It happens to all of us. You find a great pair of jeans, you wear them religiously and they rip in remarkably un-strategic places. How can you revive them from the dead? This week I’ve got a quick (and effective) way to fix this problem. The next time you’re shopping at Goodwill and you find a fantastic pair of designer jeans with a big tear, you’ll have the tools you need to bring them back to life.
Some rips are easier to patch than others. I find rips near the crotch to be more challenging than most, but the technique is more or less the same for all kinds (I’ll show you a large and a small rip). I used contrasting fabric so that it would be easier to see, but it’s best to use jean fabric that matches the color of the jeans you want to repair. (Just buy an extra pair of jeans at Goodwill and use to make patches.)
- Cut out a patch that is about half an inch bigger, than the rip you want to fix.
- Trim the frayed threads of your jeans so that you will have more stable fabric to sew onto.
- Pin the patch to the inside of your jeans.
- Sew around the edge with a loose zigzag or a straight stich (to make sure the patch is lying properly. If, after you sew it, the fabric is bunched you can undo this stich and adjust it until the patch lies flat).
- Next, sew around the edge with a tight zigzag stich, overlapping the border of the two fabrics to replicate the weave of the fabric that wore out.
- If you don’t have a zigzag stich, you can imitate one with a straight stich by sewing and switching back and forth over the edge of your patch. I had these jeans first patched in India by a local tailor who did this. You can see his work below (and this is after 8months of heavy use, they’ve held up well! Now it’s the fabric around his patches that’s ripping).
- After reinforcing your seam you can go back and trim away the excess fabric on the inside of your jeans. At this stage you could be done. The patch will be sturdy and should blend in well with the original fabric. I wanted to do an extra decorative patch, because my jeans were so ripped up.
- For a decorative patch, pick a sturdy fabric, a lightweight leather, or suede for patches that will get a lot of wear (for seat, inner leg, or knees). For other areas the fabric choice is less critical.
- Cut a shape you like, pin it to the fabric, sew in place with a tight zigzag stich.
- If you are trying to cover a large area, you may need to go back and tack the patch in a few places so that it doesn’t gape or sag, but if your patch is smaller, this won’t be a concern.
Have fun, you can make your patches as subtle, or as noticeable as you want. And the best part is that Goodwill has lots of samples for you to practice on, before you find the style you like best.