Repair & Maintenance

Tear in the crotch of your trousers

Trouser fabric under a sewing machine with a new patch and seam.

The crotch is the part of hiking trousers that gives way first. A reinforcing patch on the inside + a zigzag seam spreads the load and extends the life — here is how to do it properly.

The crotch is the part of hiking trousers that gives way first. It takes a lot of mechanical strain when we walk — especially modern stretch fabrics, where the cloth is pulled snugly around the body and puts constant pressure on the seam. When the seam splits or the fabric tears, you can fix it. The trick is to take the load off the seam by gluing a reinforcing patch on the inside.

Materials

  • Varmevinyl (heat-bonding patch) or urethane-based adhesive
  • Reinforcing patch in the same or similar fabric as the trousers
  • Sewing thread in a matching colour (synthetic fibre is good for synthetic fabrics)
  • Sewing machine with zigzag stitch (it can also be sewn by hand, but the machine is stronger)
  • Pins

How to fix it

  1. Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the damaged area — it should overlap by ~3 cm beyond the seams/tear, so the load is spread out. Give the patch rounded corners (square corners create new starting points for tears).

  2. Attach the patch on the inside with varmevinyl (melt it on with an iron on the back of the patch) or urethane-based adhesive. The patch should bond evenly on the back, covering the whole stress area.

  3. Sew a zigzag over the tear from the outside, through the patch:

    • Lay the trousers flat on the sewing-machine table — do not let them hang and pull
    • Bring the sides of the tear together so that they overlap very slightly
    • Use a zigzag stitch with stitch length 0 and width 3–4
    • Pull the fabric slowly through the sewing machine to get even coverage

  4. Pins hold the patch in place while you sew — remove them as you go.

For waterproof shell clothing

If it is Gore-Tex or another waterproof shell:

  1. Sew the tear or seam together first (without a reinforcing patch to begin with)
  2. Glue or melt a patch on the inside with varmevinyl or urethane-based adhesive — this seals the seam and restores the waterproofing
  3. If there is fabric missing (burn holes): glue the patch on the outside for a tidier result

When it is preventive work

If you see that the fabric is worn thin near the seam (but the seam has not split yet), you can reinforce it before it goes: put a varmevinyl patch on the inside over the whole exposed area. This spreads the load evenly and can prevent a tear before it happens.

Back to the Repair category → · Sewing holes and tears → · Gluing holes and tears in outdoor gear →

Text: Lars Peters and Snuitide (2022), revised 2026.

Video resource: Bykuben og Mari Melilot — stopping på maskin