Patch the thinned area, not the hole. Denim wears over a wide zone and fails at the thinnest point. A patch that covers only the hole simply moves the next hole 2 cm sideways.
Feel for the boundary. Hold the fabric up to the light: the worn area shows as a pale halo well beyond the actual hole. That halo is what the patch must cover.
Cut the patch from woven cotton — old shirting, lightweight denim, a scrap from the hem you shortened. Cut it generously, 3 to 4 cm past the worn area on every side, with rounded corners.
Put it on the inside for a repair meant to disappear, or on the outside for visible mending. Inside is more comfortable against the skin.
Open the seam if you need access. On a knee or an inner thigh, unpick a short length of the inside leg seam, work flat, and close it afterwards. Trying to stitch inside a narrow tube is where this repair goes wrong.
Stitch a dense grid. Rows of straight stitching 3 to 5 mm apart across the whole patch, then rows at right angles if the wear is severe. Lower the feed dogs and darn freely if you prefer. The grid spreads the load across the whole area rather than concentrating it at a seam line.
Use a 90/14 or 100/16 needle and polyester thread. Match the denim for invisibility, or use a contrasting thread and make a feature of it.
Questions people actually ask
Which side should the patch go on?
Inside for an invisible repair, outside for a deliberate one. Outside patches are more durable because the patch takes the abrasion.
My repair went hard and uncomfortable.
Too dense a grid, or too heavy a patch fabric. Use lighter cotton and space the rows further apart.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11