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 http://www.fuk.co.uk/threads/denim_thread for more examples of 'roping' )

Near invisible knee repair to these True Religion denim jeans

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

'crutch / crotch blow out' repair/restoration work to these Levi 501 denim jeans

......

Before, large hole to crutch / crotch                                     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   
                                                           
       
Start, try on customer to get the right amount needed     Chalk up and strip down top waist band of the jeans
for alteration         

      
Open up the jean double center seam                               Chalk up again and remove old stitch thread

      
Press seam flat and leave with wood to set a crease     Compare different cotton colours to get right match    
(would also have overlocked inside denim edges to 
stop fraying in the future)   
                                                   
     
Double stitch center seam(used orange thread at         Re stitch the waistband back together and stitch belt

customers request, as jean had orange and yellow      loop back on. Press and now finished.
cotton thread)


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

     
Start, chalk up finished length                                              Compare cotton thread colours (again you have choice)

     
Press flat and leave with wood for few mins, to get         Finished
extra flat crease

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

After fully restored

Front bottom areas restored using new denim..................................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.

Before with 16" wide hems

After with 15" wide hems with inner selvedge left intact

 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.

Before with 18" width hems

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

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.

Before with two darts in waist line

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

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

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

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      After the choice of denim, this is the finished out come
side, with a smaller one to the left                                       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                                            Fused from inside the jean, thread colours compared

      
After, Repair work finished                                                     From a short distance, barely noticable


                                                                     Pocket repair to G Star jeans

      
Cotton pocketing has worn away                                         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


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

      
Standard orange stitch finish                                               Retro/vintage finish, (same jeans as left one)


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       Compare different cotton colours to get right match  
for alteration  (Prps Jeans selvage / selvedge denim)



Finished result, double stitch very original type finish

 .......

Before, Destroyed front thigh areas.......................................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                    Start of something which could get much worse


 Compare denim stock for best colour match for repair work

          

After, used same colour thread for a discreet repair           From short distance, barely noticeable        


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


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



                                         Strengthen patch repair work to seat area on ladies diesel jeans

          
Ladies Diesel denim jeans had gone very thin on              Patched from inside using similar colour denim
seat area, (hard to see on picture)                                          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                         With remaining material customer requested the 
standard cut denim jeans, along with some                           removal of left rear pocket and the above patch work
American stars and stripes jean material and                        to be carried out
designed above outcome                                                         

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

         
Before                                                                                           After, Patch work using shirt material and red stitching

                                                                             Close up pictures

            
Floral                                                          Check                                                       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                                                         After, new denim and overstitch work for a decent repair



                                                Gant cord jacket, repair to inside wallet pocket area

         
Before, large split                                                                     After, fully repaired

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

 

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

 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 :)

 

 

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

Shortened with original retro/vintage finish retaining

 

 

New button studs added to these All Saints denim jeans

 

Large front crutch area restoration repair work

 

Before, large crutch hole ........................................................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............ After, shortened and tidy up type alteration

 

 

Before: Crotch blow out repair / restoration work ..............After fully restored to near invisible standards

 

 

Before: large knee rip in these vintage Levis......................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 !!! :)