My favorite jeans are a pair of Levi's. They were supposedly skinny-leg, but over time they eased into a slim, but not tight, fit in the legs. The waist sits just right, and they are wonderfully soft. However, the legs have worn through. I was still wearing them, but my knee was getting cold! Plus, I was getting tired of people telling me that some people pay a lot extra for this look.
One day, as I was tidying up my sewing room (i.e., moving things around and putting them in piles), I re-discovered some orphan units and blocks in a baggie. There I discovered a block that I had made years ago for the Barrister's Block project. It was just the right size for a colorful knee-patch that screams "I am a quilter!"
I turned the jeans leg inside out and trimmed off most of the loose threads.
Then I cut a patch from a remnant of fusible interfacing just big enough to cover the entire ripped area and pressed it. Black would have been better, but whatever.
I turned the leg back right side out, positioned the block, laid down strips of fusible hem tape around the edges of the patch, and pressed again.
Now to stitch down the patch. It was time to haul out my sewing machine that has a free arm and grap a denim needle.
Fitting the leg over the free arm and sewing the first side was easy, but making that right turn and bunching up the rest of the leg against the machine was tough. I did manage to sew through several inches of the rear. No project goes un-ripped, even if it is a rip project!
I wasn't worried about laying down a perfect satin stitch (as you can see). After all, these were jeans with multiple rips and a quilt block made from scraps.
There were no other big rips, but there were several places where the fabric was very thin, so I went back and reverse-interfaced those areas to stablize them.
Voila! Wearable favorite jeans that spark conversations and make me happy! I wonder what I'll be able to do with the other things in that leftover bag?
