to stitch up this embarrassing hole in my jeans rather than buy a new pair?

[knittynoodle]

I have a hole thats worn just under the right bum cheek part of my jeans. You can only see it when Im sitting. They always wear in this place, I must have a bigger arse on one side.

Anyway, Im really poor at the moment because im on the last stretch of my mat leave, and I havent lost all the baby weight etc so I dont want to buy a new pair.

So... Would I be BU if i were to put a swatch of material under it, on the inside so not much shows through. Honestly, would you look at someone who had done that and think 'cheap skate'? I cant ask my friends, they would say spend the money and get a new pair. And they could be my washing day jeans, right?

I've patched up my favourite jeans several times. I could and have bought new ones, but I like them, and i think the patches look good. But then I rarely care what other people think of my clothes!

I would patch the outside in something contrasting if I were going to mend ... feature rather than fix

I certainly think mending is a reasonable thing to do

I patch holes in my jeans with another old pair of jeans, if you just stitch it up it will rip again quickly, sometimes I stitch up a hole then patch underneath to strengthen it. I understand, I am mega poor also.

Another good tip is when they are completly knackered to turn them into a skirt. You can use the fabric from the bottom to put panels in the bottom and the side to cover where the holes were before you cut them out.

Thats it then. Im stitching them! Thanks for not making me feel crap about being living in poverty!

Mend definately - agree that it sounds like it needs a patch. I'd go for something flowery or otherwise contrasting but for hardwearing might be better with denim. Go with machine stitching if you can, too - will be tougher.

YANBU. We have become a throw away society and I hate that. I wouldn't think cheapskate at all :)

Featuring a jeans-bum repair has high risk of looking naff; beware.

You can try to patch it but ime it may well serve as a fairly temporary repair; it is difficult to make strong repairs on tight areas of bum of jeans. Also, the seam lines may well show thru badly if you try another piece of fabric; but assess for yourself whether seams will show badly.

I have done it successfully with DS chamo trousers made into shorts (...ooh, he's wearing them today in fact!...), by carefully matching patterns, etc., lots of pockets on that material disguised it well, and anyway, who looks closely at an 11yo boy's bum? That is slightly under his bum, proper, and I used fabric glue as well to get it perfectly in place before stitching it up.

Im thinking a navy blue patch underneath and doing them on my mums machine. I stopped wearing them as soon as I noticed the hole so its still only small. The whole area is thinning though so I dont expect them to last long, but as long as they last until im back at work, thats long enough!

YANBU, but you could try slashing a few parallel holes on both sides and put some colorful material underneath to make it look deliberate.

Do any of you have links to jean-bum-repairs that are nice features? Would like to see an example of it looking good.

Yes, make a feature of it rather than trying to do an "invisible" mend. It'll be fine.

I've done this lots of times (hate hate hate having to shop for new jeans, I can never find any as nice as the pair that I've shredded) but the jeans fabric immediately around the split is often pretty thin, so make sure the piece you're patching it with is large enough for you to attach it to a place that won't rip again straight away.

On a slightly different note, does anyone know what to do with jeans that are completely beyond charity shop/repair? I really want to get rid of a pair that are in absolute tatters and covered in paint, but landfill doesn't seem like a good place for them either. Are there any fabric recycling banks that recycle the fibres somehow instead of just flogging off the clothes again?

I have done this in the past with varying degrees of success.

These days I just wear them anyway with a pair of tights cut into shorts under them so nobody gets any flashes. I'm wearing a pair now in fact. Feature holes

Splinters - ask at your local charity shop if they get money for rags - if they do, they may take your totally knackered jeans as they can sell it to a modern day rag man and make some cash out of it. Not all the shops do it though, so it's worth checking before you drop it off.

This has been an interesting thread as I am contemplating a large rip in the bum on my walking trousers. Not jeans but I guess the same principles apply. I wasn't sure whether to stitch or patch but I am now thinking stitch up the rip and then, depending how it looks, maybe disguise with a contrasting patch.

Worse thing is they were brand new for my holidays and then I got them caught on a piece of sharp rock and tore this huge flappy hole. Had to borrow DHs fleece to tie round my waist so that I didn't go flashing my knickers at all and sundry.

Textile recycling is especially environmentally friendly, in that it's done within this country (not to China & back). They send the shreds off to make shoddy, which is used to stuff furniture upholstery, car seats, etc.

I already asked, but please can someone give a link to a picture of a good quality jeans-bum repair? One that makes a feature of the repair, I mean. I think I need to see this to decide if I'm capable of same.

Tell me this isn't what you mean, coz I think that looks vile...

no harm in having a go and seeing how it looks. I don't have a clue how to mend things so if I tried, I am fairly sure it would look bad but I wouldn't bat an eyelid at someone else's darned or patched jeans.

Dont know if this would be useful at all without seeing the actual hole but...

DH had put some holes (keys catching kinda thing) in his very expensive blooming jeans and we went to the local haberdashery shop and got an iron on mender which you iron onto the inside and it holds the fabric together. If its a straightish cut and you do it carefully you cant even see it. If there are more worn threads in the fabric it might be harder to disguise. I think it was about two pounds for a long strip.

I also used some iron on stuff.

I find it so hard to get jeans to fit that I make sure I get my wear out of them & they´re probably more patches than jeans by the time I eventually part with them!

"I also used some iron on stuff."

My favourite jeans are 6 years old but give my legs a 'good' shape. I can't explain more that!

Ive done the exact same thing using an old pair of dds shorts to patch. I was very reluctant to get rid of them as they are such a nice fit so the hole was quite big

the patch is very discreet and I am crap at sewing. DO NOT try to make a feature.you will look like a loon accentuating where your arse ripped through!