Clothing + Fashion: The 14 Best Ways to Patch Jeans

Hole in your pants?

You can fix that. Learning to repair your clothing is a great step to take in making your life more eco-friendly–every knee you patch is a new pair of pants that you don’t have to buy.

There are many right ways to go about patching your pants:

• Just mend it. If what you’ve got is a rip, not a hole, then follow the correct steps to mend the ripped pants and forget a patch!
• Patch it. Here’s how to make a simple, satin-stitched, basic patch for your pants.
• Patch it without sewing. No-sew patches are a little less eco-friendly than sewn patches, since they use fusible interfacing, but it’s still a whole sight better than buying a new pair of pants.
• Crazy-stitch a patch. Want to sew the patch yourself, but maybe you’re a beginning sewer and worried that your stitching will look untidy? Make that untidiness look intentional!
• Hand-embellish a patch. The decorative stitching on this embroidery thread-embellished patch won’t last forever, so it’s a fun detail to add to a kid’s patch, especially when you’re only mending the pants to get the last of the season’s wear out of them. But if you satin-stitch the same fun patches, the stitching will last a lot longer.
• Patch a hole in a pocket. Do it right, and you’ll be able to use your pocket again.
• Add knee pads. If you’re patching a spot that gets a ton of wear, you might as well reinforce that spot while you’re at it.
• Add extra patches. If you’re worried that just one patch will look weird, then add a few more in other places to make the look intentional.
• Add a ruffle. Just remember that since you’re not mending the original hole in these patched jeans, you’ll need to reinforce your patch VERY thoroughly.
• Reverse applique onto jersey knit. This is a great fix for little kids’ jersey knit leggings, and makes them look even cuter afterwards. Hint: this method also works on T-shirts.
• Reverse applique onto denim. This is less sturdy than a conventional patch, since you’re not mending the original hole, so it works best for an adult’s garment that won’t get a ton more hard use in that spot.
• Patch with lace. Add a layer of lace to any reverse applique patch for a decorative embellishment.
• Patch with felted wool. Felted wool sweaters are sturdy enough to patch jeans, and you can add some really cool effects by playing with their colors and textures.