How to repair jeans with sashiko

To repair jeans with sashiko, stitch small, even running stitches directly into and around the worn or torn area, working in straight or geometric lines until the weak spot is reinforced. No sewing machine needed.

What you need

  •  A sashiko needle (longer than a standard needle, thick enough to pierce through layers of denim, and with a larger eye)
  • Proper sashiko thread (100% cotton, traditionally made in Japan), in a colour that shows against your denim. You can also use embroidery floss in a pinch, if you have this on hand.
  • A card template for marking an accurate grid, or chalk and a ruler if you're working freehand
  • A scrap of sturdy fabric, for backing a hole if the tear has gone all the way through
  • The jeans, worn but not fully torn through (where possible!) — sashiko works well as a preventative method as reinforcement before a hole occurs, not just to repair holes after they develop.

Steps

  1. Find the weakend edges of your tear. Hold the fabric up to the light. Thinning denim looks lighter before it tears. Mark that area with chalk, extending a few centimetres past the visible wear.

  2. Mark your stitch pattern. A simple grid or set of parallel lines is the easiest starting pattern. A card template makes this faster and keeps your lines even. Space lines roughly 1cm apart.

  3. Thread your needle and knot the end. Start from the underside of the fabric so the knot sits on the inside.

  4. Pin your patching fabric to the right side or wrong side of your garment - its up to you how you'd like this repair to look.

  5. Stitch small, even stitches, front to back, following your marked lines or dots if using the template from my sashiko kit. Keep tension consistent. This stitch style is called running stitch.

  6. Work past the damage, not just over it. Stitch into the surrounding sound fabric, not only the worn patch. This is what gives the repair its strength. A repair that only covers the hole will tear again at the edge.

  7. Finish and knot off on the inside, the same way you started.

A few honest notes;

Your first repair won't be perfectly even. Mine weren't either (and tbh, still aren't). The unevenness is part of what makes visible mending so special and unique to the wearer.

If you'd rather start with everything on hand, my sashiko repair kit has the strong needle, Japanese cotton sashiko thread, patching fabric cut from my own production offcuts, and a card template for marking an accurate grid.