DIY How to Patch Jeans

For the last three years I've had little boys to chase and play with on the floor.  I find myself crawling, crouching, and bending all day long.  Of course I love playing with my little guys, but it is very hard on the knees in my jeans.  Most of my "everyday" pants that I wear around the house have holes worn through the knees.  I guess it's trendy to have holes in your jeans, but some of my holes keep getting bigger and bigger as I continue to crawl around on the floor every day.  And, it's really cold to walk around with two giant holes in your pants when it's snowing outside!  

Rather than tossing all my holey jeans, I decided to try and patch them.  But, I remember when my mom used to patch my pants when I was a kid...let's just say it was anything but cute.  I wanted to still be able to wear my favorite jeans out of the house, so I had to find a creative way to patch them that didn't make them ugly.  

I found my solution on Pinterest (of course!), where I found this great tutorial on how to cutely patch jeans. When I tried it on my first pair of pants, I followed the tutorial's directions.  First, I used a double-sided fusible to bond the patch fabric to the inside of the jeans. 

 Then I used another layer of fusible web to bond a denim patch behind the fabric to add extra stability.  Finally, I added some cute embroidery.

 The problem was, after just one or two washings the inside of my jeans looked like this:

There were several drawbacks to this method:
1. The fusible web I used didn't bond the fabric strongly enough
2. I'd have to add a lot more embroidery to secure the patch.
3.The edges of the patch were already starting to fray.  (I guess I could have pinked the edges to help with this problem)
4.  Using a fusible web made the patch too stiff and uncomfortable to wear.
5.  The embroidery floss recommended wasn't strong enough for heavy use, and it started to fray.

I decided to try again on another pair of pants without using any fusible web.  I was much happier with the results this time, so here's my version of a cute jeans patch:

What you'll need:

• 1 pair of holey jeans
• 1 scrap of bright patch fabric
• 1 scrap of corderoy (or other medium-weight material to back the patch)
• Coordinating thread (I used a fun rainbow thread)
• Sturdy needle for hand-sewing through denim 

Let's get mending:

1. Cut a piece of fabric and a piece of corderoy, about 2" wider and longer than your hole.  I used a zig-zag stich to sew the two patch fabrics together.  This will prevent the fabrics from unravelling.

2.  Pin the patch to the inside of the jeans, centering the fabric over the hole. 

3.  Turn the jeans right-side-out and hand-sew the patch to the jeans.  If you have thinner thread, you'll probably want to double it so it's sturdy enough to hold the patch on.  I used a backstitch about 1/4" away from the edges of the hole to securely attach the patch.

You could also add some decorative embroidery stitches like I did on my first pair of jeans.

Have fun looking cute, saving money, and rescuing your favorite jeans from the scrap pile!

-Lily

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