Lay your jeans flat and cut long strips about four to six inches wide. The legs work best since they give you the most length without seams in the way. Do not stress about perfect edges, slight variation adds to the handmade character. Mixing washes and weights from different pairs creates beautiful patchwork depth.

Lay your strips out on the table to plan the layout before you sew anything. Run them horizontally for a wide, cozy look or vertically for something long and structured. Overlap the strips about half an inch along the edges so the seam pulls them together firmly without bunching, then pin everything before moving to the machine.

Switch to a heavy-duty denim needle first, regular needles will break or skip on thick denim. Stitch the strips together with a straight stitch, sewing right over the overlapping edges and leaving the raw edges exposed, that is what creates the fray. Sew slowly and let the machine feed the fabric on its own, then do a second pass along the outer long edges to stabilize the runner.

Lay the runner flat and trim the sides evenly with fabric scissors so the shape is clean, you want the fraying to feel intentional, not chaotic. If the short ends are too raw, fold them over once and topstitch across for a finished edge while the sides stay free to fray. Press lightly with an iron to flatten lumpy seams and apply a touch of fray check anywhere the fabric unravels too much.