On the Mend: Reinforce Your Jeans

Ah, jeans. That classic fashion staple that became formal wear in 2020.

Like many people in the world, my thighs touch, and that area is generally the first to wear out on my pants. I know most people would just buy new jeans at this point, but the rest of the jeans still have a lot of wear left. The most effective way to fight Fast Fashion is to make your clothes last as long as possible, so I was determined that this pair would live to see another day (or year).

While I’ve been playing with some visible mending techniques (more on that later!), this is not a spot that I want to draw attention to. Not only that, but it’s a hard spot to see anyway, which defeats the purpose of “visible.” That said, here’s my method to reinforce worn parts of your jeans, the less noticeable way!

You’ll need:

1. Scrap denim (which is a great use for any structurally-sound parts of truly worn jeans!)
2. Sharp sewing needle
3. Thread that matches

First, cut the scrap denim so it covers the worn area and a little extra on every side. With your jeans inside out, place and pin the scraps over the problem areas.

Secure the thread at the bottom of the patch, and sew a running stitch up to the top of the patch.

When you reach that top edge, do one more stitch going in outside of the patch, to secure it, and out back inside the patch (This stitch will go the opposite direction of your first line of stitches). Continue your running stitch back down to the bottom of the patch.

Continue making vertical lines of running stitch (and securing the patch edge when you change directions) until you’ve covered the entire patch.

Repeat the whole process with horizontal lines, starting wherever the vertical lines left off.

And repeat for any other worn parts you have!

Ta-da! A sturdy reinforcement that’s hardly noticeable (and if anyone does notice, their face is too close to my butt).

Jeans are where I personally need this the most, but this method would work on any kind of pants. So, go forth and mend, friends! Let’s keep our clothes out of the landfills for as long as we can!