10 Stylish Ways to Patch Your Favorite Jeans

Cooler weather means wearing jeans frequently, and wearing jeans frequently means wearing jeans out more quickly than you ever thought possible. If your favorite pairs are ripping, fraying, or just showing more wear-and-tear than you’d like, these 10 DIYs will keep them functioning and looking fabulous all fall.

If you want a basic fix without adding too many distracting elements (these are jeans after all), try this tutorial on how to add a denim patch inside your favorite pair.

I love the look of lots of tiny patches made of the same fabric—just be sure you have enough to add more repairs in the future as needed. This tutorial also includes a great tip for making patches extra sturdy by adding a layer of canvas behind the fabric of your choice and stitching around the edges of the holes with running stitches.

“Boro is the age old Japanese art of mending textiles and is literally translated as rags or scraps of cloth,” and “sashiko is a form of embroidery, usually a running stitch, and is literally translated to little stabs.” Use scraps from a beloved old piece of clothing, or splurge on small, fabulous pieces of fabric.

If you skip the boro patches, sashiko can have a much dressier appearance—it can also reinforce weak areas of your jeans before they actually rip.

Repair a hole and add ’80s flair with this “quick and easy fashion fix that takes minutes. And no more hole stretching or gaping.”

Tired of all this damn handsewing? Make beautiful, subtle, machine-made repairs using many layered zig zag stitches. Also, it’s nice to see I’m not the only one who rips out the thighs of every single pair of jeans.

But perhaps the cuffs are the first part of your jeans to go? This fix will hide all damage, all while being way cuter than regular old jeans. Leather is always a stylish statement and can be added to denim cuffs in five simple steps.

I love any clothing that looks and is tough—see my love of Zoe from Firefly’s wardrobe—and these jeans are chicly badass. Reinforce your denim whilst improving their look, all with only 1 yard of pleather and some hand-sewing skills.

No time to sew? This 5-minute tutorial requires only fabric glue and scraps of your favorite cozy fabric.

Here’s another great no-sew option that will allow you to cover any damage before it develops into full-blown holes. It looks especially great along the seam, as shown, or as a pocket repair.

A single hole or frayed hem can just look sloppy, so commit to the distressed thing and make it look like you’re a fancy fashion person who paid a ton of money for artfully damaged jeans. This tutorial includes tips for using sandpaper, a cheese grater, tweezers, and scissors to create the perfectly destroyed pair.