Fixing Old Jeans & Repurposing Stuff

So , for some reason, both my husband and son have decided that their jeans should have giant holes in them. Maybe they didn't decide this, but the holes have appeared anyway. I could have just slapped giant patches on them or maybe they should have been thrown out...I'm kind of liking the current ripped jeans thing (that's been a current thing, many times in the past) & I like the idea of giving things new lives, so I decided to add patches in a new/old way.

When I was a child & my jeans or my brother's pants needed patching, my grandmother would iron the patches in so they were on the inside facing out (usually before the fabric was able to fray in the wash). This made them less obvious, virtually invisible, if done right, than the traditional patches thing on the outside, particulary when we were able to match the paches to the fabric color. I still had some of the outside type of patches, but these were emboidered patches, added for fashion statements & not often used to cover actual tears, especially once I found that they weren't as sturdy as the real thing.
I decided to use my grandmother's technique on my husband & son's jeans in a way that strengthens the jeans & keeps some of the great texture of the frayed fabric, while adding a new textural detail of its own.

Starting with some bits of vintage 60's denim fabric that I had lying around, I pinned the fabric to the inside of the pants & basted around the edges to hold to fabric on straight while I stitched. Any fabric could be used, you could even use lace or velvet, for a pretty contrast. Since these jeans belonged to my husband & son & they were signifcantly damaged, I decided to use more of a matching fabric. If you're trying to strengthen the area, as well as patch the hole/s, I'd suggest matching the fabric to the weight of the pants fabric. If you want to use lace on heavier pants, with large holes, you could try backing it with another fabric first, even if that fabric is sheer, for extra strength & to help keep the lace from tearing, when the pants are worn.

Once the patch had been basted to the inside of the fabric, I started stitching, back & forth across the patched area. This is amost like weaving extra stability into the area. The stitches don't have to be perfect or perfectly even. These patches look great stitched with a more 'primitive' look, it matches perfectly with the frayed edges of the fabric. I used a blue thread (also something vintage that I've had lying around forever), that is similar, but doesn't quite match the patch or the original jean fabric, to make the stitches stand out a bit, for texture, but not too much (for my husband & son). You could use a completely contrasting thread, to add another layer of texture to your design. Sewing the stitches in more than one direction, crossing over each other, strengthens the area, along with adding a design element.
I like how these patches turned out. It takes a while to do patches this way & I used up the better part of a day for each pair of jeans, but I think it's worth the effort. If you don't like hand stitching (I find it kind of relaxing), you could try machine stitching. The effect would be a little different, less primitive, but still interesting. Maybe you could even use different stitches or embroider a pattern over everything...

So, in the end I've saved four things from the trash heap: two pairs of jeans, some fabric scraps & an old spool of thread, plus came up with a technique I think I'll use again & in the process, made someting cool out of old stuff. I hope my husband & son appreciate them, but at least I like them :) SAM

Sequins...

So, sequins...Aren't they pretty? I love the sparkle & shine they create with movement, kind of creating a life of their own, attracting their own attention, separate & together with whatever they happen to be attached to...
I've developed an appreciation for those that used to hand sew each little sequin onto dresses filled with hundreds & thousands of these little delights & I can understand how many of them developed eye problems, headaches & other physical problems, giving new meaning to 'suffering for fashion.' I can now understand why these gorgeous creations where so valuable & valued...

You may remember this cuff that I posted recently. This is string of green vintage sequins , hand sewn onto my peachy cuff of recycled cotton yarn. Even sewn this way, attaching sequins is a time consuming process...

But sewn this way, one by one, takes forever...

There are 'only' a little over a hundred sequins here, all stitched individually & it seemed to take hours...

Each sequin has to be unwrapped from the strand of several strings they were wrapped up in when they were originally manufactured. New sequins seem to be mainly sold loose in their packages, but older sequins were often stored on multiple strands of thread or string. Hand crocheted wrap bracelet in 100% turquoise blue cotton with vintage (60's) silver color sequins. 

I added a little detachable Frida charm or any detachable charm can be added, for different looks...Now Available

Can you imaging sewing thousands of these, months of minute detail on each dress? Just thinking about it makes those beautiful old dresses & gowns all the more precious, these sweet little bits of metallic sparkle, all the more sweet...SAM

Be sure to stop by Made by You Mondays for fun projects & handmade goodness

More Sweater Hackings :)

I bet you didn't think there were so many things you could make out of old sweaters! Sure, there's pillows or you could always make a vest or gloves, but beads? jewelry? Probably not the first things we think of when we think of sweaters. What about book covers? (I just received a nice one, in the mail) or I Pad covers? Ornaments & stuffed dolls? So many possibilities for something old, maybe ready to be discarded...

Since my old sweater was a polo, I had pieces that aren't on  regular crew or v necks, this is the placket piece, with some of the original buttons moved & a bit of added embroidery. 

A snap (vintage, of course) closure on vintage belting trim & little French knots, in teal

A bracelet could be made without a placket, from a rectangular piece of felt & some added buttons/beads

The collar piece makes a great Peter Pan style collar necklace. The pennies are from an inexpensive bracelet & can be detached from the collar, if desired. The teal piping is a vintage thrift store find. You could make a collar necklace from a collarless sweater by cutting out the collar piece from the body or sleeve...

So, have you been doing any sweater hacking recently? What have you made from your re-purposed gems in the rough? SAM

*Bracelet currently available in samsstuff Etsy Collar necklace, available soon.

Writer's Club: 80's fashion...

So, the question today is: if I cold keep a fashion style from the 80's it would be...The short, unrealistic answer is I love the eighties & I'd keep it all, but the reality is  that there are things that I actually love & many things that I would want to go away forever. I dislike eighties shoulder pads, for instance, those huge linebacker things that swallowed your neck &  were completely out of proportion to the human form. Great, if they're a piece of sports equipment, not so great for professional, business attire. Power shoulders, yikes & they used to put these in everything, even really lightweight tops, a terrible combination. So, I was never a fan of the "Dynasty" look.

I did love the contrasts, the idea that you could throw out the rules. You could wear combat boots with skirts or a motorcycle jacket with a lacy top. Madonna was wearing bra tops out in the open. Slips were worn as dresses & Doc Marten's were being worn with pretty skirts. There were contrasts, but it was still all about the balance. People had Mohawks & safety pins. Torn jeans & slashed tees weren't being thrown away, but were sought after. So sought after that manufacturers were pre tearing, pre fading. The difference between worn in & real street fashion & the pre made kind was easy to spot. No matter what they did or how much they charged, they just couldn't match what was going on in the street. 

If I could keep anything from the eighties or have anything come back, it would be the street fashion & the sense of change, of balance in contrasts, the good, bad & ugly all in one glorious mix.  SAM