backing.

What if there aren't enough ready-made pockets?

You can sew on 1 or 2 extra pockets yourself if the pockets from your old jeans aren't enough.

How do you attach the fabric to the cardboard?

You can glue it on with hot glue, attach it with a heavy-duty stapler, or use grommets in the corners — it depends on what tools you have.

What size cardboard should you use for the backing?

Cut the cardboard slightly smaller than the denim piece — around 25 by 60 cm — so there's room to fold the fabric's edges under.

An Original Denim Organizer for Office Supplies, Upcycled from Old Jeans

Things you will learn

What you'll get