Crotch Repair

[TrappedInDC]

What's the best way to repair holes in the crotch of jeans? I'm 7 months into my RRDS project and love how the jeans look... Now I notice the crotch problem. The fabric in the high stress areas is getting pretty thin, and I've got a breakaway next to the seam on one side... not too bad at the moment, but there will be no wearing them until the issue is resolved.

I've got a I always seem to have the same problem in the same places in my jeans.

I know about the iron on patch route for repairs not involving seams. There's also the behind the hole method, which i think looks great... again I'm not sure about along seams. Is this something that a professional should handle, or is there something i can do by myself?

The clerks at the Denim Bar say I can just bring the jeans in for repair, but I'll be missing them for a week and I may have to pick up some new project jeans (they've got APCs in stock now :-) )

Any help ya'll can provide would be great.

I found this post by Shorty Long:

"I do my own repairs by hand with a single needle. you should reinforce the worn area because you are going to only create more wear down there. I, myself, don't wear holes in the crotches of my jeans, but have repaied a few vintage jeans with worn crotches and they come out looking great. It seams that you either cause wear down there or you don't. Most likely, Levis will do a blind repair like that on the 45 rpm site. I prefer using cloth behind the repair because a blind repair does a lot of damage to the original denim by stabbing it a couple of thousand times with a needle. a mixture of the two is great aswell."

Thanks in advance,

Trapped

[docdoom]

I just fixed me edwins in the crotch, looks kinds rough but thats fine by me, they are at my girlfriends house but ill get some pics up..

Put a patch of lee denim behind, sewed it around the edges then sewed around the hole lots!

Edited by docdoom on Dec 18, 2005 at 02:48 PM

[johninger]

Common problem.

This was mentioned in a thread a while back. We were discussing the best method of wearing in raw denim.

Some brands suggest leaving unwashed for as long as possible (ie. nudie) but some suggest only leaving raw for three to four months.

It's a tough one, I own some imperial duke raws, on their site they say 3-4 months is enough, but out of habit i wore them for about 9 months before i washed them. They didn't have the crotch problem but you can see it is worn a lot more in that area.

I suppose there is no definitive answer.

If loving denim is wrong i don't want to be right.

[TrappedInDC]

Thanks for the replies guys... but how do you fix the problem once its occurred?

The hole/tear is occurring right along a stitched seam, making repair that much harder.

Suggestions?

[levistrauss]

take it to a good tailor who knows how to repair jeans; a blown out crotch is a standard repair for them. resolve to take it to a tailor and then you can stop thinking about it. with the extra mental energy you'll save, maybe you will invent something that'll help humanity.

[Guest sauce1]

im resurrecting this thread.

is there a specific name for the procudure/method of the perfect repair? Lets say i go into a tailor(or the chinese seamstress that hems my pants for two dolla), I tell them i have a hole in the stress area of the crotch/inner thigh, and it's wearing thin, what do i call that patchunderthehole/sew up method to sew/reinforce ?

thanx in advance.

.

[Guest sauce1]

anyone??

thanx.

[TrappedInDC]

A little more searching gets you this.

http://www.45rpm.jp/denim/detail.jsp?id=011

Btw, Nudie will send you a patch kit (thread and patch) if you request one via email. I have one on the way, as my crotch repair wasn't done the way linked above, and I plan on getting it done correctly this time.

Good Luck

[soultek]

I highly recommend taking it to a place that specializes in denim repair. however this may not be an option in the town you live in. If you really love that pair, something that is done is mailing them to a place in LA or NYC to have them do it. I highly recommend Dr. Blue Jeanns (not a typo, really has two 'n's) in Sherman Oaks, and other people use Denim Doctors in Hollywood a lot (i think they're relocating right now). Dr. Blue Jeanns repaired the crotch of my jeans and did an awesome job.

[Guest Phrost]

Can anyone recommend an affordable, reliable tailor in the NY area that can patch up denim? There are some tears near the crotch of my APCs that I really want to fix up.