Whether it’s the star in your favorite date night outfit or a staple in your day-to-day style, jeans are a wardrobe’s best friend.
When our best jeans fray and wear down over time, we’re losing something precious. Our wardrobe isn’t complete, and our bank account takes a hit when we replace those beautiful designer jeans.
There are ways to make those jeans last. And it doesn’t take much effort at all.
Keep reading to learn how to patch jeans in a tried-and-true way that even a beginner could replicate.
How to Patch Jeans Without Fear
Patching up jeans seems like a difficult task if you’ve never done it before. Even experienced seamstresses hesitate to work with such thick fabric.
But applying a patch to your jeans is a lot easier than you might think. The best part is that this method works for other fabric types as well. Instead of throwing away your favorite clothes, try fixing them instead.
Materials you’ll need include:
- Thread in a color you like
- A sewing machine (or sewing needle if you do it by hand)
- Scissors
- Desired fabric for your mending patch
- Pins
1. Inspect the Pair of Jeans
The first step involves a bit of a critical eye. You’re determining whether or not patching your jeans is a viable option or not.
A clean tear or rip is an easy fix, but if the area around the tear is worn out, that makes things more difficult. The best way to tell whether the area is too worn is to hold it up to the light. The fabric is weak if you see light passing through the fabric.
If you patch on top of that weakened area, you’ll have a new hole to deal with before you know it.
When your clothes are too far gone to patch, keep them for spare fabric. Let your older clothes breathe new life into other pieces of your wardrobe.
2. Prepare the Worn out Area
To make for an easier fix, clean up the damaged area by snipping away any loose threads. Cut off anything that gets in the way while sewing.
If the area is a little worn around the tear, cut away the worn fabric until you have a clean cut with strong fabric surrounding it.
This step is not necessary if you decide you want to place the patch on the outside rather than the inside of the clothing.
3. Find Extra Fabric for a Patch
Next step is finding the right kind of fabric for your patch. You’ll need a piece that is at least ½” larger than the hole in the jeans.
This is also when you decide how you want the patched place to look. If you want the mending to appear as invisible as possible, then find fabric that is close to the original pair of jeans. Something similar in color and texture to mesh with the original.
But fabric patches come in all kinds of shapes and colors. Some popular styles of jeans come with patches already applied. Some even come with extra fringe, bold color choices, or interesting patterns.
Try turning your jeans into a one-of-a-kind work of art by getting creative with your patch selection!
4. Secure the Patch in Place
Now it’s time to pin the patch in place. After you’ve set the patch so it covers the damaged area, use pins to secure it.
With your extra ½” wiggle room, you have plenty of space to put your pins. Make sure that the pins go through both the patch and the jean fabric.
For the best security, go down through the fabrics once, then from underneath push the pins back up through the top of the fabrics. This way, you have a small section of both fabrics caught around the metal of the pin and they won’t move while sewing.
5. Sew Around the Patch
This step is the main event. A sewing machine makes this step a whole lot easier for you, but it’s possible to do it by hand as well. Sewing machines give a straighter and neater line of stitches, but hand-worked stitches give it more character.
Follow the edges of the patch as you sew, leaving a small bit of fabric outside of your stitches. Sewing too close weakens your stitch integrity and it may fall apart after a few times in the wash.
Don’t forget to pull out the pins as you go along so that you don’t sew over them.
If mending jeans is something you want to integrate into your life, getting a sewing machine might be the right answer for your future projects. This website is a great way to get started in finding the right equipment.
6. Sew the Teared Edges to the Patch
This final step isn’t a strict necessity, but it does help to hide away the tear even more. If you’re applying the patch onto the outside of the jeans, this step is more for comfort in case you have excess fabric bunching up when you wear your jeans.
Now that the patch is in place, take a thread that is a close color to the fabric, and sew down any loose fabric to the patch itself. This provides extra stability and strength to the mending and also keeps the tear masked as you make it appear smaller.
It also keeps the torn material from flopping around everywhere. But of course, this is a style choice. Sometimes the worn-in look is something we want!
The best part about doing this yourself is that it’s up to you to choose how you want the jeans to look.
Mending Your Favorite Jeans and Wear Them to Your Heart’s Content
Now that you know how to patch jeans, your wardrobe’s life cycle got a whole lot longer. No longer will you need to worry when your favorite jeans snag a hole or wear down into a tear in the fabric.
You have the knowledge to fix them and give them a whole new life. Doing it this way not only saves you money but also saves you a bit of stress as well.
If you’re feeling a little nervous, practice sewing patches on old clothing you don’t care about anymore. Then, when the real deal happens, you’ll apply it with confidence.
Before you go, don’t forget to check out the most stylish ways to stay warm during these cold months!
