365 days without shopping!

Let's be honest girls...we buy too many clothes. This year I have decided to put an end to my constant clothing consumption and re-invent, re-work and recycle my own wardrobe and the wardrobes around me. I will only wear clothes made by my own hands, exchanged / borrowed from a friend (or friendly stranger) or salvaged secondhand. And so starts my good fashion choices, even if I'm only making them for myself.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Nudie is better than Nude...

As a long time fan of Swedish denim giant Nudie Jeans, I have religiously and rigorously conformed to their 'code of denim', all in a bid for the perfectly kept pair. Yes, under their strict instructions I have; gone without washing them for six months, kept various shaped instruments in my pockets in order to create the perfect 'wear marks' and of course patched them within an inch of their life. I have collected 5 pairs over the years which have served me well and are still in high rotation in my wardrobe. As they age they mold perfectly to the body and start to feel like soft felt. There really isn't any other piece of clothing like a pair of jeans. Nor any other piece I would spend so much money on, or get so much wear out of. Nudie even have a blog devoted to the the 'living denim'.

These days I have become somewhat of an expert at repairing them thanks to my boyfriend, who quite frequently waltzes through my front door swinging a plastic shopping bag, containing one or two pairs and calls out 'Baby I've had another blowout!'
Now I'm not going to go into physics behind why guys wear through the crotch of their jeans quicker than girls, but suffice to say that 'someone' sat me down one day and very carefully explained why. So now I have no qualms about repairing his jeans whenever they need it.
If you would rather repair than replace, here is how to fix (and hopefully prevent) jean blowouts:

1) Using a good quality denim (an old pair of jeans is perfect) cut a suitable sized patch for the hole and surrounding area (that might have weakened).
2) On the inside of the crotch sew the perimeter of the patch while holding the hole closed. Then sew up and down the patch over and over again in the same direction until the hole is covered.
3) If any of the other quadrants are weak, reinforce them the same way you did the one with the hole (believe me eventually it will need it anyway).

Happy Sewing
P.s - Yes if you look at the photo carefully you can see that this is the 2nd time I've repaired this particular pair!

1 comment:

  1. a: Now I'm not going to go into physics behind why guys wear through the crotch of their jeans quicker than girls, but suffice to say that 'someone' sat me down one day and very carefully explained why.

    d: Haha it's not what it seems like!

    ReplyDelete