How To Repair Leggings

The clothes we wear to exercise are some of the most common garments in need of repair. Whether it’s tearing them when you’re stretching that bit too far, being worn down from lots of washing or falling off your bike (like in this case). The synthetic, non-woven fabrics that they’re normally made of can be some of the trickier ones to mend but classic repair techniques can still work.

I used an old pair of sports leggings (after a lot of years wear had seen better days), cut some of the fabric off the bottom of them and made two patches for patching the hole in the knees of my favourite leggings. Patches made from old T-shirts and jersey underwear also works.

I hand stitched the patches onto the leggings first to hold them in place, placing one patch on each knee. Only the right leg had a hole in but I felt it would look better on this style of leggings to make each side match.

I then used the zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine to sew around all four edges. Working from the front in a matching thread, I incorporated the edge of the patch within the zig zag stitch as much as possible. Jersey doesn’t fray so if a bit is missed it isn’t too important.

To sew in a square it is important to ‘pivot’ the needle. This is done by sewing along one edge of the square. Stop a few millimetres before reaching the end, place the needle in the fabric and lift up the presser foot. Turn the fabric 90 degrees. Put down the presser foot and continue along this line. Carry on using this technique until you reach where you started. Secure the stitch by a short reverse stitch.

I’ve already cycled, ran and done some yoga in the leggings since repairing them and the stitch has not come undone. Please get in touch if you have a sportswear query you would like some advice on repairing.

If you don’t have a sewing machine you could try to replicate the zig-zag stitch or try using an overstitch as explained in our video below.

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Sportswear patching kit from our Etsy shop