Mending Old Jeans 2

 Hello Readers. My daughter found these wonderful appliqued jeans for me at a thrift store. The floral details were so pretty. They were seriously distressed. I like distressing but these were a little too much for me because of the location of some of the distressing. Some parts of me need to be covered. I am picky like that. Let me show you how I patched them up. 

 Before and after.  

I loved these jeans but the holes on the upper thigh were too revealing for me and it's winter. And I would freeze with all these holes. The knee holes would make me really cold as well. The length was not right either, but I can fix all that. 

 

I wanted to patch some of these holes for warmth and modesty. I was particularly worried about the holes at the hips. (My underwear would show through some of these holes. I can't go out like that!)

  

I do not have enough scrap denim to patch all these holes. I did have some of these iron-on patches.  

  

The patches are denim looking but they can do so much for me than scrap fabric could do. 

 

The reverse side of the patches are shiny. That shiny side goes directly on the fabric. When the patch is ironed, it sticks to the fabric. 

 

I turned my jeans inside out and placed the patches on the holes I wanted to cover. I used all the different shades of blue that I had on-hand. I wasn't worried about matching the jeans exactly but you can match your patches if you want to. I placed the patches shiny side on the fabric and ironed them in place. I used a very hot iron, (Similar here.) follow the directions on your patches in regards to the desired temperature needed for the iron. 

 

I turned the jeans right-side out. I ironed the patched spots again from this side to make sure the patches were well adhered to the denim fabric. I didn't want loose patches. 

 

Here is a look at one of the patched spots. The fraying covered the patch quite a bit. To add strength to my patches I sewed over the jeans and patches. I used light blue thread to match the fabric. I sewed forward and reverse, back and forth, over and over. The stitches will keep the patches in place for sure, even over time with washing and drying. The holes will be covered and I won't have to worry about it.  

 

Here is another patched spot. You can see the stitches clearly here. I kept sewing back and forth to cover the spot. I did not patch every single spot on the jeans, just the larger ones on the hips and upper thighs. 

  

 The knees also bothered me. The holes were actually not on my knees. They were lower because I am really short.  I decided to patch them using the same kind of iron-on patches, these were just larger patches because the holes were larger in these 2 spots.

 

I ironed these patches inside the jeans with my iron, just like I did with the other patches. They ironed in place just as easily. 

 

 I could not get the leg of the jeans under my sewing machine so I reinforced these patches with some hand sewing. I sewed around the hole and around the patch to attach the patch to the jeans. I think sewing the patches in place makes them MUCH stronger and they will stay in place much better over time if you take this step. 

 

These jeans were so distressed that I did not hem the pant legs, I just cut them to the length I wanted. The edges will fray and that will match the rest of the distressing in the jeans well. 

 

 I had a sweater that matched the applique design really well. I really liked these jeans. They had a fun bohemian vibe and I love the distressing, patches and visible mending. Repairing things that we use and love makes me feel good. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Mending Old Jeans 1

 Hello Readers. When I find a bargain, I can't resist taking it home. These jeans were only 25 cents because they were so worn and damaged. I have been thinking about how much we throw away and how wasteful we can be with clothing but also all sorts of things. I want to take the time to mend and repair the things I own and love so... I bought the jeans and decided to try and rescue them.

Before and after. 

These jeans were really worn in and the denim was so soft. It takes so long to break denim in like this. When I saw these for such a low price, I saw a lot of potential. But there were a lot of problems. These were men's jeans. They didn't fit me well. There was also some wear and small holes in embarrassing places.  

You can see the hole right next to the zipper. That is not going to work for me. That is an area I really want covered. I started unpicking the crotch below the zipper. 

 

I unpicked several inches of the seam. I didn't un-do the zipper itself. Just the crotch seam.

 

With the seam un-done I could pull the right side of the pants over to the left and cover that hole. These jeans Had plenty of room so this will actually improve the fit for me. 

 

I wanted to sew the jeans back together like this. That hole will be covered up. 

 

Let's zoom in. I stitched the jeans back together in the new position. I sewed slow and used a new needle because multiple layers denim can be tough to sew through. A denim needle will work best. 

 

There was a similar hole on the back of the jeans. It was right next to the pocket. I do not want a hole in the bum of my jeans. That is another area I really want my jeans to cover is my bum. Let's mend that hole.

 

I found a scrap of denim to use as a patch. I wanted it to be much bigger than the hole. It is going inside the jeans and it will be right over the hole. 

 

I sewed back and forth over the hole and patch to re-enforce the fabric. My stitches are extending about 2 inches beyond the hole to add strength to the whole area. 

 

You can see my stitches here. I sewed forward and backward over the area in both directions. That will make the patch stronger too. The pocket was a more complicated spot to fix but it wasn't too difficult. I stitched vertically next to the pocket and then horizontally above the pocket because I had to work around the corner of that pocket. 

 

I wanted to narrow the legs of the jeans a bit so I sewed along the inner seam to make a new seam that was a little smaller. I turned the jeans inside out and made sure the leg of the jeans was flat and smooth before I sewed my new seam. 

 

I also cut the jeans a bit shorter. I cut at an angle so the front of the pant leg was a bit shorter than the back of the pant leg. 

 

My new/old jeans were great now. They fit so much better. The holes are patched, filled in, and covered. Thanks for reading along, now go repair something fun for yourself.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Removing Jean Pockets

 Hello Readers. I love to go thrifting and sometimes I find amazing items. Sometimes I find great basics too. These jeans fit so well and the length was perfect. They were a perfect basic. And they were only $1.75!!! I liked the dark wash but not the front pockets.

Removing the pockets.

These jeans were on clearance at the thrift store. They were also soft and had a straight leg cut. They seemed great.

I didn't notice until I got home but the front patch pockets were unevenly placed. I don't like front patch pockets anyway and I planned to remove the pockets entirely. 

 

I used a seam ripper to take the stitches out. I worked from the inside to prevent damaging the outer fabric. I worked slow and went stitch by stitch until I could remove the pockets easily. I didn't want to pull on the fabric or rip the front of the jeans. 

The jeans had some slight light marks where the pocket stitches were. 

 

I used a fine tipped permanent marker in black to hide the little stitch marks. I didn't draw a line over them. I made a small dot right on the light spot to darken it. I went dot by dot until I had blended them away. The permanent marker will stay on through the washer and dryer well over time.

 

I was happy with how the stitch marks had disappeared. I think the smooth front looks better without the pockets. I like the plain simple look of these "new" jeans so much better. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

Artistic Jeans

 Hello Readers. Do you like distressed denim? I love almost anything of  denim and jeans are my everyday uniform. But these are a little too distressed for me. Especially in winter. My legs would freeze in these. They were only 25 cents at one of my favorite thrift store! I brought them home and decided to patch all these holes.

 

Before and after.

 

 

The holes in these jeans were not going to work in the winter where I live. It is freezing outside. I would turn into an ice cube. 

I need some patches. I decided to use this fabric I had on hand. This fabric is cotton and has a nice weight to it, it's pretty thick. It is for home interior decorating projects. It will be a good match for the thicknes for these jeans. I could cut out some of the pictures and use them as patches.

I cut out the pictures with my rotary cutter. I cut the pictures out based on the size of the picture and the size of the holes in my jeans. I wanted the patches to be a bit larger than the holes.

I arranged the patches on top of the jeans to make sure the holes were fully covered. I arranged them carefully to make sure my plan would work.

 

I used this iron-on hem tape to hold the patches in place. Pins would also work but they always seem to shift around and stab me when I am sewing so this tape will be safer for me. 

I placed the tape under the patches. I put it around the edges and ironed the patches to the jeans following the directions on the package. 

I unbuttoned the jeans. This allowed me to get the jeans into position on the sewing machine. I used a zigzag stitch all around the patches. The stitching will hold much better than the iron-on tape alone over the long term. 

It took a while to get around all the patches and wiggle the jeans around my sewing machine but it worked out great.

My jeans were finished. The patches were all in place and all the holes were covered. My legs would be warm and covered all winter. 

I love the colorful and fun patches. This was such a fun way to "fix" the distressed spots on my jeans. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Denim for Pennies

 Hello Readers. Sometimes when I go on a thrift adventure I find a real gem. This classic simple denim skirt was an amazing find. It was only 25 cents.That's right. One quarter.

Before and after. 

I liked these front seams a lot and the dark wash of the denim was nice too. 

I found this skirt in the 25 cent bin. 

Were they serious??? I doubled checked with the nice grandma-type woman at the front desk. (She reminded me of my Grandmom.) They were serious. It was only a quarter!!

The only problem was that the skirt had was the messy hem someone had made. I didn't mind, I have made some messy hems before. I took it home and made it my own. 

I needed to resize this skirt. It was just a bit big and I wanted it to fit really well. It had stretch to it and that would help with fit and comfort. I made new side seams so that I could keep those 2 front seams centered and symmetrically placed. 

I wanted the skirt to have a straight fit like a pencil skirt. I liked how it turned out. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. And go by your local thrift store, you might find something fabulous.

 ***Year End Update***- This skirt is such a great basic, it is always easy to wear.