General Rules of Putting in a Patch
Until recently we couldn’t imagine putting on jeans with a patch anywhere except for some hard dirty work. Today the situation has changed: worn and torn customized jeans are fashionable. Special research to find new methods of creating different stages of worn effect is being made. However, sometimes it is necessary to put a patch on jeans from practical considerations – to mend and repair them. Here are some tips on how to put in a patch in a right way.
The classical method of putting in a patch can be carried out by hand or using a sewing machine. The materials you’ll need are quite simple – thread of the same color as the fabric you want to repair. If you want the patch to be practically invisible you should use the thread of the weft or chain for it will better merge with the cloth you are going to mend.
Stockage of the worn fabric is made from the outside with a thin thread from the same fabric by lifting with small stitches the threads of the weft and with longer stitches – the threads of the chain.
Mending of cuts or holes on customized denim is carried out by adding the threads to the fabric being repaired in staggered order. If needed the thread is folded in two. It is important that the fabric you want to repair is well stretched, you can use small embroidery hoop to achieve this.
Putting in a patch is carried out from the outside of fabric. To fix it first of all pin it to denim with preens and then tack it on the contour. After you’ve done this fix it with thin thread and small stitches in chain and weft direction. It is important to treat the seamy side of the cloth in order to hide the added part in a better way.
However, last fashion tendencies use patches on jeans as a means of creating individual personalized style. Thus additional attention is given to damaged jeans parts decorated with patches. That is why mending, stitching and fixing of patches is deliberately done with the use of colored contrast thread in order to make patches more obvious.
The patches themselves can be made of bright contrast fabric as well. Denim of a different color, flower-dotted fabric, chequered cloth, lace and leather can be used for patches on jeans.
If you aspire to create your individual style by building original jeans just let your imagination fly and accentuate the torn and cut parts of your jeans. Sometimes it is good just to scrabble in a button box, find old imitation jewelry, beads or bright threads. Natural or deliberately made holes fixed with a safety-pin decorated with bright beads or cuts embellished with chains, small bells or metallic decorative elements can become an unusual highlight which will never leave your jeans unnoticed.
Here is an idea of jeans embellishment with shaped patches. Take your old torn jeans, pieces of any fabric you like, corresponding thread, a needle, sartorial chalk and scissors. Use sharp cuticle scissors to unseam the side stitches of your jeans near the place you want to put in a patch. This procedure will make it possible for you to work using a sewing machine.
After you’ve thought over your patch composition draw it on the trouser leg of your customized or custom jeans using a sartorial chalk. Go back a centimeter from the main pattern lines and mark out the stitching allowances. Make small vertical cuts on the stitching allowances.
Turn over the stitching allowances inside and sew them. Choose a piece of contrast cloth for the patches. Put it into the trouser leg so that it closes the cuts and fix it with pins in order to have an impression of how your ready-made patches would look like.
Tack and stitch a piece of contrast cloth to denim. Stitch the edges of the front part of the patches using a back-and-fore stitch and contrast thread. If you make it by hand, use embroidery floss.
Another composition of patches can be situated in the bottom of the second trouser leg. Finish all the patch edges and stitch the unseamed places. That’s it!
