Big rip, right? Fortunately, mending this huge rip right in the butt of my comfy jeans takes WAY less time than it would to head out shopping and buy more jeans. It’s also cheaper! Here’s the easy way to mend tears in your jeans:
- Clear the field of battle. Snip the loose, dangling threads away from the tear, and use a seam ripper to open up any pockets or seams that would get in the way of your sewing–you can sew them back again when you’re finished. If you need to open up a leg seam to get easier access to a rip, the word on the street is that you should open up the outer thigh seam, not the inner thigh seam, which has extra reinforcements in its stitching. Next » 2. Stabilize the rip. Baste the rip closed if you need to, then stabilize it on the inside of the jeans. For this particular project, I chose some stash iron-on interfacing; for a more eco-friendly interfacing option, however, choose a scrap of stash fabric to turn into DIY sew-in interfacing by basting it to the back of the rip. Depending on the weave of my interfacing fabric, I often have good luck also using a glue stick to firmly adhere the interfacing fabric to the area around the rip.
- Sew the rip closed. Set up your sewing machine with a denim or leather needle and the widest zig-zag stitch, then sew back and forth along the rip several times until it’s completely closed. When the tear is completely mended, switch to a straight stitch to re-sew any pockets or seams that you opened, then use your sewing scissors to trim away any excess interfacing. And just like that, I have my woodworking/painting/gardening jeans back! I mend my nice pair of jeans exactly this way, as well, but I take more care to match the thread color on those jeans–the thread on these jeans is going to be grunge-colored soon enough, so why bother? P.S. Have more than just a rip? Check out this tutorial for patching jeans! P.P.S. Have jeans that can’t be saved? Re-gift them!
