General Question

nikipedia's avatar

What can I do with jeans that are worn out in one place?

Asked by nikipedia (28072points) October 20th, 2009

I have two pairs of jeans with increasingly large holes, to the point that they’re no longer wearable.

I assume there’s no good way to patch these and make them wearable again (although I’d love to hear that I’m wrong). How can I make good use of the material?

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15 Answers

FiRE_MaN's avatar

of course you can patch them haha. but how i’m not sure. my friend has a pair were the back pockets basically fell off and he got patches.

the100thmonkey's avatar

It really depends on where the hole is, doesn’t it?

mcbealer's avatar

Cut out a piece of bandana fabric/old tye dye and face the pretty side outward so it’s visible through the hole. Then cut out a piece of iron on patch material big enough to overlap the prettty fabric and the hole, and iron in place. It will both reinforce the area so it doesn’t keep fraying into a larger hole, and also stabilize the area so it’s smooth once again.

Laina's avatar

If the holes are low enough, you could always cut off the legs and make a pair of cute shorts!

ParaParaYukiko's avatar

Unless you’re the kind of person who enjoys having patchwork pants, I’m sorry to say your jeans are probably goners.

@mcbealer That’s a good idea, but I find iron-on patches to be stiff and uncomfortable to wear, especially on pants. But there may be some good brands of patches out there, I don’t know.

However, that doesn’t mean they can’t be given new life! There are all sorts of fun crafty projects you can do with old denim. You could use the material to make a bag or some other little fun thing, or even cut them up and make them into paper (as long as they’re not stretch jeans, which have nylon fibers in there which won’t make good paper). Here is a website I found with various crafts you can do with old denim.

However, I’m not going to say that patchwork jeans aren’t awesome. I wore my jeans out, patched and repatched them for years until I didn’t fit in them anymore.

buster's avatar

Daisy dukes!

poofandmook's avatar

I saw something somewhere, maybe on Wikihow, about making a purse out of an old pair of jeans… it looked pretty cool when I saw it. Basically just means cutting the legs off and sewing the bottom shut, lining it, and adding a handle and any snaps you want for the top.

Allie's avatar

At fabric stores they sell denim patches. They come in various washes so you can find one to match your jeans. They’re especially useful if it’s your favorite pair of jeans with the hole.

wildpotato's avatar

Use them as patch material for other clothes. Or, make a rag rug out of them.

filmfann's avatar

My wife cuts up old jeans and makes these fantastic denim quilts. Simple to make, and the warmest blanket you will ever have.

sarah826's avatar

my soon-to-be sister in law’s mom would always say to patch it and then make it look intended. Like, make a patch in a shape that you like and patch the hole and then make a few more decorative patches and put them in different places on the pants. Or you could embroider on the patch and make it look cute.

CMaz's avatar

If you have a sewing machine.

Darn it.

evegrimm's avatar

You can have your jeans fixed by the DenimTherapy people, and they are good results, but it is pricey.

I wouldn’t do it unless they were expensive jeans that you loved (to pieces).

Buttonstc's avatar

If you don’t like the stiffness of new patches you can make your own out of any material old or new with no sewing required. Just get some lightweight Heat N Bond or any other brand of iron-on interfacing. The use something like heart or star shaped cookie cutters to trace the outline of whatever shape you like for the patches. Thiscway they are a decorative element in addition to being a patch.

You can also add decorative edging after ironing them on with washable fabric paint if you really want to go to town.

And if you want to REALLY give the impression that they’re intentional, put a few patches in matching colors and shapes on a shirt as well.

But if you don’t want to patch them, just cut off the legs and sew both edges of the whole top part together after stuffing to make a unique pillow.

Hypocrisy_Central's avatar

If you got the gams to pull it of I second @buster.

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