Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Patching Clothes

My favorite jeans are wearing out. There aren’t any holes yet, but they’re threadbare in a couple of spots. I thought about going out and buying new jeans but then decided take the more financially and environmentally friendly route and repair them.

I bought a patch kit at Target and simply ironed them on to the spots that were worn out. It’s such a simple thing, but I’ve never patched any of my clothes before. (I have sewn up little tears though!) I wonder if this is one of those frugal life skills that are being forgotten as time becomes more scares and belongings become more disposable.

Now, to be completely honest, I haven’t been thrilled with how well these particular patches have held up. After washing them and drying them in a dryer, the patches have begun to peel off. The patches’ packaging warned that this could happen, but only mentioned rounding off the corners to prevent peeling. It didn’t mention anything about not putting patched clothing in the dryer, but I suspect this is what is causing the problem.

I only used one of the two patches that came in the pack (I simply cut one in half to make two patches) so I’m going to try and patch them again and this time I’ll let them air dry after every washing. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Do you patch your clothes? If so, do you use iron-on or sew-on patches?

2 comments:

  1. Can't believe it never occured to me to patch my worn-thin-don't-want-to-relace-them-comfy jeans! I'm off to the craft shop tomorrow.
    Grainne

    ReplyDelete
  2. My jeans did that, and I took it to my tailor. Maybe a bit more expensive and a hassle than doing it yourself, but she did a great job sewing them on. They haven't started to come off after many washes. I've started fixing up clothes rather than tossing them, if they can be saved.

    ReplyDelete

I know word verification is a pain, but I'm getting a lot of spam comments, more than I can keep up with. I hope you'll leave a comment anyway. I really appreciate you reading and love hearing back from you.