How to Patchwork an Old Pair of Jeans

These are my favorite jeans. Which was a huge problem when I stuck my entire foot through a tiny hole and ripped it down the leg. UGH. This is why I’m sharing today’s post on How to Patchwork an Old Pair of Jeans.

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How to Patchwork an Old Pair of Jeans

As mentioned, these are my favorite jeans. I bought them 5-6 years ago as my go-to boyfriend jeans. They’re Caslon (aka Nordstrom). They were on sale and I’ve worn the devil out of them. They’re the perfect amount of soft and relaxed. I don’t feel desperate to take them off when I get home from work. Not to mention, they’re super easy to dress up and down.

In short, I was devastated when I ripped these. And even though I had plans for them all along, making the decision and the leap was exceptionally hard. Cause… again, they’re my favorite!

Old holey jeans

The first step is to grab a pair of old holey jeans. Yes, you can also buy a pair from the thrift store or make them holey yourself.

This will also work on a pair of thick worker pants and a pair of jean shorts! Patchwork jean shorts would look super cute.

Choosing your product outcome

When I was trying to figure out how to patchwork my jeans, I went to Pinterest for inspiration. I grabbed a lot of inspiration from Anthropologie and a few others by artists. I wanted a healthy mix of both.

It’s important to note, if you’re redesigning your most worn pair of jeans, it’s likely you will continue to repair them as time goes on. Keep that in mind when you decide on your design outcome because it will constantly be evolving the more you wear out your pants.

Choosing fabric

The fabric I choose is all floral vintage fabric because that’s what I had in my scrap pile. This year I’m trying hard to use up every last scrap of fabric I have and use throughout the year. So, the green floral fabric is from a dress I made 8-10 years ago. The cream with pink flowers is left over from the double oven mitt I made a few weeks ago.

I love the idea of using scrap fabric but also jean fabric! Denim fabric is thick and reinforcing. I’ve seen other projects mix different colored jean fabrics and it looks so good. Especially when they cut out shapes (hearts, stars, etc) or use embroidery.

Lace is also a stunning option to use to repair holes. I’ve seen a pair where someone sewed cotton fabric with lace over it. Ugh! It was *chef kiss* brilliant.

I do not recommend using certain fabric types because they aren’t going to reinforce your jeans. Part of the reason I wanted to fix my jeans is so they will last longer and be able to wear them for years to come.

The following fabrics won’t last long due to their frailness and/or washing/drying instructions: silk, silky fabric, nylon, jersey, and crepe.

Repairing with fabric patches

I love how the simple act of fixing your jeans makes them become uniquely and entirely our own. You won’t meet another other human in the world with the exact same pants as you.

I love the thought of that. Especially in a world of consumerism and reproduction.

Now, let’s chat about repairing the actual holes! There are a few techniques…

Fabric overlay

This is where you sew the fabric OVER the hole you’re patching up. A lot of times this is a technique that you’ll continue to use throughout your project. Many artists will lay the fabric over a few pieces of fabric to make an overlay quilt design.

It’s really just layering different square fabrics on top of each other. I love how effortless this look is and how some of the edges of the fabric are hand-sewn. This would make a great project for kids learning to sew. Example, from Anthropologie circa 5ish years ago, below!

Underlay fabric

Another option is to put your fabric underneath the hole, which is what I opted for and I love the way mine turned out. In fairness, these jeans were purchased with a patch on them and it was underlaid. Since I wanted to make sure mine was extra-reinforced, I decided to continue with that design.

To do that, not only did I lay the fabric underneath, but I also sewed over the fabric and made my own design using my sewing machine and blue thread for it to stand out.

In the future, I will probably do a healthy mix of overlay and underlay on these jeans. Here’s another example/inspo I used for mine.

Quilting fabric

Another patchwork that I LOVE is literally patchworking together fabric. By this, I mean quilting!

This is such a cute artistic look. There’s a lot of stem and geometry involved in quilting (that I’m still learning) but the outcome is totally worth it. Plus, I think the way it comes across is sustainable and resourceful. Especially when you’re using leftover fabric. I love the jeans below and I really want to make a pair that look like one of them. Just waiting for another one of my jeans to get holes!

Embroidery & thread

Another great way to spice up your creativity is to add embroidery or just embroidery thread to your patchwork design. I love the way mine turned out and have been debating on using flowers in the future to patch up small holes. Some of them are so cute.

Some designs have fabric mounting with embroidery acting as reinforcement. I did this with a part of my design because the hole (where I stuck my foot through 🙄 ) was lengthy. Adding the thick thread made sense and I really like how it came out. I love that if I change my mind, it’s easy to remove it and do something else in the future.

A few more ideas are below!

Thank you so much for reading How to Patchwork an Old Pair of Jeans! This was such a fun project. Particularly because of how everything is in the eye of the beholder. You get to make your own decisions on how you want your denim to look and there is something so beautiful and fun about that!

I hope this influences you to repair your jeans instead of tossing them. There are so many clever ideas you can do with a pair of old denim. So much so, I might write another post about it!

Hope you’re staying happy, healthy, and adventurous!