Denim Repair

[Dr_Heech]

@reubensangwich

Modern day Jacob Davis right there!

[swiss-jeansfreak]

Such an excellent job done here!!!💪💪

[reubensangwich]

@swiss-jeansfreak @Dr_Heech Much appreciated fellas! 

[rbeck]

Quick darn job on the crotch of the pair of jeans I made for my brother. Pleased with how well it blended in!

Debating on giving him one of my sewing machines so he can start doing this stuff himself. 

[space_cowboy]

Roy shouted out this dude Anthony from blue whale for hemming and repairs on his Instagram so I decided to try out his services. I had a hole forming on my pair of Fullcount's and he did a fantastic job at a great price. Would definitely recommend for those stateside.

 

Before: The crotch seam started coming undone several months ago and that repaired locally

 

After:

[reubensangwich]

I’ve been dying to see what all the hype used to be about regarding CSF, but there is no way I’d want to support the man behind the operation after reading the thread (if it would even be possible to get my hands on a pair.) So for the past few months I’ve been browsing Mercari and Yahoo; eventually I found a pair of Cushman 22501XX, lightly worn, for a nice price, and made the purchase.
 

Well the jeans landed today and after a spin in the washer and drier I was trying them on and noticed an odd looking tear on the right pocket, when I took them off I was inspecting the stitching on the watch/coin pocket when I noticed the back of the rivet on the top of the right pocket looked loose, I put my finger nail in the gap between the rivet and the fabric and to my dismay it popped right off (I think @scooby had the same issue with his pair, guess it’s that authentic wartime workmanship haha.) Well then, not problem, I’ve got a bit of experience placing rivets, as I used one on the failing crotch of my LVC’s. Seems I’ve got a penchant for shoddy quality.

The rivets I’ve got rolling around are a bit larger than the standard size used on denim, but the post fit through the hole in the jeans easily, and I don’t think it’ll be too noticeable.

 

Edited September 4 by reubensangwich

[reubensangwich]

More hardware replacement, this time on the Neat Style Kiwami WW2. 

They came with a pre-rusted top button, which blew through the button hole stitching at a rate I’ve never seen before. I presume it’s from how abrasive the rusty button is. After a bit of deliberation about whether or not I wanted to have to keep shoring up the button hole once a month or just replace the button, I decided to replace the button with a virgin Laurel Leaf button, for period accuracy of course. 

Repaired button hole (excuse the amateur stitch work):

New button:

Edited September 4 by reubensangwich

[Double 0 Soul]

On 9/4/2026 at 1:32 AM, reubensangwich said:

I’ve been dying to see what all the hype used to be about regarding CSF, but there is no way I’d want to support the man behind the operation after reading the thread (if it would even be possible to get my hands on a pair.) So for the past few months I’ve been browsing Mercari and Yahoo; eventually I found a pair of Cushman 22501XX, lightly worn, for a nice price, and made the purchase.

That's good work with the rivet reuben!

Just to give you a bit of history.. the 'hype' didn't necessarily center around the jeans themselves.. they were never that good.. it centered around fact that pre-CSF.. repro jeans from Japan had gotten almost too good.. flawless in fact, with almost laser accurate stitching, anyhing less than perfect denimz failed QC..  comparing those 'repros' to actual vintage from the vaults of Marvins or BBJ, they didn't really bare any resemblance.

^^compared to any 2013era Japanese repro where every single pair was identical and stitch perfect.

..here is my favourite 40s era detail.. i came close to buying this pair for £6400 fk knows what they'd be worth now

 

back in 2013 RMC released a 003 war model with wonky / asymmetric back pocket stitch.. Gordon sent me photos..

..and i pre-ordered a pair from BiG, assuming individual wonkiness on each pair.. alas, every pair was identically wonky.. each back pocket stitch followed the exact same template. 😭

.. so rather than the hype being about the jeans per se.. the hype was more to do with appreciating that 40s era jeans were nvr perfect.. we'd been talking about it on the forums for some years, CSF was the first to put it into production.. as b_F has pointed out.. Denime did it by accident.. but everything which has come since.. all the cartoon loose thread bollocks, all the exaggerated wonkiness, all the 1943, 1945 first half.. doffs it's cap to CSF who should in tern doff their cap to DB and sufu for appreciating that current repros bared no resemblance to actual vintage.. so the hype is less to do with the actual jeans and more to do with ethos.. which 12yrs later is just as washed as every other niche.

Edited September 5 by Double 0 Soul

[Dr_Heech]

7 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

..here is my favourite 40s era detail.. i came close to buying this pair for £6400 fk knows what they'd be worth now

 

 

Morning Neal, really good to see that image again. I remember you posting it years ago on DB. Wasn't it a Marvin's piece?

[Double 0 Soul]

You’re right.. I’ll edit. I was halfway down a bottle of red  

[Double 0 Soul]

Remember when we first started chatting about 506xx @Dr_Heech .. I was sending you links to super-vintage pieces listed on Yahoo auctions for no more than 100,000¥ which seemed like an insane price back then (now they’re closer to ¥1mill) why didn’t you just say “shudup Neal and fking buy it” .. I’d be rich.. rich as astronauts! 

[Dr_Heech]

1 hour ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Remember when we first started chatting about 506xx @Dr_Heech .. I was sending you links to super-vintage pieces listed on Yahoo auctions for no more than 100,000¥ which seemed like an insane price back then (now they’re closer to ¥1mill) why didn’t you just say “shudup Neal and fking buy it” .. I’d be rich.. rich as astronauts! 

Tell me about it, l had many vintage pairs run through my hands back in the late 80's and early 90's that would have made me rich, but l was a poor student back then but l loved wearing them but needed money, so a double edged sword  My biggest regret being a pair of early 60's XX l bought for 18 quid from a second hand shop in Bath. They were mint and a great size. Ended up selling them for 200 quid in London. I was chuffed to bits until the very first Vintage magazine came out (it was more of a pamphlet really) and suddenly prices had surged x10 ! So in a matter of a few months l could have sold them for 2k.

Tbh they are just jeans, and l wore most pairs l bought over the years before selling them and hardly a photo to document. Doesn't bother me though as l've enjoyed this Sufu/DB/Sufu experience even more.

Just to keep us on topic ...

Lady worker riveting a pair of 40s levis 

 

Edited September 5 by Dr_Heech
To edit

[swiss-jeansfreak]

13 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

That's good work with the rivet reuben!

Just to give you a bit of history.. the 'hype' didn't necessarily center around the jeans themselves.. they were never that good.. it centered around fact that pre-CSF.. repro jeans from Japan had gotten almost too good.. flawless in fact, with almost laser accurate stitching, anyhing less than perfect denimz failed QC..  comparing those 'repros' to actual vintage from the vaults of Marvins or BBJ, they didn't really bare any resemblance.

^^compared to any 2013era Japanese repro where every single pair was identical and stitch perfect.

..here is my favourite 40s era detail.. i came close to buying this pair for £6400 fk knows what they'd be worth now

 

back in 2013 RMC released a 003 war model with wonky / asymmetric back pocket stitch.. Gordon sent me photos..

..and i pre-ordered a pair from BiG, assuming individual wonkiness on each pair.. alas, every pair was identically wonky.. each back pocket stitch followed the exact same template. 😭

.. so rather than the hype being about the jeans per se.. the hype was more to do with appreciating that 40s era jeans were nvr perfect.. we'd been talking about it on the forums for some years, CSF was the first to put it into production.. as b_F has pointed out.. Denime did it by accident.. but everything which has come since.. all the cartoon loose thread bollocks, all the exaggerated wonkiness, all the 1943, 1945 first half.. doffs it's cap to CSF who should in tern doff their cap to DB and sufu for appreciating that current repros bared no resemblance to actual vintage.. so the hype is less to do with the actual jeans and more to do with ethos.. which 12yrs later is just as washed as every other niche.

Wow such great looking coin pockets!!💪👍

[reubensangwich]

Oh trust me, Double 0, I am very aware of the reason for the hype, some of my favorite slow-day-at-work reading happens to be the CSF threads here and on Denimbro, I’ve read both beginning to end a couple of times now. Plenty of juicy gossip, great discussion, and some absolutely fantastic fades, mostly courtesy of yourself and @Flash (not to discount @Broark, @Dr_Heech, or @beautiful_FrEaK’s contributions!) 

The whole reason I became interested in CSF was because people, such as the aforementioned, who had opinions on denim garments that I very much respect at this point said that a pair of jeans made by Konaka were about as close as you could get to real vintage. But I think I might just be missing something, my pieces from FW and Ooe feel like they capture the spirit of vintage much better. For FW it’s the gorgeous and infinitely interesting denim and the immaculate stitching that embodies that old world expert craftsmanship, and for Ooe it’s the obviously handmade quality it has to it. Maybe part of my problem is I’ve never gotten to handle the real thing, or perhaps this just isn’t the right pair? I believe I read a comment from Flash saying that the jeans made for Cushman have ironed instead of hand rolled seams, maybe there are other “shortcuts” he took that make them less special than mainline CSF? Who’s to say, we know the man himself would probably never give away such trade secrets. Either way I am a bit disappointed handling these vaunted jeans, but honestly at the end of the day that’s probably my own fault, they are just jeans after all. 

And trust me, I am all too familiar with the intentional “wonkiness” that is rampant nowadays… “improperly” placed rivets that sit in the perfectly improper place, the  one leg chain stitch one leg lock stitch, the pairs with a crotch rivet but no cinch back, the angled red tabs, mismatched buttons on flies and jackets, etc. 

Some of it does get to be just a bit affected, these are garments that are made by quite skilled artisans after all… but I feel like you have to appreciate that at least there are people out there who are trying to embody the vintage spirit, especially when it comes to the variation that can be seen in these WW2 pieces. 
 

edit:

Got myself sorted with a properly sized rivet, and it seems he took a bit of inspiration from that favorite detail of yours @Double 0 Soul, not nearly as wonky though.

Edited September 5 by reubensangwich

[Dr_Heech]

@reubensangwich Just to say, my reason for the slow fades was because it took me a pair of Csf WW2 (size 34),  a pair of 46 (35) 1st half's and a pair of 41's (36) before my 4th pair ( 2nd pair of 1941's) finally fit me (and my 5th pair, bf's old WW2 denim pocket bags pair) - both in size 38 waist.

Both pairs now have very promising fades but have useless front pockets imo, way too shallow. Lush details though. 

Edited September 5 by Dr_Heech
To edit

[Double 0 Soul]

You've pretty much nailed that description @reubensangwich .. i agree with all of your points, the only reason i say 'they were never that good' is down to the patterning rather than the details.. the details, the denim, the thread, the machines, the hardwear were all fantastic but the perfectly sized waistband, sewn into a pair of jeans which were 2 sizes down creating the weird funnel effect at the waist, just wasn't.

.. it was a stretch to think it could be a period slip-up in tune with the brand ethos when the issue ran through numerous pairs causing numerous sizing mistakes.. all at the hip.

[julian-wolf]

Yep, the biggest issue with CSF besides the ownership’s vibe was that they only ever fit @Flash well

[Double 0 Soul]

Oi !

[reubensangwich]

No worries, Doc, as a pencil pusher myself I’m never one to judge slow fades. It seems he never got away from those shallow front pockets, these 22501XX’s barely fit a modern phone, easily the shallowest pockets I’ve experienced yet. 
 

Those pictures of Flash’s jeans raw always make me smile, how Konaka could sew those up and look at that waist to hip ratio and think “yup that’s what I’m going for,” is perplexing. We’ve all heard of hip flare, but waistband flare? That’s a purely CSF anomaly. 

Edited September 5 by reubensangwich

[Dr_Heech]

I call it the flowerpot top block. 

[scooby]

The 22501XX fit is perfect, though. None of the S409XXX wonkiness I experienced with the two pairs I had

and the 22501 (not to be confused with the 22501XX)… Flowerpot level 100

 

[Double 0 Soul]

To be fair.. both of my 46s fitted like regular denimz, albeit, the size 33 was a little snug and the size 34 was a little loose.. i wore them both of them to rags nonetheless.. 

Maybe standards started to slip because of the workload and time pressures on the limited workforce.. akin to the Levi factory when folks were working towards the war effort?

Fk he's done it again lads.. Grrrr! 

Edited September 8 by Double 0 Soul

[Cold Summer]

It seems like WWII-era jeans in general can have pretty wonky proportions. I love my Flat Head 3003xx and 3003W jeans because they're a pretty liberal interpretation of a WWII pair - they've got the usual details (no pocket rivets, donut button, back pocket shape, painted arcs etc.) but fit me like a pretty classic straight fit and slim straight fit, respectively, they obviously weren't trying too hard to exactly replicate the mega anti-fit top block and leg taper that a lot of those vintage pairs have. My TCB Late S40s are a much more realistic repro of WWII S501xx and they look okay on me, but not as nice as those two TFH pairs.

CSF is too expensive for me so I never considered buying those for a moment even before the controversy, but yeah I too enjoyed Flash's fits in those.

[CSL]

On 9/5/2026 at 8:53 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

 the weird funnel effect at the waist

I always wondered if 'the weird funnel effect' waist shape might actually be rather comfortable. I was curious to find out, but not $450 curious.

[Double 0 Soul]

For cupping the love handles?

[youngofthesoonest]

On 9/15/2026 at 9:54 PM, Double 0 Soul said:

For cupping the love handles?

the push up bra for your love handles. 

[CSL]

Not wishing to derail the top notch comedy action going on here but what I was thinking is that some high waisted jeans can tend to slip down lower than desired. Perhaps the nipped in hip shape would improve that situation.