#diy ripstop

Inspired by ripstop fabric, and by the idea of reinforcing stuff before it breaks, I machine-sewed a little grid along the inside part of the jeans where they always wear out first.

Tonight I was venting about an awful group project to a friend and I draped myself dramatically over the couch and felt something rip a little.

Look! The rips stayed inside their little squares. Look how small it is! Look how easy it'll be to mend!

Because I find non-pretty mending inspirational..... here is a weak spot on my jeans that I noticed at work today and fixed on the way home. Time invested in this fix: less than 20 minutes. It's ugly but also not super noticeable, and hopefully will keep these jeans from ripping open.

First up, I put DIY ripstop in the important part of these new work shorts. (Yes they're solid dark black; I had to fuss with lighting to make this visible.) They're going to be replacing a pair that is too light-colored and shows marks where I sweat.

The next project was this Frankenstein shirt!

A few weeks ago, I dumpster-dove for some sealed bags of clothing. One keeper was a dark grey tank top with some lime green heathering and trim around the arms and neck. It's a men's XXL, so a size too long. I cut it shorter and kept the hem intact.

I also have a plain black shirt that I thrifted before realizing quite how short it was. I tried it, but as a busty woman working a cargo job, I didn't like everyone seeing most of my torso when I had to reach overhead.

I am giving the idea of adding ripstop to jeans a chance. I think I've done this on another pair, but this pair isn't quite yet worn enough yet for it to look like it's warranted. However I think it's going to take so long to do it I might as well do it now, and a little bit of prep might go a long way in proving this pair's life.

I'm not quite 3/4 done with the grid on one leg, and then i'll need to do the next leg. I've been taking it with me in my backpack to do while on light rail into work. This is probably 2 hours of with so far, broken up in to 30 minute segments.

There is something incredibly pleasing about being moderately youthful and purposefully doing mending openly; it feels almost defiant, but not to anything expect social expectation.

Image one ID: how to stitch the ripstop. a needle on the inside of light blue jean crotch fabric with 5 stitches each holding 2 or 3 threads, spaced tight.

Image two ID: grid of ripstop on jean denim fabric. Faintly visible white thread on light blue denim fabric in grid pattern (spaced about 5 mm apart per row/column), tied to the jean seam chain stitch at theend of each row /column.

Oh man this project continues.

So I think I've drastically underestimated the time I've Sunk into this.

Sadly, I'm not sure the ripstop is enough for the damage here. I will finish the ripstop grid (which along the really worn parts of the weave, I've backstitched every 2 stitches), but then I will need to add a patch over the broken weave.

So I have these jeans that are very old. Like, I think my dad wore them in the 80s or 90s and forgot about them in his closet cause his size changed.

Anyway, I really like them! Huge pockets, decent fit, and so far pretty hard wearing, considering they are a quarter century old.

So I noticed some bits were looking thin in the crotch and figured I wouod mimic what someone else had posted here under mending and called ripstop. Unfortunately ripstop is also a kind of fabric, so searching for details was going to be a Big Deal and I decided to just wing it. I don't know if I needed the threads in both directions. I tried to do a running backstitch as I went to re-enforce it. The fabric is worn pretty thi - if I went tighter than 3 or 4 weft threads, it would snap through.

I really hope I get much more use out of these.

Image ID in alt texts