Holy jeans need healing

June 20, 2009 2:52 AM

My jeans always wear out in the spot right behind the crotch seam in the two rear quadrants formed by the four way seam intersection. It's not an area people generally tend to see and I could probably extend their wearable life considerably by patching the holes to keep my tackle from hanging out. Is there any easy way to patch these holes? Some product perhaps? I have no sewing machine, have never sewn a thing in my life and my mom is a giant ocean away.
posted by srboisvert to clothing, beauty, & fashion (21 comments total)

Do you have an iron? Most sewing stores have iron-on patches, or you can order them online.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:55 AM on June 20

Take it to a dry cleaners that does alterations. Shouldn't cost much.
posted by Dasein at 3:20 AM on June 20

From experience, these holes usually get bigger if you do nothing about them. To the point where they are visible. So yu can get the iron-on patches, or you can just take an old t-shirt or boxers or something, cut out a small piece and stitch it on from the inside. It's very, very simply, even for the hopelessly clumsy (like me!).
posted by alona at 3:33 AM on June 20

Definitely what alona said. Patch from the inside before there's any wear at all using denim fabric from other worn out jeans you saved just for this purpose! (but yeah, bring the fabric patches to a tailor to do it). This will extend the life of that spot ... and honestly, once you wear through the patches, it's time to turn them into 'parts' jeans.
posted by thinkpiece at 4:47 AM on June 20

Iron on patches seem to fall off on pants pretty easily. I think if you put them on you definitely need to reinforce them with thread.

I think patched pants look pretty cute, if not overdone.
posted by sully75 at 4:53 AM on June 20

In my experience, patching my jeans, which wear in the same place, only extends their life a few months. I've tried several combinations of iron, sew, padded, post- and pre-wear reinforcement, and it's all a pain in the ass (or balls, really.) If you're willing to accept that it's only a few more months, that's fine. (After that they become 'in the house' jeans, unless you wear long shirts. )
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:56 AM on June 20

I noticed this exact same problem this morning. I had the same sort of question. My thought was, since I have a collection of worn pants and shorts, is to have a donor pair, from which I would snip patches.

I have done needle and thread sewing in the past. Go to the drug store, and find a sewing repair kit. Only a few bucks. If you are like me, the first attempts will be kind of sad. After that, you should get better. Either use donor fabric, or iron on patches. Either way, sew around the edges.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 6:21 AM on June 20

Iron on patches seem to fall off on pants pretty easily.

FWIW, I have a pair of jeans that I patched with an iron on patch several years ago in the exact spot you're asking about, and it's still kicking.
posted by inigo2 at 6:41 AM on June 20

Even Levi's aren't that expensive. Hiring a tailor to fix them is going to nearly be the cost of a new pair.
posted by JJ86 at 6:51 AM on June 20

My guess is that catching it early will help a lot. By the time I patch things, the holes are usually big and weak.

Maybe I'll have to try another brand of patches.
posted by sully75 at 6:55 AM on June 20

Hiring a tailor to fix them is going to nearly be the cost of a new pair.

In the UK this was not my experience, there was a tailor in our market square who would charge about £10 for a fix like that.
posted by grouse at 7:13 AM on June 20

Related, previously.
posted by doift at 7:29 AM on June 20

I buy my iron-on patches from the drug store (CVS)- you don't even have to go to a sewing store, necessarily. Just make sure you follow the directions on the package well. I feel like it says something about washing/drying that may help extend the life of the patch.
posted by emilyd22222 at 7:42 AM on June 20

I have had this problem before and I send my jeans to Denim Therapy (denimtherapy.com) as soon as they show a sign of wear in the crotch. It's about $20 + shipping both ways, but worth it to squeeze another year or two out of $100 jeans.

I've tried the iron on patches; they just fall off. I also tried having a (very good) seamstress sew on a patch; this just created new wear points and they tore along the patch seams. Denim Therapy is the way to go.

I just sent out another pair yesterday!
posted by rossination at 8:14 AM on June 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

My dad was an ironworker and usually wore coveralls that were jean-like material but thicker and an orange-brown color. He often got rips and burns that he repaired with material from older pairs and some stuff called Jiffy-Sew. It is a tube of glue stuff that bonds fabrics together while remaining flexible. The patches often remained as the rest of the garment failed. You can most likely get it at a store like JoAnn fabrics.
posted by Drasher at 8:26 AM on June 20

When I had this I would sacrifice an old well worn pair, cut a piece from the leg that would generously overlap the spot to be patched and place it on the inside and just hand stitch all around with a semi heavy thread.
Do not just stitch in a circle around the hole but also across it and up and down around and round.
Do this while watching the TV and it is not so tedious.
posted by Iron Rat at 8:33 AM on June 20

I could probably extend their wearable life considerably by patching the holes to keep my tackle from hanging out

My solution when faced with this problem is to only wear said pants with snug shorts-length underwear, like Calvin Klein or similar.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:47 AM on June 20

Go to a drycleaner or a tailor. It cost me 10,000 Won (less than US $10) to get this done in Korea. They patched it from the inside, and I didn't need to provide any fabric to do it. Denim isn't exactly unique.
posted by smorange at 9:20 AM on June 20

Drasher: Whoa! Reviews say "[Jiffy-Sew], a Canadian made product, will hold dogs' ears securely for at least 3 weeks, with no reported allergic reactions."

Jiffy Sew is designed for gluing dogs' ears, but oh yeah okay I guess you can also use it on fabric.

Maybe if I were a dog show type person this wouldn't seem completely insane, but I'm not, and it does.
posted by aubilenon at 9:44 AM on June 20

Take the jeans to the cleaners and ask them to sew in a patch. They will tend to use denim, which makes your butt feel like a diaper. So ask for thinner fabric- my tailor used thin, plain black nylon (like a windbreaker jacket). And they sort of sew all over the fabric in straight lines, which makes the patch very strong. My tailor charges about $8-12 per pair of jeans, depending on how many patches she's sewing. So far I've never worn through a patch. If you're preemptively patching new jeans, take an old worn pair along to show the tailor where your wear patches would extend.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 5:42 PM on June 20

And, the next time you buy a pair of jeans, iron the patches on the inside after the first wash. It's an old trick that mums used to use on the inside of kids' pant knees to reinforce them. That extra bit of strength should help prevent the problem if it's caused by the fabric giving against the stitching. Thread is stronger than most fabrics and will end up cutting the fabric as it's pulled repeatedly when you sit down.
posted by x46 at 7:59 PM on June 20