How To Bring Ripped Jeans Back Into Vogue? Sew A Patch On Them

If your favorite jeans, bag, jacket, or any other item has an undesirable blemish, then this tutorial is for you. After all, a tear on our favorite jeans can be made to look fashionable with a tastefully stitched patch.

Aditya Roy
3 min readJun 8, 2021
Photo Courtesy: Mike Von on Unsplash

Any clothing or accessory made from denim is made to last. But, when such clothing loses its integrity, then it becomes vital to know how to stitch. And we often use such items roughly. Hence, they can get torn from time to time.

We teach you how to stitch up your denim and cover it up with a bit of finesse. Read further to know how to sew a patch to make your ordinary jeans look extra special.

What You’ll Need

Requirement: we’ll need to do a backstitch for this project. And try to use a hand quilting thread or denim thread for better durability. These threads work better under stress than traditional cotton or polyester thread.

Materials Needed:

  • Sewing Pins
  • Sewing Needle
  • Scissors
  • Patch
  • Piece of clothing or denim
  • Thread (lots of it)

Here’s What To Do:

Decide Where To Patch It: Before starting stitching, you want to figure out where to apply the patch. Are you looking to cover up the knee, elbow, or any other place? You might even wish to cover up a tear, and now is a good time to do so.

Tidy Up The Torn Area: Before starting to sew your patch on, you will need to cut off any white threads and fluff that surround the tear.

Pin Down the Patch: to keep the patch stable, you want to use sewing pins to keep it in place. Also, use fewer pins to pin down the patch.

Time to sew on your patch.

Photo Courtesy: Mike Von on Unsplash

Start your Backstitch: Push up your needle through the fabric upwards and bring it back. And you can start sewing anywhere and keep pushing the pin backward and pulling out from underneath the fabric. And make sure you stitch the patch.

You may run out of thread while stitching your patch, so knot it off and continue from where you left.

Continue Stitching: Keep stitching by bringing the needle underneath the fabric from where you started. Note that you have to start stitching by pushing the pin in the upward direction. It means you have to bring the needle to the starting point and continue stitching up the patch along the boundaries.

Pro Tip: Make sure your sewing pins are in place when stitching the patch.

Finish It Up: After you have stitched up the patch, knot it off under the fabric. It is so that you cannot see the knot. You may even use a triple knot for extra security. And in case you aren’t satisfied with the stitch, you can keep stitching over it to keep it in place.

Tidying up.

Now just cut the threads, and we guarantee it will not come off after many washes. The backstitch should be secure, and keep your patch securely held on your denim. Have fun stitching, and do engage in the comments.

Personally, ripped jeans are a fashion statement and not practical. Often, excessive frayed ends can look out of place or incongruous with the setting. And with the body positivity movement and queer fashion, such daring clothing is quickly coming back into fashion. Although, many of us associate it with glam metal stars in tight, skinny jeans.

But, it does not mean that the traditional jeans, known for their hardiness, coherence, and unique design, do not still command class. Adding a patch can do wonders to revive an old, beloved pair of jeans. And leather patches are quite common.

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Aditya Roy

I’m a copywriter with a passion for learning and playing chess. I write on fashion, technology, and literature. Do enjoy my work and leave any suggestions.