Tutorial: Patching Jeans Hack
I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about the boys’ jeans that get holes (i.e. every pair). Apparently, the “right” way to patch them is to rip open the side seam, sew on a patch, then sew the side seam back up. However, that is not only more work than I wanted, it also requires the ability to sew a straight line, which I do not have. Elly already tried the iron-on patches and reported that they hardly last through the first wash, so I skipped that effort.
Here is the solution I hit upon:
Turn your holey jeans inside out. Spread fabric glue around the edges of the hole (to stop it from growing).
Cut a patch out of a spare pair of pants (I used bottoms from boys’ pants I made into cut-offs and old, trashed pairs of Matt’s jeans) that covers the hole by a wide margin.
Squeeze the fabric glue around the hole. Fit the patch over and press it down firmly. Then reach into the leg and unstick the right sides that may have gotten a tad of glue through the hole. Press your hands together, sandwiching the hole and patch between your hands, and press and hold.
Turn up the edges of the patch and run a line of glue along the edges of the patch. Press firmly to secure. Let it dry for a couple hours or overnight, after double-checking that the rights sides are not going to end up glued together.
Turn it right side out, and you have a ready-to-wear pair of patched jeans!
The best thing about this method is that I did a batch of six jeans in under ten minutes.
My trial-run pair have so far made it through at least 4 washes, 3 days at the park, tree-climbing, car-racing, bike-riding, hole-digging, and all manner of running and falling. Jaeger is hard on his pants.
Plus, I think they even look cool. My favorite ones are where I used camo under a large hole. Despite my relief at how well these turned out and how easy it was to do, I pulled out one non-holey pair of pants from both boys’ drawers and put them on a high shelf, to be dispensed by Mom when I desire some extra level of respectability.
I LOVE fabric glue. As a non-sewer, I once made curtains only using fabric glue. They lasted and never had a problem. I’ll have to try the fabric glue patch. Sounds like a winner!
What a great tip. Thanks for sharing. I have had some success with ironing a patch to the inside of the jeans. But, I’ve only done it just before the jeans are completely worn through. Plus, it was for Grace and she’s not too tough on jeans.
Thanks for the tip!
We have “church pants” and “church shorts” which are really my attempts to protect a couple items of clothing! They are hanging up, and E. knows when to use them. When we are going somewhere nicer I just say “dress like you were going to church.”
All of that to say: I can empathize!
One of my girls is hard on her pants, too. Comes from all the frog chasing, I think.
I just tried to do this – finally! I’ll let you know how it works. I also tried gluing patches on the OUTSIDE – we’ll see if they stay on. :-)