Once upon Instagram, @visiblemend mended a pair of pre-distressed jeans and then returned them to the store, tags on. Kate's kind of a legend, and I am not so generous as to put my mending back in the world in that particular way. But when I found this pair at the thrift store, that clearly came pre-distressed and then got a foot through the knee holes a few too many times, they fit me so nicely that I couldn't wait to get to reinforcing them.
Confession though, because personally, I do really like the distressed jeans look. "Natural" wear is always better of course, as I love how it broadcasts exactly how you live in those jeans. The factory distressing always looks super weird and contrived, like, who gets a hole mid-thigh? Especially in a pair boasting the notoriously short women's pockets...
I definitely can't look at the trend the same way after seeing that viral video of a garment factory worker covered from head to toe and beyond in blue fluff from grinding out these perfectly complete pairs of pants. Ghastly.
I learned this Sashiko stitch pattern from Kazue at SashikoLab.com, it is a pattern from the "24 Days of SASHIKO" email series that Kazue has offered annually since 2020. It is inspired by the feather patterns on a hawk's chest, which of course as a birder I adore. It was amazing to see the pattern emerge with each new line of stitching I layered on top.
鷹の羽刺し(Takanohane-sashi). “Taka” represents hawk and “hane” means feather in Japanese. So this pattern stands for hawk feathers. -- Kazue
There were a few points after which I would have been content to stop and not add any more rows of stitching, but I followed through right to the end and I'm so happy that I did.
As we established, the bottom of the knee-holes blew out along the fabric grainline, which I remedied with the Sashiko. After spending hours examining the garment while stitching, I noticed a few more impeding rips that I decided to reinforce with a darn!
These jeans are mostly cotton with that notorious 1-2% stretch that weakens the fabric considerably. I noticed a little gap at the top of the knee too, where the glistening elastane was peeking through. My half-circle patch has done well to stop that rip from going any further, and these jeans have enjoyed quite a lot of wear since I mended them over a year ago.
The thread I used is is mercerized crochet cotton. I've never used "real" Sashiko thread before due to my very stubborn secondhand-first/use-what-you-have ethos but I am sure it is great!!! In order to use this fine red yarn with my Swift Darning Loom, I held it double for a basketweave effect that I do adore. Holding thin yarn double is a great trick for using thin yarn such as this or lace weight wool when you want to maintain a balanced (rather than weft-faced) weave.
I always get so many compliments on these jeans and it makes me so happy, nothing like that sweet "fix, of acquaintance's compliments" (as a canadian I can't not be obsessed with The Beaches right now, sorry xo happy mending!!)