Monday, February 2, 2015

Use it or lose it! -- How to mend your jeans

I'm pretty tough on my jeans.  I play with the boys a lot on the floor and my favorite jeans  have got to be years old.  You know the kind -- the ones that are your favorites and you cannot be without. When your having a bad day, feeling blue you put on your favorite jeans and forget about your worries.  Well, I wish it was that easy, but you know what I mean...so when you get a hole in the knee it is pretty sad.  I searched online and found a tutorial on how to mend hand-knit socks so I used the same method on my jeans.  Here are the steps to what I did and they turned out great. 


I used embroidery floss in a similar color and a sturdy needle.  I inserted a jar lid into the jeans to make it easy to hold the fabric and so I wouldn't catch any of the leg fabric.  This made it a lot easier.  For people who darn socks there are darning eggs.

  You basically are weaving a new layer a fabric over your hole and attaching it on all sides.  You may have heard the about warp and weft before.  They are the terms to explain the rows of thread you will be creating in your new fabric patch.  The warp is the lengthwise thread that lays the foundation that you will weave your weft through.  Below is a picture of me sewing the warp over the hole in the knee of my jeans.  I inserted the needle from back to front - I did tie a knot to hold the thread so I could get a firm foundation.  You insert the needle back down into the fabric front to back near your hole (pick a spot where the jean fabric is still firm enough and not frayed.)  Repeat this process until you have the warp thread over the entire surface.

Next comes the actual weaving in and out of the weft thread (I turned my work to make it easier to weave)  You go over, under, over, under the warps and at the end pick up a bit of the jean material to catch your work.  Below is a close-up.


I wove my weft over, under the warps and am securing the end of my work before pulling the thread through to weave another row.



Row two compete, secure the end of the row by picking up a bit of the jeans before working next row.   Make sure each row is opposite in the over, under of the weft through the warp.


You repeat in this manner until you reach the end of your warp patch.


Make sure your rows are snug.  This is a front side of my work.  I'm finished with my patch.  I inserted my needle from front to back and repeated the whole process for a double sided patch.  It is jeans...I'm tough on them....I thought I'd need double support on the patch.


Here is my patch inside-out and my thread ready to weave the weft into the warps.  


My finished patch after repeating the process on the back side.


and my two pairs of jeans newly mended.


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