ID Mommy Projects: Patch your Jeans!

I'd be willing to bet most of us have a favorite pair of jeans.  I know I do, and when I got a tear in one of the knees of my favorite jeans, I was pretty bummed.  But yesterday when I went to put on these jeans, caught my toe in the hole, and made it bigger, I was REALLY bummed.  I wasn't quite ready to toss them out and definitely did not want to turn them into a pair of cut-offs.

Rather than go buy a new pair, I thought I'd actually try to patch these up this time.  Here's what I did...no sewing involved.

My husband had some jeans that needed patching anyway so I made a morning of it.  I picked up some bondex iron-on patches at the fabric store yesterday, and a cool decorative patch for my torn knee.  (Of course, you can just patch the hole and be done there, but I wanted to take it up a notch and make them even cuter the second time around!)

The iron-on patch stuff makes things really easy. Basically it's just a piece of fabric with some sticky stuff on one side, which adheres to your clothes under the heat and pressure of an iron.  They have denim ones to match your jeans, but I was doing this on the inside so it didn't matter, so I got some cheaper white ones. 

First I trimmed off the little loose threads around the tear.
Next, I turned the leg inside out and ironed it flat, warming up the denim where it would be patched.
Then, just cut the patch to cover the spot, lay it shiny side down, and press the iron down (while moving it) firmly for 20-30 seconds.  (read your package instructions)

Now that the hole is patched, turn them right-side-out again.  Position your cool decorative patch over the tear, and follow instructions to iron that one on too.

Done!  Now in less than the time it takes me to try on a new pair of jeans, and MUCH less cost, my favorite jeans have a second life sporting some funky florals.

The patch I got was about $6, and came with another smaller flower, which I put up by the pocket:

This would be cute on a back pocket too, but these jeans already have some cute embroidery on the back pockets.  I thought it fit nicely here though.  So, next time your jeans get a little hole, have some fun with them! Even if you only wear them around the house, at least you'll be saving some money and get some more quality time in your comfy, favorite jeans!