Yesterday morning, I went around collecting an old pair of jeans (an old pair that I used to paint my MIL's house, a few paint spatters, but not too bad), fusible stuff used for raw edge applique, and holey jeans.
I had collected about 5 pair of jeans to patch. Once the kids realized what I was doing, 7 more pair miraculously showed up. And this morning, I discovered the buried pile of mending among the "more important sewing" (quilting), so more jeans... Ugh.
But the fusible stuff works great on denim. You need a higher heat because of the denim being so thick. I actually use the cotton setting on my iron. And the old pair of jeans were cut up (two front panels and two back panels) to make my own iron-on patches.
I grew up with those ugly, stiff iron-on patches. They scratched your knees and you felt like you couldn't bed your leg. Then they started to peel off and made uncomfortable bumps. And little kids can't keep their fingers off them once they start to peel. Before you know it, no more patch.
I use the old jeans and the fusible stuff. The old denim is soft. The fusible stuff softens. And I patch on the inside, not the outside.
If you have kids, you've seen this in the knees of their jeans.
And once a hole starts.... well, it's just going to get bigger. So just breathe a little more life into those jeans. It is a tedious job, but as my grandmother reminded me, it's a job well done.
Working in the legs of jeans is... well, difficult at best.
My grandmother told me a secret... You rip this seam, right next to the hole.
A hole big enough to work with. About 8" or so long, whatever you're comfortable with. If you have a big patch, make the hole longer than the patch. This is the hole you're going to use to sew that patch on.
Turn the pant leg inside out and use a wide zigzag to sew around the patch so that the right size of the stitch goes just off the edge of the patch. (I use a color of thread that matches the jeans, I don't like an "obvious" patch)
Turn the pant leg right side out and use that same wide zigzag to sew around the hole so that the left side of the stitch is next to the hole.
Turn the pant leg inside out again and stitch the hole in the side. And overcast the edge again.
You have managed to breathe more life into those jeans and saved yourself a couple bucks.
Job well done.
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