If you enjoy gardening and sewing, dig into your stash of fabric scraps to make yourself a simple and free kneeling pad for working comfortably in the yard.
I spent a wonderful, screen-free, productive five hours on Saturday working outside. I pulled weeds, planted and relocated native plants and spread mulch in the front yard. (I’m slowly transforming what used to be a lawn into a garden filled with native plants. You can read more about that project here.) I kept wishing I’d had something to kneel on, such as a foam pad.
But “foam” means “plastic.” This garden kneeling pad—green to suggest it’s soft on the planet in addition to the knees—is made from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), a type of blown plastic. (Like sugar, plastic goes by many names.) Were I to buy this pad, it would eventually break down and wind up in an overburdened landfill where it would outlast me and my kids and their kids if they have any.
Then it dawned on me—I could sew a kneeling pad!
Old jeans and fabric scraps transformed into a kneeling pad
Denim is such useful fabric. I’ve been ripping apart old, worn jeans that I’ve saved over the years. I plan to sew some utensil rolls and eventually, a homemade Wonder Bag slow cooker. Because I wanted sturdy fabric to withstand the outdoors, I dug into this denim stash for my kneeling pad.
I also have a few boxes of fabric scraps looking for a purpose. Friends and I sew produce bags out of donated, unwanted fabric and sheets to give away at the farmers’ market (read more about that here). We mostly sew these bags on sergers, which trim the edges while they double stitch and overlock the seam. I save all the shreds the sergers spit out and all the scraps from cutting the bags out of fabric and even the clumps of thread that we pull out of the fitted sheets that we cut for the bags.
How to make an upcycled garden kneeling pad
I didn’t measure the fabric, I just eyeballed a good size. The finished cushion measures 16 inches by 9.5 inches. Here’s how I made it:
- Pull apart the inner seams of jean legs.
- Cut the ends of the legs and press the fabric.
- Place the pant leg pieces together, right sides facing, with what were the bottom hems on opposite ends.
- Sew one long side together. You’ll have a parallelogram, not quite a rectangle. (If you used wide-leg jeans, you’ll have more of a rectangle.)
- Trim the long edges to form a rectangle.
- With right sides together, sew the remaining long side and one short side.
- Stuff with fabric scraps, leaving enough space at the top to easily sew the opening closed.
- Sew the opening closed. I serged this edge. If you prefer, make a tidy hem.
How to make an upcycled garden kneeling pad, in pictures
I could have bought that kneeling pad—and had it delivered to my front door to boot! Instead, I saved money, used existing materials and had fun sewing. When we want or need something, with a little creativity, we can often fulfill that want or need by regarding everything as a resource and putting our existing resources to good reuse.
Check out my award-winning cookbook!
- Taste Canada silver for single-subject cookbooks
- Second-place Gourmand cookbook award in the category of food waste
- Shortlisted for an award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals
Learn more about my book here.
