Slow Fashion DIY: Visible Mending

I was hoping to get this project in during Slow Fashion October, but I missed it by just ONE day! 

Of course, even though I completed it on November 1, here it is November 14 and I'm just finally blogging about it. 

Chasing children around all day leads to a lot of damaged clothes, and my jeans seem to take the brunt of the abuse. Before kids I never worn through the knees of jeans so fast, but now I can't seem to keep a pair of jeans intact for a single season.

I don't mind a little distressing, but the problem with knee holes is that they expand quickly and before you know it, they're ripped clean through from seam to seam. Not only does it look sloppy, but it's cold. 

When this little hole sprung up, I decided to tackle it before it grew out of control. I'd seen some interesting pins about visible mending on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. I got out my mom's sewing box, found some sturdy white thread and the pinking shears. 

I pulled this adorable skirt out of the Goodwill pile--it had never fit right and so I'd decided to donate it, but then realized I could reuse the fabric for other projects. I cut out a big square and pinned it into place on the inside of my jeans.

Then I carefully turned them right side out and started sewing. Rest assured, my sewing experience to date is nothing beyond seaming knits and sewing on buttons--I just kinda winged it, based on the shape and design I wanted.

Even though I was just making it up as a I went along, I didn't rush. I thought about where each stitch should go and how to make it before actually doing anything--I didn't want it to look sloppy.

Once I was done, I turned the jeans inside out again, removed the pins, secured the thread ends and trimmed the fabric down. Ok, it may not win awards for sewing skill . . . 

I turned my jeans right side out again, trimmed the excess fringe around the hole so the patch would show through, and voila!

I love that it's neat and tidy, but not perfectly uniform and even. They're unique and fun, but subtle. I've been wearing them non-stop--I even wore them when I did the photos for Cunningham Falls!

This was a fun project and required very little skill, so if you've got holey jeans, I encourage you to give it a shot!