Gallery Of Previous Denim Alteration, Repair & Restoration Work

We now offer CHAIN STITCHING!!!! over a year of searching for a chain stitch machine I finally own one.

Check out the examples below (Chain stitching is not just for look when new, it causes a roping effect to the bottoms over time, check out this page for more examples of ‘roping’)

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chain-stitching selvedge-sunday

Near invisible knee repair to these True Religion denim jeans

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Large rip/tear to rear of denim jean jacket, discreetly repaired to a near invisible standard

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Couple of before and after Instagram posts of crotch repairs

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‘Crutch / crotch blow out’ repair/restoration work to these Levi 501 denim jeans

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Before, large hole to crutch / crotch
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After, repaired using new denim and overstitching

This is the stages i go through to take in the waist and seat on a Edwin pair of jeans

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Start, try on customer to get the right amount needed for alteration
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Chalk up and strip down top waist band of the jeans
Open up the jean double center seam
Open up the jean double center seam
Chalk up again and remove old stitch thread
Chalk up again and remove old stitch thread
Press
Press seam flat and leave with wood to set a crease (would also have overlocked inside denim edges to stop fraying in the future)
Compare
Compare different cotton colours to get right match
Double
Double stitch center seam(used orange thread at customers request, as jean had orange and yellow cotton thread)
Re
Re stitch the waistband back together and stitch belt loop back on. Press and now finished.

This is a plain cut and sew shorten leg process to a pair of Evisu japanese selvedge denim (original/vintage finish not required)

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Start, chalk up finished length
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Compare cotton thread colours (again you have choice)
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Press flat and leave with wood for few mins, to get extra flat crease
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Finished

This was a large ‘crotch blow out’ repair/restoration work i carried out to these Cipo and Baxx denim jeans

Before: very large holes to crutch / crotch area…
After: fully restored to a very near invisible finish

Same pair of Cipo and Baxx denim jeans, but also had rip in denim to the upper thigh area

Before: large hole to thigh area
After: fully repaired using designer paisley shirt material

This is an original Wrangler denim jacket from 1969, the gentleman who brought it to me has had this since new and was his most favourite item of clothing he owns. Being 41 years old ! and worn every year and pretty much every day of its life, its had the following issues, collar had serious wear, also the front edges and upper shoulders along with the bottom front parts. Below is the before and after pictures. He was amazed by the results, it was a joy to work on this jacket for him.

Before in what looks like un-repairable condition

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After fully restored

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Front bottom areas restored using new denim and new wallet pocket added to inside

Edwin selvedge jean, tapering leg width whilst retaining the inner selvedge seam, this is what i call the ‘spread’ finish

They only needed tapering from a 16″ bottom down to a 15″ bottom width, so in this case the customer went for the option of tapering and spreading the finish open.

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Before with 16″ wide hems

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After with 15″ wide hems with inner selvedge left intact

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Thick original cotton stitching

Apc selvedge jean, tapering leg width whilst retaining the inner selvedge seam, this is what i call the ‘inner stitch removed’ finish

They needed tapering from a 18″ bottom down to a 16 bottom width, so in this case the customer went for the option of tapering and removing the inner single stitch seam.

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Before with 18″ width hems

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After with 16″ width hems with the inner selvedge seam intact and original width selvedge

Evisu Millenium Edition i had in recently for shorten with chain stitching

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Manchester selvedge denim jean company Joe & Co in for some slight running repair work.

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Mixture of some fairly rare selvedge denim in for some work.

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This is redo job which i had sent to me, the poor chap who sent them in had this done to them by a local alteration shop to alter the waist line and i wonder why some people don’t want to alter the waist on there jeans and especially a pair of ‘Diors’ its high treason to denim, to do work in such a way. They had done two darts either side of the center seam. From outside it doesn’t look to bad, but from the inside the inner denim is bulky and the fitment down the seat was poor and in general a typical quick job i see from time to time.

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Before with two darts in waist line

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After, I removed what had been carried out with the darts, carefully removed the stitching and took in with the original double stitch center seam, it needed taking in by around 4″ (from a 38″ to a 34″) so the pockets did get closer together, but the customer was fine with this and it was a much better fitment than before. Inside view shows the new finish.

Levi denim jean jacket, customer has had the jacket for over 20 years and the collar had discoloured and is going pretty thin and threadbare

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So i removed the collar and inserted new denim to the insides

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Then repaired the top areas and blended all the colours and stitching, much stronger and a new lease of life to this Levi vintage jacket

These are a pair of ladies True Religion denim jeans which needed the pocket edges repairing

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After, fully repaired to a near invisible outcome.

Quick patch repair, fused and stiched to repair. This is an extreme example, but was the customers favourite Abercrombie and Fitch jeans. Customer just wanted a quick and cheaper repair carried out and was very happy to quote ‘thank you for saving my favourite jeans, ive had them for 5 years and they fit me perfect, they just look even more retro now’

As you can see its a very large hole to the right hand side, with a smaller one to the left
As you can see its a very large hole to the right hand side, with a smaller one to the left
After the choice of denim, this is the finished out come once fused and stitched back together and fully wearable condition once again
After the choice of denim, this is the finished out come once fused and stitched back together and fully wearable condition once again

Discrete repair to the knee area, fusing and stitch repair was needed to these Armani jeans

Before, Large hole in knee area
Before, Large hole in knee area
Fused from inside the jean, thread colours compared
Fused from inside the jean, thread colours compared
From a short distance, barely noticable
From a short distance, barely noticable

Pocket repair to G Star jeans

Cotton pocketing has worn away
Cotton pocketing has worn away
Trimmed away worn pocketing and stitched with over locked edge, for a more robust finish
Trimmed away worn pocketing and stitched with over locked edge, for a more robust finish

Knee repair using cotton shirt material

Cotton shirt material used inside fused and stitched to repair the knee area on Dolce & Gabbana jeans
Cotton shirt material used inside fused and stitched to repair the knee area on Dolce & Gabbana jeans

Below are some examples of standard and retro/vintage jean finishes

Standard orange stitch finish
Standard orange stitch finish
Retro/vintage finish, (same jeans as left one)
Retro/vintage finish, (same jeans as left one)
Vintage/Retro finish to the left and standard to the right
Vintage/Retro finish to the left and standard to the right

Taking in the waist area on these Prps Jeans selvage / selvedge denim jeans

Start, try on customer to get the right amount needed for alteration (Prps Jeans selvage / selvedge denim)
Start, try on customer to get the right amount needed for alteration (Prps Jeans selvage / selvedge denim)
Compare different cotton colours to get right match
Compare different cotton colours to get right match
Finished result, double stitch very original type finish
Finished result, double stitch very original type finish

Thigh repair

Before, Destroyed front thigh areas
Before, Destroyed front thigh areas
After, Fully Restored using new denim and oversew work
After, Fully Restored using new denim and oversew work

Small crutch repair to a pair of Levi 501 jeans, using over stitch for heavy durabilty

Before, small holes appearing in crutch area
Before, small holes appearing in crutch area
Start of something which could get much worse
Start of something which could get much worse
Compare denim stock for best colour match for repair work
Compare denim stock for best colour match for repair work
After, used same colour thread for a discreet repair
After, used same colour thread for a discreet repair
From short distance, barely noticeable
From short distance, barely noticeable

Same pair as above, also having a knee repair using stripey Scabal suit jacket material

Before, large hole
Before, large hole
After, fused and stitch repaired using material behind
After, fused and stitch repaired using material behind

This is a typical re-alteration i do from time to time, to be fair it was a nice alteration done by another alteration company, but if you notice the barely visible yellow thread they have used in there alteration, the customer brought this in for me to remove the old thin yellow thread stitch and replace with the thick denim thread to give a more original finish.This may seem extreme but being Ed Hardy special edition jeans, he wanted them as original as poss, hence the re altertion by myself.

Before, barley visible thin yellow thread used
Before, barley visible thin yellow thread used

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After, removed thin thread and re-finished with thick original yellow thread
After, removed thin thread and re-finished with thick original yellow thread

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Strengthen patch repair work to seat area on ladies diesel jeans

Ladies Diesel denim jeans had gone very thin on seat area, (hard to see on picture)
Ladies Diesel denim jeans had gone very thin on seat area, (hard to see on picture)
Patched from inside using similar colour denim will give the jeans so much more life
Patched from inside using similar colour denim will give the jeans so much more life

Funky style patch work and tapered from knee to make skinny fit

Customer brought in some very plain budget standard cut denim jeans, along with some American stars and stripes jean material and designed above outcome
Customer brought in some very plain budget standard cut denim jeans, along with some American stars and stripes jean material and designed above outcome
With remaining material customer requested the removal of left rear pocket and the above patch work to be carried out
With remaining material customer requested the removal of left rear pocket and the above patch work to be carried out

Patch work to the 3 small holes on the top part of the jeans

Before
Before
After, Patch work using shirt material and red stitching
After, Patch work using shirt material and red stitching

Close up pictures

Floral
Floral
Check
Check
Stripey
Stripey

Back split repair work, again using new denim behind and then overstitch on top to hide the ‘white’ spilt threads

Before, large split to rear
Before, large split to rear
After, new denim and overstitch work for a decent repair
After, new denim and overstitch work for a decent repair

Gant cord jacket, repair to inside wallet pocket area

Before, large split
Before, large split
After, fully repaired
After, fully repaired

The old pocketing had worn threw on these Levi’s, new pocketing added (deeper than standard at customers request)

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These Ralph Lauren jeans had gone very thin in the seat/backside area

Looking at them in the light, you can see they had gone very thin
Looking at them in the light, you can see they had gone very thin

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New denim from old pair of vintage Levis added to the inside
New denim from old pair of vintage Levis added to the inside
Now fully wearable again for a fair few years more use, another pair of Levis salvaged from the denim graveyard :)
Now fully wearable again for a fair few years more use, another pair of Levis salvaged from the denim graveyard 🙂

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These levi vintage jeans were the ones i worked on for Toby Wiseman feature editor of Men’s Health magazine, you can read the full article on the My background page of the site.

He had been wearing them too long and hence the hole had appeared on both legs at the point they needed shortening to

Compare thread for best possible colour match, i use Guttermann thread which is a thicker original type

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Shortened with original retro/vintage finish retaining

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New button studs added to these All Saints denim jeans

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Large front crutch area restoration repair work

Before, large crutch hole
Before, large crutch hole
After, fully restored and repaired using new denim
After, fully restored and repaired using new denim

Tidying up type repair/alteration to these vintage levis

Before, very tatty bottoms due to wearing too long
Before, very tatty bottoms due to wearing too long
After, shortened and tidy up type alteration
After, shortened and tidy up type alteration
Before: Crotch blow out repair / restoration work
Before: Crotch blow out repair / restoration work
After fully restored to near invisible standards
After fully restored to near invisible standards
Before: large knee rip in these vintage Levis
Before: large knee rip in these vintage Levis
After: fully repaired to near invisible finish
After: fully repaired to near invisible finish

Few pictures of ‘The Denim Doctor Mini’

Give me a wave if you see me on the way to work !!! 🙂

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Please check out our blog and Instagram account for regular posts of work I am doing at the moment.