Knee patches for trousers. Talk to me- does anyone use these or not worth the bother?

[abroadandmisunderstood]

DS1 wears through trousers at the knees in 3 months (he's four). This is getting expensive... I know my mum used to put patches on knees where they wore through. Is it really cruel to do this these days? Where do you even buy such things? DS1 wears cargo style trousers (pockets on the legs). I can't see leather patches looking very good.

What do you ladies think?

get him jeans?

Oddly enough I asked this q a while back as dd has sn and was coming up to 3 and crawling everywhere,and putting holes in the knees of her trousers like there was no tommorow.I think the general consensus was to go to Primark/charity shops,unless you are a good seamstress

I was thinking of posting something about this myself but just hadn't got round to it. My ds has gone through 4 pairs of trousers in a month - he is 4 and goes through the knees soooo fast. I think it is when he falls over to be honest (and it would appear he does that a lot!). It doesnt seem to make any difference whether they are jeans or cargo trousers/combats ... they wear through the same. I have been cutting the legs off in the hope that come summer I can salvage some of them as shorts but I am not holding my breath as they may look daft (or he may have grown out of them by then!). I dont think I have seen any children with patches on their clothes which is partly why I havent bothered (that and I am lazy!).

Can you sew at all, even slightly?

You can get an iron-on bonding sheet called Bondaweb from haberdashery shops. If you chop up an old pair of trousers you can make loads of patches and iron them on, they look slightly better if you zigzag around the edge first. If you follow instructions carefully you should get a washproof bond.

I'm pretty sure you can still get iron on patches from haberdashery shops too, TBH ebay is a good place to buy sewing notions these days.

Like this

I just buy cheaper trousers!
DS is 3.4yrs and wears through even the thickest jeans in about a month.
I find the £4 Primark ones last just as long as pricier ones tbh.

You could put those iron-on patches on the inside of his knees - they are a bit stiff though & I'm not sure if that would stop the outsides from wearing through.

maybe we should just give up and let them wear ripped jeans ... it used to be fashionable

thanks everyone. Have tried jeans but he still gets through those. I don't have Primark, Asda or Tesco anymore (sob) as am living abroad. Might buy trousers from H&M from now on.

I can sew pretty well and have attempted to mend all his trousers but once they fray it's useless.

I'll have a squiz at eBay but will probably go for cheaper trousers from now on.

Thanks again.

Surely cheaper trousers is a false economy - wear through quicker?

I'd go with patches, especially if you can sew. Reinforce from the start then can replace just the patch as necessary.

I am just hoping that it is yet another phase and that he will grow out of it before long. Either that or he is likely to come home with ripped school trousers every night when he starts in September!