Tutorial update: How to mend jeans when the holes are in the knees

Tutorial update: How to mend jeans when the holes are in the knees

• 9.13.2012

So you've probably seen this tutorial of mine on how to mend holes in jeans like a pro. It's seriously an amazing method and I hope you check it out, but I also wanna share a follow-up with you: how to use the steps in that tutorial when the holes are in the knees of your jeans!

I use the method interchangeably, but I was talking to a friend not long ago about her fave jeans that had gotten holes in the knees. I said, have you seen my tutorial?? And she said she had, but she didn't think it would work on the knees!

Now, I'll admit it is a little trickier when the hole is in the middle of the leg of the jean--it will involve some skillful maneuvering--but the method can TOTALLY be done almost anywhere on your pants. Literally, people--knees, thighs, hem area, back pockets... anywhere your machine can reach, you can use this! Here's how!!

Let me tell you the story of two pairs of jeans with hole-ey knees and other worn places, and show you my method's success. First up is this pair of American Eagle stretch bootcut jeans I got at Marshall's earlier this summer--$16.99, love when they have last-season AE stuff! I was desperate for a pair of boyfriend jeans before going up to sort-of-chilly Port Angeles, Washington for the weekend and didn't want to spend the $70 or whatever at Gap to get the perfect ones like Kendi has.

Anyway, I bought these jeans and was okay with the distressed look, but after putting them on a few times realized I kept poking my toes through the holes on the knee and hip! I could fix this problem by being more graceful... or, I could mend the holes before they get any bigger.

Tutorial!

• So here's the before.

• Check out the essential jeans-mending method tutorial if you're rusty, but if not, grab your fusible interfacing and press it onto your hole on the inside.
• I like to cuff up the jean twice so it's nice and flat and can fit under my presserfoot when I lift it as high as it goes. Then slide the leg onto your arm--this works if you have a machine with a detachable arm!!

•  Now's the tricky part. Scrunch up your jeans so you turn the leg parallel with the path of the needle. Scrunch-scrunch-scrunch-arrange-arrange... then go nuts with forward- and backstitching like you would in the tutorial on any part of your jeans.

• I like to turn them right side out again and check my work, and maybe put the leg back on the machine (cuffed again) and do a few more rows of parallel stitching from the top.

That's it! Now you've mended the knee of your jeans!

Wondering what's going on up by the pocket of those? I thought I should share, since these jeans were so stretchy, I found the interfacing wasn't quite strong enough to keep its shape as I backstitched. So, I put a little piece of white 100% cotton on top of the hole near the hip to further reinforce it. It's not fusible but there was plenty of friction that, once I got sewing, it stayed in place just fine (also sewing from the inside). Here's a close-up of that hole, mended.

So, I did two pairs of jeans at once the other day, so here's some more photos of this method on knees and with thinner, stretchier denim. Here's a pair of Sevens my friend gave me because of the holes, and they didn't fit her anymore. So I got to mending!

Before...

Here's the big hole on the knee from the inside.

Here are some of the holes with their interfacing...

And here's the knee hole with a little piece of cotton on top of the fusible interfacing, after I ironed it down. It really helps when the hole is big or the threads aren't keeping the denim's shape and you don't want to gather both sides together.

And here's the technique I use on really stretch jeans--pin on both sides to your ironing board and then press down the interfacing, so you don't get the pulling!

Anyway, random bonus images after the tutorial... hope I didn't confuse you! Good luck mending jeans and trust me, you CAN do it on the knees!