No-Sew Denim Dog Toy

Recycle old jeans to make durable no-sew denim dog toys!

Most dog toys don't stand a chance at surviving more than a couple of days at my house. Sure, my dogs have a blast destroying them over that time, but I'm not really a big fan of trying to find something that is both affordable and "indestructible" for them to play with all the time. Instead of heading to the store again, I decided to give some old, ratty jeans new life by transforming them into a fun and durable toy for the dogs to play with! It's actually pretty easy to make, and best of all, FREE!

This no-sew denim dog toy craft is part of Creative Crafts: Recycled Crafts Edition! Creative Crafts is a series hosted by Me and My INKlings, Makeable Crafts, Creatively Beth, and Bella Crafts Publishing where some of your favorite crafters come together to create crafts around a specific theme! Be sure to check each of the host blogs for more recycled craft ideas!

Start by cutting up a pair of jeans into strips measuring about 1" wide using fabric scissors. It doesn't have to be perfect! We went with about 40" strips (total). The longer the strips are or the more strips you have, the bigger you can make the toy. If you are using adult-sized jeans, you may only need about 8-10 strips measuring about 20". If you use kids jeans, you will need a bunch more.

If kids are doing the cutting, it's probably safer to lay the jeans out on the floor and then carefully cut the jeans into strips. For adults, we found it easier (and faster) to have one person hold the jeans at the waist, and another person holds the bottom of the leg and cut the strip toward the waist. This holds the jeans taut, making it easier (and faster) to cut them.

Line up four denim strips and secure them together an inch or two down from the ends with an elastic band or hair tie. Any kind will do - this won't be a permanent part of the toy.

Now, you need to tie the strips into a box knot. It might look complicated with four strands, but it's actually very easy. Below is a video tutorial for visual learners (like me). They use paracord in the video, but the knot tying is the same. Since we have the ends secured already, skip the beginning and watch when they start tying the second knot in the video.

Make sure you pull your knots tight and evenly by holding the knot, and then gently tugging each of the strips to pull the folds tight. The knots may look messy as you go (especially at first), but keep going!

Soon enough, the strips of denim are slowly turning into a tightly wound braid! Keep tying knots until the ends are about 3"-4" long.

To add extra strips to the project, use scissors to cut a slit into the ends of each strip that has already been tied, and the ends of the new strips to be added.

Line up one end (attached to the project) and the end of the new strip. Push the ends of each strip through the other slit to connect the two. If you tug on them, they will easily come apart, but this is actually a simple way to connect these strips without having to sew them.

As you are weaving the attached strips into the knots, hold the seams as you pull the knots tight. Soon enough, the seams will be tied into the project and you won't even be able to tell they are there!

Once you have about 3-4" of strips left, stop tying knots. Remove the elastic band, and start tying all of the ends together in square knots - or whatever kinds of knots that you can. The point is to secure all of these loose ends the best that you can.

Once you've tied as much as you can, use some needle nose pliers to push the ends into the denim. I did this because my dogs ALWAYS go for ends like this first and shred them to pieces. I think this step helped in preventing this from happening.

Now you can show the toy to your dogs and start playing! These photos of my dogs, Lulu and Penny, are their first reactions to the toy, which I thought was funny and had to share. Now they are always playing tug-o-war over it and want us to play fetch all the time. I think we're going to have to make a couple more of these. Don't throw out those old jeans!

I hope you and your pups have a ton of fun with this tutorial! If you make some denim dog toys (or any crafts, really), I would love to see them! Leave me a comment, or tag a photo on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! #AFMcrafts

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