Retro Denim Quivers – Crafty Archery Projects You Can Make

The Jones Sisters show their denim creation.

There are lots of archery projects you can make yourself, ranging from complicated to super simple. One of the easiest is a simple quiver. Anyone remember the denim purses made out of blue jeans in the 70’s? Well, you can make a modern retro equivalent for archery, a pants leg quiver. So easy, in fact, that we aren’t even going to give any specific directions other than to suggest yo might want to re-enforce the bottom with extra layers of fabric or leather to keep the arrows from poking through. If you are into maker or crafting projects, an archery quiver out of pants should be no problem.

Simple quivers have a long history in archery. We tend to think of back quivers when we think of medieval archery, possibly because of movie depictions of Robin Hood. However, contemporary depictions of European medieval archers tend to show belt quivers, arrows tucked into belts or bags. You can see both belt quivers and an odd looking back quiver that looks more like a mistake than an actual back quiver in the 225 foot long Bayeux Tapestry, which was created some time before 1476.

Archers belt quivers depicted in the medieval the Bayeux Tapestry.

Medieval Longbowmen Practicing at Target Butts, Circa 1325

A JOAD archer shows off her denim quiver.

Belt quivers are handy at the range. When you use one you don’t have to hand carry your arrows back from the target. There are plenty of excellent commercial models available however you don’t necessarily need a fancy quiver just to hold arrows. A cute jeans quiver can work just fine. If you are interested in making your own leather back quiver Tandy Leather sells a set of archery tackle patterns which has proved popular over the years and includes a number of quiver styles, including a “field quiver” which angles the arrows backwards so they don’t get caught in the brush when you are shooting field archery.