A few years ago a neighbor solved one of my few remaining winter problems by pitching half a dozen pair of heavy canvas jeans. They all needed some patching and are far too heavy for summer, but just right for winter. Prior to this I’d worn my BDUs year-round, which is no big joy in the winter even with longjohns.
There were two black pair, three tan, and one that’s my favorite color.
🙁 Guess which one is falling apart?
I was gonna wear them this morning, only to find that they’d popped some brand new holes for the cold wind to whistle through during their last washing. Why does that happen?
At some point the patches will get ridiculous even for pants I only wear all alone around the Lair. But we’re not quite there yet.
Are those iron on patches? I quit using them long ago because they are stiff and don’t actually stay on very good (as well as being expensive). Those in the picture seem to be doing ok, but you might try using some of the surviving actual jeans material to make new patches for the others. Sew them on, rather than iron on, and they should last a long, long time. 🙂
They’re iron-on, but except for the two I ironed on two minutes before taking the picture the rest are stitched on as well. I do the ironing while I have full sun/full batteries, then sew them later in the evening. They’re a little stiff at first but lighten up after they’ve been washed once or twice.
I’ve never been able to sew old denim onto new without a sewing machine, which I don’t have. The nice thing about iron-ons is that they stay put while you’re stitching them.
“The nice thing about iron-ons is that they stay put while you’re stitching them.”
This is true! 🙂 But I never used old denim on newer jeans… The patches were about the same vintage as the jeans being patched. But a sewing machine would be a really big help.
I grew up hearing the phrase “Patches beside patches are neighborly. Patches on patches is beggarly.” Looks like you are still being neighborly. Wow, a solar iron. Impressive.
> The nice thing about iron-ons is that they stay put while you’re stitching them.
If that’s your main reason for using iron-ons, then maybe you need some Stitch Witchery. Generically, heat-fusible bonding tape. There are other heat-fused fabric adhesives, such as Spray’n’Bond, and I think some liquid stuff in a tube. For that matter, there are flexible fabric glues which don’t require heat. I’ve used the tape quite a lot. Comes in many brands and widths, and in sheets.