Friday, August 23, 2013

Make-do and Mend: Torn jeans

Inspired by the mended doily I bought in London this summer, thought I decided to do something I haven't done in a long time.

Growing up, I wore jeans every single day. Mending my jeans was among the first things I learned how to do on a sewing machine. Today I barely own a pair of jeans. The pair I own, I wear so rarely that I don't think I'll ever need to mend them. My husband, however, has a couple of jeans that has been laying around for a while just waiting for me to be inspired enough to fix them. 

You need a pair of jeans in need of mending, some jeans fabric you can use for the mending
 (I bought a pair of jeans for NOK25/$4 at a second had store that I cut fabric swatches from)
and some blue thread that more or less matches the blue color of the jeans.
Pin some of the jeans fabric on the inside of the torn jeans.
I own exactly 3 sewing pins, but that's all what's needed. 
Then just go crazy with the zigzag seam on your sewing machine. 
I don't know if zigzagging is the technical term, but that is what I am doing along the frayed edge. 
The zigzagging I do from the outside of the jeans, and when I'm done I cut off any excess fabric on the inside.
No, this is not the neat backside of my grandmother's embroideries. 
This does require a sewing machine, but it doesn't require much skill when it comes to using it. The results will always be good unless something is wrong with the machine. The best results are of course in the crouch of the jeans, it can practically not be seen that you've mended them, but I also fixed the frayed leg hem on a pair of jeans.
I'm pretty happy with the result. It can barely be seen when the jeans is worn. 
My husband is happy, he now can wear his favorite pair of jeans outside the house again.

Do you have a tip for clothes or other things that you mend instead of throwing it away? 

5 comments:

  1. All my jeans look that at the bottom & I have often what I could do about it.
    You are a jean-ius!!

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    Replies
    1. It is a seriously simple fix, and so worth doing it!

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  2. I have to confess that I accidentally wore my old pants to work today and ended up stapling the bottom of my them, so no one would notice they were falling apart.

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  3. Thank you for sharing this tutorial on Tutorial Thursdays Linky Party, I always dread fixing jeans, so it has been great to get some tips!
    Your post will be featured next week :)
    Pinned!
    x
    Natalie
    Marigolds' Loft

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Natalie,
      I'm glad you liked it, and thank you so much for featuring me next week!

      Marit

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