Patching

I have boys, which means I've patched my share of holey knees. Both my boys wear size slim pants, which aren't available everywhere and therefore aren't cheap. For a while there, I was patching knees constantly. This year the rate has been slower...my younger son tripped at the beginning of the school year and ripped a hole in a brand-new pair of pants (argh!!), and my older son's favorite corduroys just required patches on both knees. It took me a night or two to work up to it--patching isn't my favorite thing to do--but he was so anxious to get them back, and then so happy when they were done. It's humble, the patching, but it's satisfying that I can repair with my hands, extend the life of an item of clothing, and make my kid happy, all in one swoop.

I also have a favorite pair of jeans, the ones I embroidered poetry on. My first-ever embroidery, actually, was practicing chain stitch to make a spiral on some batik denim, to turn into a patch when the left knee began to wear out. (The poetry came next.) When the right knee needed patching, I was lazy...I just cut a circle from a torn, rag pair of jeans and blanket stitched around the edges. (The denim frays, but the stitching contains it. It's easier than trying to stitch through a turned-under edge.) Well, earlier this week, I looked down an this is what I saw:

Ack! I decided it was time for another cute patch. I found some more of that batik denim, embroidered around some of the shapes in a bright lime green, then blanket stitched it on with bright orange. Because this fabric is thinner than the circle patch, I tried to cover all the edge. Here's what the jeans look like now.

Hmm. It was cloudy this morning. Here's a close-up of the old spiral patch with the new patch overlapping it.

Isn't that fun? Although it kind of looks like a mushroom house. So, I went around the edges twice. The first time, I was spacing the blanket stitching and aiming to get the thing on. It can be hard to get patches on without them buckling sort of funny, especially in a stretched-out area like the knee. The second time around I filled in the in-between spaces for as solid an edging as I could manage.

I keep the patches on my boys' pants plain and straight-up, but I can have a bit more fun with my own. These jeans make me smile, they're so bright and cheery. And this patch didn't take that long, especially doing a little here and there. I finished it up Saturday morning--I've been working on little tasks here and there all day--patching, sewing buttons, weaving in ends. Lots of stuff to share this week!