These pants are a paradox: normally, I am all about comfort and the fit on these jeans is pretty much the worst. They're too baggy in the waist, there's not enough room in the seat, and the strings across the artful knee rips that were there when I got them kept leaving painful indentations in my kneecaps. But they're the perfect wash and they don't have any spandex, and they always make me feel great, even though they very quickly became a mess. Here's why:
But there they were in my closet, and even with the fake shredded up knee holes and saggy waist and unfortunate air-conditioning effect, I still really kind of liked them, and as soon as I saw this, I knew what to do.
With help and inspiration from this book, I decided to start small and tackled the intentionally shredded front pockets first, before moving on to the more onerous holes in the knees. I cut patches from scrap denim and pinned them at the inside, then used a crewel needle and three strands of contrasting embroidery floss to make long [messy] stitches all around the hole. Then I cut away the fraying fabric and stitched the edges down, giving about 65% of a hoot about tidiness. I mean, I kind of wanted it to be mostly neat, but I didn't get out my ruler and draw stitching lines or anything.
It took most of the day, but it was very satisfying. As you know, hand stitching is one of my most favorite things.
It's far from perfect, but it honestly looks great to me. These pants were far from perfect even on the day they were brand-new, and I'd rather earn my ripped knees honestly, by wearing something well-fitting until it wears out, and then mending it again, but since I'm too impatient to wait for my pants to rip on their own, this sped-up version of the process makes me happy, and it saved these jeans from the dumpster.
Still Rock and Roll. Also, I can bend my legs now. Success!