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Comment by jimmaswell | Hacker News Reader

It seems even basic clothes tinkering takes some skill. I had a pair of jeans with a hole, so I patched on a piece of an old pair whose legs were too long. Kept eventually coming off. Maybe a sewing machine was needed.

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If you don't have a sewing machine, and you're interested in repairing/tailoring your own clothes (and most importantly you have the time) it's well worth looking into historic sewing methods. Hand sewing can be just as strong if not stronger than machine sewing, it just takes the right techniques and the time and patience to sit there and do it.

I've found the two most useful stitches I've picked up are the felling stitch, which is great for hemming and finishing seams that unravel; and darning for filling in holes, because instead of adding a patch you are essentially re-weaving a small area of fabric.

Proper denim jeans are quite hard to mend though even if you know what you're doing, especially if you've worn through/blown out the inner thigh region. Wherever you've sewn will become a new point of stress on the denim and it is likely to just pull away the weave of the fabric from that point.

> Proper denim jeans are quite hard to mend though even if you know what you're doing, especially if you've worn through/blown out the inner thigh region. Wherever you've sewn will become a new point of stress on the denim and it is likely to just pull away the weave of the fabric from that point.

This happens to every pair of mine, and is always the reason I am forced to retire them. Do you think it'll help if I reinforced the inside with old denim from another pair?

Now I always wear out the knees.

Perhaps we could set up an exchange where we swap jeans for 'wear levelling'.

Should do, if it's stitched down properly. Have a look at Levi 511 "commuter" to see how it's done, basically two extra triangles of fabric.

this is known as a "gusset"

outlier pants also have this feature, makes biking or just walking around a breeze

Are they maybe a little too large and the denim on the thighs get in contact with the other thigh? Or do you ride bicycle and wear them against the saddle?

My jeans always unravel in the groin, in the fabric just next to the seam. I was thinking it was because of bicycling, but it still happens (though at a lower rate) even though I no longer bicycle to work.

Maybe I man-spread too much? :-)

I would love some advice on how to deal with this, since I'm tired of shelling out $100+ for jeans several times a year.

Check out sachiko stitching! There are many guides online.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashiko_stitching

I have some socks that probably have more darned surface area than original material, just because it amused me.

Socks have a hard life really, and cheap nasty polyester (or significant % blends) ones can last much longer than more expensive pairs. Especially because you won't want to wear them!

What kind do you like?

I agree that a polyester blend tends to last ages. My Uniqlo 100% cotton socks tend to wear out at the sole and big toe quite quickly (those were rubbish), but my military-issued $1/pair polyester socks last me months, and are comfortable enough for daily use.

Maybe I just haven't tried the really good stuff.

Having experience repairing fabrics, but not nearly an expert in it, there is something to be said for the art of it. You need to know how much of the surrounding fabric to anchor your stitches to, how often to double back to lock in the stitches, and very importantly to make sure you're making the stitches tight enough. I'm sure that there's some far better advice out there, but if you sick with it eventually you'll learn to make solid stitching by hand.

Just an FYI, the library in my neighborhood actually has a sewing machine. They have a makers space.

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