Denim Repair

[julian-wolf]

@ColonelAngus Yep, always the first repair I have to do on Levi’s—left pocket, for me, also (presumably) because of keys

Posted a sort of how-to a few pages ago for this method—pretty straightforward & has yet to require any extra maintenance down the line

[Broark]

Tried my hand at reinforcing one of the button holes on my FW S601. We'll see how they hold up, I'm not great with a needle and thread!
Before:

After:

[lance]

Nice Work, Broark!

[chicote]

Getting around to some more repairs on my tcb 40s, this time on the front pockets (and soon the left knee, then the back left pocket, for the third time…)

I did this repair before going back and reading @julian-wolf’s excellent tutorial on this exact job, using a sewing machine and some clever fabric adhesive. It’s in the middle of page 43 in case anybody wants to go take a look. This is going to be more or less the same process, but by hand and about three months too late, lol.

Three months too late in that I’ve basically torn the whole top of the pocket open and have to constantly make a deliberate effort to not drop my keys, lighters, etc down my pant leg and into the top of my boots. Don’t get to this point before doing this repair if you can avoid it!

So, a smart thing to do, which Julian properly got around to in his repair, is to start with a curved patch, made by tracing and folding the patch fabric along the contour of the pocket itself. I didn’t do this, I just used a scrap of selvedge fabric from my lovely donor mis-sized Tenders, which are now about 30% reconstituted as patches for other pairs of jeans. The result of using a straight cut of fabric, rather than following the contour of the pocket, will become apparent by the end.

I’m using the end of this gold thread which is moderately thick, I’d reckon about the same gauge as what’s used on a lot of our jeans here. The benefit of using a thick thread, besides it being stronger, is you don’t need to double it up - you can just pass the needle through the center of the thread, pull it tight against the base of the needle, and not have to worry about it coming out while working.

Starting here with a chainstitch at one end of the patch, just holding the folded edge against the seam here and pushing through the holes made by the existing stitches. Even though I’m technically sewing through 6 layers of denim here, if you get your needle right in the hole made by the existing stitches you shouldn’t have to fight it at all, and it’ll slip straight into the patch fabric on the other side. I’m not sure i’d be up for this repair if it meant wearing my fingers out yanking the needle through all 6 layers every stitch, so working slowly and with precision is really worth it here.

Worked my way across now and am going to tuck the end of the thread behind the patch, knot it and start with a new length of thread, once I figure out where to start. The process of patching the bag itself is going to be a lot messier and less precise, mainly because of the options I have for holding the fabric together.

I figured since the hole is easier to get at on this side, I’d better start with the jeans right side out and the pocket pulled out, with the seam of the pocket turned over as well. Here’s what that looks like with the patch folded back over:

 

I went at it for a little bit this way, with my left hand working inside the pocket bag to keep it flush against the patch, and my right pushing the needle through in a straight-ish line, zig zagging back and forth through both layers like how you’d do a basting stitch. Saves a lot of time in these sort of situations when you just want to get fabric stuck together and aren’t worried about how it looks.

 

Once I had one row of stitches in, I realized it would be much easier to turn the jeans inside out and keep the pocket right side in - that way I could see the hole in the pocket bag and concentrate my stitching where it would actually matter. If you can’t tell, I’m not much one for day-long denim repairs anymore, especially when this is the first of five patches I’m gonna need to get to. This was about an hour of work and felt about as thorough as I cared to be - given these jeans might not last a whole lot longer anyhow. But who knows.

And here’s the finished product seen from the outside. I know, not much to look at, lol, but there’s one important thing to note. Because I didn’t curve my patch panel, the pocket bag and patch pucker inwards inside the pocket. Or, held another way, the pocket itself sits a bit open, rather than flush against the coin pocket as it was originally sewn. Again, I don’t mind this really as these are getting pretty beat up anyway, but I’m going to employ julian’s patch making method for the other pocket and would probably recommend you do too. Thanks for reading!

[crownzip]

My sister has some mad skills at repairing the pocket bags of a pair of old San Antonio made LVC '47's. Back in the day, LVS had notorious weak pocket bags. 

[Geeman]

Sent my FC into soldier blue for crotch stich repair,  they did a cracking job.

 

Also on the subject of Soldier Blue and the SOAS team,  I first went there years ago (more than I care to remember! ) and left not feeling very happy with the service. But I have to say after getting to know Rudy and Linda better over the last couple years via purchases and general chit chat they are a great team/shop. Genuinely good people.

Example: Last October I bought some Paraboot from them. As I have far to many shoes, boots and sneakers they didn't get a lot of wear. Fast forward to Feb 22 and after about 3 wears I noticed the leather covering the seam on the top of the seam (the horseshoe bit) was a bit wonky and was not flush to the shoe. After shooting them an email, 6 months after buying them, they arranged FOC to get them shipped back to them for them to send to Paraboot so they could deal with the customs stuff, liaised directly with PB, shipped back to them and then back to me. Rudy dropped me a couple text messages to keep me updated etc. 

There's another couple of rather long (boring) anecdotes I could give but you get the point 

[Dr_Heech]

My experiences with Soas were one good, one bad.

Went to them with my Sc47's (with arcs) and Bartack jeans (old 90's jap repros) and got both pairs hemmed. Dan was the guy that did the job and he was awesome. Very professional execution. 

Second visit, Dan was away (wife expecting) so l entrusted Rudy with my 2 pairs to be hemmed, my  (now @Flash's) CSF WW2's and some FW47's l bought via @Duke Mantee 's mate, Seiichiro). We chatted for a while first - seemed like a really decent fella. When it came to hemming the results were well below what l expected: the folded over/half-selvege on the CSF pair were a botch job, and the FW's now have one leg slightly shorter than the other  (albeit not noticeable when wearing).

Hence my joy at discovering Soldier Blue and Clutch cafe as alternatives.

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Dr_Heech

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

Here’s a nice little interview with Matt Rho about boro repairs. It’s from a while back but still an interesting read. He sort of vanished from social media platforms after that, and I think his plans never happened which is a shame. I wonder why was that. 
 

http://someone-else.us/stories/matt-rho-boro-denim-repair/

Edited September 22, 2022 by Hopethisoneisnttaken

[rockon99]

Helloooo — it’s nearing time to have these joints repaired. I’ve only ever had hems and full crotch holes done through Self Edge PDX, while I prefer to have smaller repairs done by a local shop or handstitched by myself. 
 

I’ve been aware (and on the mailing list) of Indigo Proof for quite some time, though have never applied for her work. I’m curious if anyone with experience can recommend one over the other, as I’m expecting Rain’s books to open up soon and would consider applying. 

 

as you may notice, the crotch is getting quite thin, and the multi-layered center seam has started to come undone. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by rockon99
Added text

[NilsLW]

Had a pair of 80s 501s altered to my length with a chainstitch hem, the original hem left a little to be desired. Hopefully I'll get some roping to pop after the next wash, happy either way.

[Maynard Friedman]

You can soak those hems in boiling water to give the roping a kickstart.

[Thanks_M8]

On the same line as the hemjob, but a bit more wild.

[rockon99]

On 9/22/2022 at 12:37 AM, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

Here’s a nice little interview with Matt Rho about boro repairs. It’s from a while back but still an interesting read. He sort of vanished from social media platforms after that, and I think his plans never happened which is a shame. I wonder why was that. 
 

http://someone-else.us/stories/matt-rho-boro-denim-repair/

Old quote here …

This was a fascinating read. Anyone have any cool boro or other antique mending inspiration they could share? Blogs, photo series, etc? 
 

I’m lookin to do some major hand repairs to an old pair I have and I’m struggling to make a plan. The above article really makes me feel as though I’m overthinking it, so maybe I should just slow it down. 

[LazyS]

Look up Yui Narita of Brown Tabby Works. I think I've seen him draw out his patch designs in a sketchbook first.

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by LazyS

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

On 9/8/2023 at 3:26 AM, rockon99 said:

Old quote here …

This was a fascinating read. Anyone have any cool boro or other antique mending inspiration they could share? Blogs, photo series, etc? 
 

I’m lookin to do some major hand repairs to an old pair I have and I’m struggling to make a plan. The above article really makes me feel as though I’m overthinking it, so maybe I should just slow it down. 

Here are a few from ig that I really enjoy: 

https://instagram.com/nora1985cat?igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg==

 

https://instagram.com/vintagecustoman?igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg==

I also created this board on Pinterest with mending inspiration stuff for myself, feel free to follow it  though I’m not sure it’s to everyone’s taste  

https://pin.it/1Ao64pP

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Hopethisoneisnttaken

[Thanks_M8]

Repairs following @chicote instructions.

My wife got me a sewing machine for my birthday in june, took a while to set it up, but its coming along.

Repairing tcb contest 40s rn

[swiss-jeansfreak]

Well done

[rockon99]

The area of concern. It’s nearly threadbare, and the tear in the knee goes all the way through. I don’t own a sewing machine but am thinking of hand darning the individual small holes, then putting a larger patch underneath and using a sashiko pattern to reinforce it. I’m having a hard time deciding what to do about the knee hole though. Maybe a patch on top would be worthwhile. 

[swiss-jeansfreak]

Wow awesome faded and quite some repair work ahead.

I would add a real big patch underneath including the big knee tear area and darn it this way.

Adding some sashiko pattern would be great as well

[beautiful_FrEaK]

So I have this broken thread on the inside (orange) but on the outside only the yellow thread is visible. 

Do I need to repair the orange thread and if so, how?!

[Thanks_M8]

1 hour ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

So I have this broken thread on the inside (orange) but on the outside only the yellow thread is visible. 

Do I need to repair the orange thread and if so, how?!

U could stitch over it with yellow thread for safety (use poly for durability). Usually the spot wears through on both stitch lines sooner or later... 

The orange thread is the first sewing line, over which the inseam is folded over, so basically it is double sewn. The yellow thread sews down the folded inseam so it stays flat and in the same position.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Thanks_M8

[redragon]

Not denim but I had 3 pairs of socks repaired recently, pretty stoked with the results.

[chicote]

Beautiful @redragon!!!

[1fookntitefd]

Just got my warehouse back from indigoproof. Here are some before and after pics.

 

before

[1fookntitefd]

Edited November 1, 2023 by 1fookntitefd

[Cold Summer]

As someone utterly lacking in practical skills, I really appreciate Indigo Proof, in my experience it's like getting a whole new pair of jeans - and what's nice, is that since it's your most-worn areas getting fixed, your repaired jeans should last way longer before needing more repairs than a brand-new pair would. Darned knees, for example, are way more sturdy than brand-new denim.

On my Flat Head denim shirt I blew out the elbows by around four months of wear, and got them darned by Rain. Now I have about 1.5 years of actual wear on that shirt, and no sign of new blowout on the elbows.

Given the cost of these sorts of repairs it's not really worth it for every single pair of jeans you own, but if it's a pair you really like and want to keep wearing for a long time, just do it.

This has kind of informed my current jeans-wearing philosophy, you could say: I'm wearing a single "raw" pair until it needs critical repairs (e.g., knee blowout), then wash, and start on the next one. If I want to keep wearing a busted-up pair, get it fixed and then continue. If not, then retire. I'm finding this helps remove the "decision paralysis" of which cool pair of pants to wear if you're limited to wearing one "dirty" pair at a time and critical damage dictates when a pair is "complete."

[julian-wolf]

Recently patched over a knee blowout on the M41119 that I use mostly for climbing

Did it all by hand, which I had never actually tried out before for this sort of repair, & I’m really happy with how it’s turned out

[chicote]

That looks great Julian!! Any reason in particular why you oriented the denim in that direction? I’ve been thinking about orienting my next knee patch so the bias runs vertically, to see if it might give the fabric there a bit of a break from constant stretching. As a trade-off, the knees might bag out more, but I’m not sure. Anyway, beautiful work on the patch and those jeans too!

[julian-wolf]

Thanks! No, no reasoning behind the orientation of the patch besides having had a piece of scrap denim around that was the right size & shape if I oriented it like that…

[rbeck]

Those of you who work on jeans with a machine, what recommendations do you have for a good quality sewing machine? I've been using an old Brother machine I got for free that's done alright, but it struggles when I have to patch over a flat felled seam. Also plan on making my own jeans in the not too distant future and I'd like to set myself up for success. 

Should I look for vintage Singers? Should I try and score an industrial machine off facebook marketplace? Or are there reliable (i.e. lots of metal parts, and no computers) machines being made these days that I oughta consider? Not sure if $500 is a reasonable budget but that's what I'm at least starting with. 

Appreciate it!