This How-To is presented to show how easy it is to mend a pair of jeans or other pants

with a patch of denim and some ingenuity. My mother-in-law taught me this and it's not
a pretty treatment, but it's very effective. She used it primarily for knee patching. The
pants I repaired here are worn with a long shirt that doesn't allow the back to show, so
beauty was not our first concern; tough and lasting patching was the objective. Follow
along and give this a try some time. Any questions? Feel free to email us and ask
.

"Mom! There's a hole in the back of my

favorite pants again!" That's the distress
cry of many a teen to a mom who sews.
Here's the offending hole. The fabric is
wearing out. These cords are not long for
the world, but they're my son't favorite, so possible on the cord fabric. I really wasn't
I'm going to do what I can for him.
I first wound a bobbin and threaded the
machine with complementary thread. I
wanted the thread to be as invisible as
all that concerned with the bobbin; that bit
wasn't going to show. In the interest of
consistency, though, use the same thread
on top and bottom. Makes life a lot easier
all the way around.

Next, I did a rough measurement of the I chose to use a denim pocket as my fabric
length and width of the hole. This rip is a for the patch. Normally, I would not mark
big one, measuring about 3" long. You do the patch with a black marker, but I wanted
not have to use a ruler like mine; you can it to show up for pictures. Mark the patch
eyeball it or use a piece of paper as your and cut with pinking shears if you have
guide. I like this ruler because I can see them. If not, plain shears will do.
through it.
 Round off the corners of the patch. This Turn the pants inside out. We're going to
will help strengthen it and keep it from work on the wrong side of the fabric first.
unraveling.

Pin the patch in place. It doesn't matter

whether the patch is right side up or wrong
side up. It's not going to generally show
except on the skin side of the pants. When Do a single row of stitching around the
you're patching a knee, you may end up whole patch.
covering the patch with something
decorative, so keep that in mind.

Stitch around the patch again with your Turn the pants right side out. Note that the
zig-zag function of your machine. This hole is still not patched, but you can see
helps to stabilize the patch and keep it the stitching line where the patch has been
from fraying as well. applied from the inside.
 Again using your zig-zag stitch, make Turn the pants wrong side out and check
several rows of stitching vertically and the stitching on the patch itself. In this
horizontally until all of the hole is case, I wanted to make certain I hadn't
encompassed in stitching. Make sure the sewn the pocket partially shut.
patch is beneath the stitched lines as the
fabric of the pants is too fragile to be
responsible for the integrity of the sitching.

Again, turn the pants right side out and you can see the tidy patch job. Sometimes, it's
fun to use contrasting colors, but you need to plan ahead with that.

Mending is not the most fun thing we do as people who sew, but it's necessary. We
have favorite clothing items or towels or other things we hold dear. When they tear,
wear out, or have seen better days, we have to use our imaginations and come up with
a way to make them either functional or rags. Some people take garments apart and
recycle the fabric, buttons, zippers; other folks simply keep patching till there's no
patching left to do. Try to have a good time with it. Make mending interesting. For little
children, put the patches on the outside and zig-zag a teddy bear on a torn knee. One
idea can turn to many when you give it a try. Email with questions ;-)

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