No-Sew Refurbished Jeans

Apparently, we have a problem with jeans in this house.  Everyone currently has jeans that don't fit, have ripped knees, or have come apart at some odd seam.  It was time to take action.

Looking at my pile of clothes that needed repair, I was reminded of my grandma and her "mending pile."  Whenever she had a little time to sit, she would repair old socks, pants, shirts, and even underwear.  So I faced my mending pile head-on with her voice in my mind saying, "Use it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do, or do without."

In the boys' drawers, I found four pairs of jeans in need of attention:

Oddly enough, each pair of jeans had the right knee ripped open (and not the left).  

For my supplies, I used an old pair of Jared's jeans that he never wears anymore and a roll of Heat 'n Bond Ultrahold No-Sew Iron-on Adhesive.

I had picked up this roll of iron-on adhesive over a year ago from the clearance section at Hobby Lobby.  I have to be careful there because I can pick up any item and imagine that I can use it eventually.  I have used Wonder Under for tons of projects, and this is basically the heavy duty version of that.  

So, good news for me:  I didn't spend a penny on this project!

I started by using some stencils to choose shapes and sizes for the patches to cover each tear.  Nolan had requested a star, and I chose a rectangle, diamond, and ovals for the other pairs of jeans.

I traced my shapes onto the paper side of the Heat 'n Bond.

Then I cut the shapes apart and cut pieces of denim off Jared's old jeans.  I placed each shape with the adhesive side facing the wrong side of the denim (paper side up).  Following the manufacturer's instructions, I ironed the Heat 'n Bond shapes to the denim.

Then I trimmed each shape along the original shape line.  Then my patches were ready for their new homes.

I flipped over one of the shapes so you can see that they still had the paper backing at this point.

One at a time, I peeled off the paper backing and placed the patch over a torn knee.  Then, also following the manufacturer's instructions, I ironed each patch onto the jeans.  

And they're done!

These are Nolan's jeans:

The star is my favorite.

These are Griffin's:

I like the ones on the left because they originally had the stitching and fake patch one one knee, so the patch I added sorta fits.  The ones on the right are my least favorite.  They remind me of jackets that have elbow patches.  Not a fan.

The way I see it, these jeans were rarely worn and likely about to be thrown out.  I didn't spend any money at all, and this project took very little time.  So even if these jeans only get worn a few more times, it's still worth it!

Nora also had a pair of jeans that were missing the elastic in the waistband.  Since my kids are all tall and thin (like their daddy), they all require pants with the adjustable waistband (you know, where you pull the elastic and button it?).  

Look what I found at Walmart:

It's buttonhole elastic!  I just used a large safety pin to feed the elastic through the jeans waistband.  Then I pulled the elastic to the correct snugness and secured it on the buttons.  Done!

My grandma would be so proud, right? :)

Jessica