How to Repair Ripped Jeans

The crotch of jeans is often subjected to all sorts of wear-and-tear effects like stretching, rubbing, and worst of all, poking. This is the location where large and small tears often appear. Instead of giving up and throwing away your damaged jeans, there are several methods you can use to repair the hole. You can sew closed if it is a small hole, but a larger hole needs to be patched. No matter how good you are at sewing, you can still fix a hole in the crotch of your jeans.

Table of Contents

Sew small holes or tears by hand

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Cut the threads at the tear. You can fix some small holes without patching simply by stitching together the edges of the hole or tear. Before stitching, you should use scissors to cut loose threads at the edge of the hole. These threads will get tangled in the stitches. Be careful not to widen the hole.

Remember to cut only the threads, not the fabric. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Thread the needle and tie the knot . Knot at the end of the thread to prevent it from slipping when sewing into the fabric. It’s annoying to have to constantly re-thread, so make sure you tie the knot tightly.

Sew over the edges of the tear to prevent the thread from thrush. Tear off the edge of the tear by looping the thread around and “tying” it back. Be sure not to sew the stitches too close to the edge of the tear, or the thread will come loose again. This step is not required, but it will help prevent chafing around the tear and help strengthen the suture.

Overlock stitches or cleavage stitches are good choices at this step.

Sew the open edges together. Pull the edges of the tear in jeans together or almost, then sew it down and across the tear to seal. (Note that you may need to sew more than once to be sure.) Start the stitch about 1cm from the edge of the hole on one side. Continue stitching to the other side about 1cm away.

Sew smaller stitches as you get to the other side of the hole.
Untie thread to tighten, knot and trim excess thread. ^{[2] X Research Source}
Start the stitches on the other side of the overlock line, at least 1 cm apart.
You can use a sewing machine, but if it’s just a very small hole, you can just sew it by hand.

Repair small holes or tears with a sewing machine

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Cut the threads. Similar to the manual stitch method, the first step you need to do is to cut the threads so that the edge of the tear is neat. Be careful when cutting limbs and try to be as precise as possible.

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Thread bobbin on the sewing machine. Threading into the sewing machine is a bit complicated, because the sewing machine uses two sources of thread, one from the bobbin, and the other from the spool. The first step is to thread the bobbin. Once the spool and bobbin are in place on the top of the sewing machine, you will pull a piece of thread to the left side of the spool and wrap it around a small pin on the left side of the machine. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Pull this thread to the bobbin, thread it through a small hole, and wrap it around a few turns to keep it in place.
Snap the bobbin into place by pushing it to the right and gently depress the pedal to wind the thread from the spool to the bobbin until the required amount of thread is taken.
Cut the thread to separate the spool and bobbin, then remove the bobbin and turn off the machine.

Thread thread from spool. Pull the thread end from the spool and pull it to the left as in the previous step. This time, you will pull the thread down to the needle. You will thread the thread through the hooks on the top of the sewing machine and pull it down along the right groove of the needle, then loop up another groove on the left, wrap it around the hook on the top and pull down again along the left groove. . ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Thread through the hooks on the front and side of the needle before going through the eyelet.
Often on the sewing machine there will be an arrow or direction to help you thread more easily. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
Most sewing machines have this basic threading pattern. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Thread thread through. You have threaded from the spool to the needle, now you need to thread the bobbin underneath. Open the sewing machine to see the bobbin under the needle and remove the bobbin. Place the bobbin in the bobbin and pull a piece of thread through the side groove, then place the bobbin back on the machine and close the cover. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

To pull the bobbin thread onto the top of the sewing machine, you use one hand to turn the wheel to lower the needle, and the other hand to hold the thread from the spool.
Lift the needle back up, carefully pull the thread from the spool, and the bobbin thread will appear. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Seal the edges of the tear with a zig-zag stitch. Place the zig-zag stitch in the center of the torn edge of the fabric (so that half of the stitch goes through the fabric, the other half goes through the outside to close the hole). Sew along each edge of the tear to seal the edges and prevent thrush. Some sewing machines have a “contoured” sewing mode suitable for this purpose.

Seal the hole or tear. Push the edges of the hole together. Hold the edge of the fabric in place and place it under the needle on the sewing machine. Sew across the tear to close the hole. As with the hand stitch method, start and end stitches 1cm away on both sides of the tear.

If you’ve overlocked the torn edges before, be sure to start these stitches about 1cm away from the overlock line to avoid breaking the overlock line.
If the hole is too small or in an awkward spot, it will be very difficult for you to move the pants on the sewing machine, so sewing by hand is probably easier.

Paste the patch

Cut the threads around the hole. The patching method is best suited for those who are clumsy with needlework or need a quick fix. This can be a good choice with jeans where you focus on its convenience rather than appearance. As with other methods, the first step to take is to cut away the threads so that the tear or hole is neat.

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Cut a patch to the correct size. Turn the pants inside out and measure a piece of fabric cut from an old pair of jeans or whatever fabric you plan to use to patch the hole. Be sure to cut the fabric a bit wider than the hole so you can attach the patch.

You can buy cloth patches instead of rags.

Apply fabric glue to the patch. You should follow specific instructions on the glue bottle, but in general, you will need to apply glue to the edges of the patch. Be careful when applying the glue so that it does not stick to the exposed patch. Press the patch over the hole and hold it in place.

Each glue has a different drying time, but usually no more than a few hours.

Stick the patch with an iron

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Repair the hole you are about to patch. An easy alternative to the patch-to-hole method is to purchase an ironing patch. As with all other methods, start by trimming the floss to keep the tear clean before turning the pants inside out and preparing the patch. Measure with a measuring tape and cut the patch so that it is at least 1 cm wider than the edge of the tear. ^{[9] X Research Source}

You can estimate by eye, but measuring with a tape measure is more accurate, and it will help you avoid wasting a patch by accidentally cutting too small.
Round the corners so the patch doesn’t come off easily.

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Place a piece of denim fabric on the other side of the hole. Whether you’re patching on the right or wrong side of your jeans, you’ll need to put a piece of fabric on the other side so the patch doesn’t stick to the opposite fabric causing them to stick together. If this happens the pant leg will stick and when you separate the pants may be damaged. ^{[10] X Research Source}

It’s a patch. Place the patch over the hole and press down on the patch with a hot iron. The time to put the iron on the patch depends on the type, so you need to read the product instructions carefully, usually no more than 30-60 seconds.

When the patch is done, you can remove the fabric on the other side, and that’s it.

Patch the big hole

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Find a suitable patch or patch material. Sewing a patch to the tear is the most thorough but also the most laborious way to fix a large hole in the crotch of jeans. This method requires some basic sewing or sewing machine skills, but when finished it looks much tamer and stronger than glued or ironed. Start by finding a patch for the hole in the jeans.

If you want to put the patch on the reverse side, you should choose a color close to the color of the jeans for a more natural look.
You can get creative with patches if you want to show off your personality or have something fun. ^{[11] X Research Source}
Make sure the patch material is no thicker than the jeans fabric. If the patch doesn’t sag when you move it it could tear the surrounding fabric.

Cut a patch at least 2.5 cm wider around the hole. If it’s a woven fabric (like denim), you’ll need to cut the fabric diagonally ; if you cut along the warp or weft, the edges of the fabric are prone to rips.

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Place the patch over the hole, flatten the jeans, and secure the patch to the fabric. Make sure the patch is not pinched or too tight. Unless you like patching a piece of fabric that is colorful or stands out over a tear, you should place the patch inside your pants and leave the right side out.

Another option is to use an ironing board. Instead of pinning the fabric, you can iron on the patch and sew it back on to make it last longer.

Sew the patch with a sewing machine. Sew around the hole, stitch to remove the pin. Do not sew too close to the edge of the patch or the patch material will bleed and the stitches will come apart. Use a zig-zag stitch. You can also use a straight stitch, but using a forward and backward motion is recommended to create a zig-zag stitch shape. ^{[12] X Research source} .

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Sew by hand. If you sew the patch by hand, you should use an overlock stitch. Push the needle up through the patch near the edge of the fabric. Pierce down through the fabric just outside the edge of the patch and slant slightly forward, creating a diagonal stitch. Continue to poke the needle up through the underside of the patch (near the edge of the fabric and slightly forward) to make another diagonal stitch on the underside of the patch.

Repeat the above action until all stitches around the patch are stitched with diagonal stitches. Once you’ve finished one loop, you’ll stitch again, this time moving in the opposite direction to create cross stitches over the previous stitches. As a result you will have X-shaped stitches.
Be careful not to sew two layers of fabric together or sew the patch from the pocket to the leg or crotch. ^{[13] X Research Source}

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Sew around the hole again if necessary. Once the patch is firmly adhered to the fabric, you can sew even closer to the edges of the tear to make the patch look neater. Stitching will also make the patch stronger. Note that the extra stitches can make the pants stiff and uncomfortable.

Trim the excess fabric edges of the patch. Once you’ve patched the hole, use sewing scissors or scissors to cut off the excess fabric of the patch. It may become jagged, scratchy, or get caught in something and loosen the stitches around the patch. ^{[14] X Research Source} Press down on the iron to smooth the stitches, and your job here is done.

Warning

Wear tight shorts or panties under jeans to prevent it from poking!
Sew slowly if you are using the sewing machine for the first time.

Things you need

Stitches are strong and match (or match) the color of jeans
Large hand sewing needle or sewing machine
Drag or pull the thread press
A patch to mend a large hole
Iron (optional)
Fabric glue (optional)

Steps