I do not have a thigh gap, therefore the first breaking point of all my jeans always happens to be in the crotch.
I personally prefer invisible mending for this position, even though it is not as instagrammable as visible mending. And I prefer techniques, that do not thicken the jeans too much, like another layer of jeans cloth would do.
Easiest if done in time
The game changer ist the timing of the repair work: My favorite jeans is not yet ripped, but close to. The cloth in this area is already very thin. So I decided to act fast, because patching is a lot easier when done in time.
Instructions – step by step
First I located the damaged area and basted the outline on the right side of the fabric. They are useful, because they are marking the stitching area while machine darning.
To strengthen the elastic jeans cloth before mending, I ironed the cross-elastic fusible web on the darning area.
I chose yarn in three slightly different colors to mimic the vivid appearance of jeans cloth.
Machine mending
Tipps for mending your jeans with the machine
- Use a jeans needle. This really makes a difference!
If you do not have one, take an universal needle, at least needle gauge 90. If the cloth is very heavy, you can choose gauge 100. - Use the free arm of your machine, if you have got one.
- Be careful to not sew together parts of the jeans, because it really sucks to unravel it. And it can happen quite easy, if you are not concentrated all the time. I know, what I am talking off ;-/
- Do not sew too much over the bast threads (if you are using them), because they will be difficult to remove afterwards.
I wanted to have control over the stitching lines, thus I was sewing “normally“ and not using a darning foot / turning the feet teeth off. Of course you can use your darning foot or darning stitch on your machine, if you prefer working a bit faster than me.
Ready to go!
The haptics are complete success: If touching the cloth, the repaired parts feel almost the same like the original jeans cloth. Having the same gauge.
Thus it feels great to wear the pair of jeans – with the benefit that I do not feel like wearing pampers.
And I am also content with the visual appearance: If you do not know of the repair, you will not notice it.
Objectives achieved, I like this kind of projects!
Just one more thing: I did not wash the pants yet. I will tell you after the first washes, how and if this mending works all along the cycle.
