Denim Therapy

This dude seems pleased...

http://jakedavis.typepad.com/jakedavis/2011/08/the-fix-denim-therapy-part-two.html

I've used them before and about to authorize the repair of another pair of jeans. It's expensive ~$40-50 (incl shipping) but my jeans aren't cheap and they do a good job.

They do a good job but if the jeans are not raw denim, then my experience is that the area around the tear is usually also weakened and you're probably due for another tear somewhere down the road.

While they do a good job, dont expect the repaired jeans to last for ever if the tear is in a high tension area like the crotch or seat.

Hey everyone,

 

Just got a pair of jeans back from them and I'm very pleased. Also, if you use code XO12 it appears you get 14% (Valentine's day promotion) through March 14, 2012.

I just got 2 pairs of jeans back that I sent to be chain stitch hemmed.  It took 12 days to get my jeans back from the day I shipped them out to the day I returned them and cost 50 plus the 4 dollars shipping.  I'm satisfied with the service so I recommend them.

on the street wear forum its called a jean blow out.
for preventive action.

for information, go to the tutorials. scan down to "hole worn in trouser thigh"
just sub the word jean for trouser. it works just the same.

an ounce of prevention etc.

Are you talking about the hem? If so, you can just have a seamtress do that on a blind stitching machineor by hand for the chain stitch. You can even do it yourself.

Yep, I am not about to do that by hand myself or pay around the same amount to have my seamstress do it.  I figured for my 2 pairs of raw I could try out the service.

I was just curious about what you were doing. I've always had jeans hemmed at the bottom like a  regular pair of trousers so that I could have it just hit my shoe and pitched 3/4" to the rear. Looks better and hangs better.

I chain stitched some Naked and Famous raws so that if I wanted to cuff them they would look normal.  Plus I wanted to make sure that when I eventually wash them the hem wouldn't come out.

I sent in my APC petits in and was surprised that the quote was 90 dollars! i had a blown crotch and a small pocket repari, but I wore them a few times after wards and they ripped up a line upwards. I guess i thought it would not be hard to repair because it was just thin tear on most of it, but i was wrong!

So since i was getting an new pair one size up, i was just going o sell these repaired so it was not worth it 90 to get them repaired ( 70 for the blown crotch)

And I just had them send it back and they wanted 12 dollars to send it back. What a rip off, I only pain 9 dollars for priority, I imagine they probably don't sent it priority and most companies that ship a lot get a little discount, so charging 12 seem like there mad that you didn't repair them...

So just be careful sending jeans to these people, better have a pretty good estimate of you costs beforehand!

In my experience, crotch blowouts are sort of like kidney stones. You can get them taken care of, but sooner or later, another one is bound to happen.

Once the crotch goes, it doesn't seem to want to stay fixed for long. Darning will help, for a time. Patching will offer more durability, but ar the expense of aesthetics (unless you're going for the whole patchwork look, in which case, have at it).

I have done a lot of work on my own denim to repair blowouts etc with very good results. I don't even own any raw selvedge jeans going thru an extended wear period to develop fades. I had a much cheaper pair of gap bootcut jeans with a pre faded look (yeah, yeah, yeah I know but my skill in the sewing room and all my equipment was a more important investment than $150+ JEANS...for now). Anyway, these jeans fit me when I was a 36 waist. I since outgrew them up to a 38. They were too small in the seat and waist plus they developed a blowout in the lower part of the seat/crotch area. I have a prominent seat so it is definitely an area of high stress/tension. I repaired them by ripping the crotch out completely, fixing the blowout by patching and using a back and forth straight stitch with 2 different color threads running thru a topstitching needle. I then installed a crotch gusset to give me more room in the seat. I then cut V's down the side of the hips between the rear pockets and the sideseams and inserted little gussets there. The jeans were effectively converted from a 36 to a 38. I wear them everyday and the repairs easily hold up.

This picture is the blowout repair. I don't have a fancy darning machine. This is a 50 some yr old household singer. I used the patch because the holes were huge. I used a navy thread with a thread that is color swirled with different hues of blue. I could've used the Gutermman denim thread but when I wear these, this repair is at the base of my seat and really can't be seen. All in all, there's no patchwork effect. The patch is concealed by the threads and is pretty close to the color of the fade. I basically re-wove the long grain. The patch extends into the weaker areas beyond the tear so that the strength of the repair transitions better into the weaker area of denim that isn't repaired. This will prevent further blowouts.

Anyone with a basic sewing machine that has a reverse gear on it can do this.

 

I have mine in therapy getting a hem job. Whats the average wait time on getting them back. I ask because their communication isn't that good. I mean I have sent a few messages and have not received a response yet. I imagine they must get a enormous amount of jeans in but even so I still expect an acknowledgment at some point.