Repairing a small hole in suit pants

[johnnynorman3]

I have two pin size holes in a pair of suit pants. The holes are probably 1 millimeter each. They are nonobvious, but I'm concerned that the holes could get bigger, which is why I'm thinking about repairing them.

The first hole is right above the cuff on the leg. Because there is no lining, I'm wondering whether an iron in patch would work. Because the hole is so small, the patch won't cause any cosmetic difficulties. But is a patch the right/cost effective way to go?

The second one is on the back side of the pants just below the belt line. The problem here is that to repair the thing from the inside, you'd have to unstitch the back pocket and then sew it back on. Could a tailor just put a small stitch in the hole from the outside?

Also, do you find that repairing 1 mm holes right away is the thing to do to prevent future problems (because these holes are not cosmetic blemishes in any way).
Thanks.

 

[armscye]

I have repaired such holes several times. Using an iron on patch will leave you with a stiff area that will never press-up right. Here's the process a real tailor would use:

1. Use a needle to "grab" two 12-inch individual threads in the excess portion of the interior of the pant material. Typically, that's near the center seam of the back. The trick is that you grab one thread, pull it out slightly until there is what looks like a loop, then use your fingers to gently tug it out from both sides, if necessary loosening it from the remaining material by tugging the ends out with the needle.  If the thread breaks, you pulled too hard. Try again with the adjacent thread.

2. Once you've got two good threads, insert one of these threads into a fine needle.

3. From the INSIDE of the pants, starting above the hole and going to below it, run parallel back and forth stitches in an oversize square until you cover over the hole. You want to grab the pant fabric with each stitch, but not go through it showing a stitch on the outside.

4. Again from the INSIDE of the pants, take the second thread and repeat the process at a right angle to the first rows of thread. Only this time, have the point of the needle go over and then under each alternate thread, like you're weaving a basket. This second square should again be oversize. In essence, you're doing what's called "darning."

5. Do this in good light, wearing glasses if necessary. When you're done, examine the pants from the outside. The result should be a slightly puckered version of the original fabric. Press and the puckering will disappear. Congratulations: you have just "darned" or "rewoven" the hole. The limit on this technique is about 1/4 inch. For larger holes, you need a patch piece of fabric woven in, but that's an order of magnitude more difficult.

6. If all this seems hopelessly out-of-reach, find a good drycleaner who sends out "reweaving". You'll pay about $50 per hole to have it done by a pro.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Thanks. But here are a couple of responses. First, I'm not confident in my reweaving ability. Second, an iron on patch, while it does have some cosmetic deficiencies generally, shouldn't be an issue here because holes are in locations where (1) nobody looks or sees, and (2) are such that they don't need to "press out right." Third, the back belt area hole -- I can't get to the inside of it without doing some cutting. I'm thinking about cutting a small flap through the inside back pocket, repairing the hole, and then stiching the back pocket back up again. The flap would only need to be 1 square inch. I'm confident in my ability to stitch the pocket, which obviously nobody sees (except ******).