Thread Bare

When the colder weather arrived in October I started wearing long pants, rather than shorts. Wearing shorts pretty much ended the last week or so of October. Much of the pants I now wear during the day are pants I had worn to work, and had started to "show their age",  or in the new lexicon, "were well-loved", so to speak. When the knees wear out my seamstress patches them. Some may be cut into shorts. Many of the pants cut into shorts have now fully worn out. I try to get as much mileage out of a pair of pants as possible, even if they are becoming threadbare.

Side pocket

I had a pair of Lee Khaki pants that I have been wearing now since I retired as regular day-to-day pants. When I was a child it is what my mom would refer to as play clothes. I am not sure now that I am much older what the term I should now use. I don't want to use the term work clothes, perhaps regular clothes? I am not sure, but maybe play clothes is the best option. 

Knee patched, with need to patch thigh

I have had three pair of such pants I have been alternating between, but two pair were to be laundered, so I had to relegate myself either to jeans, many of which have seen better days, or to the final old pair of former work pants, that had been patched, about four or five times.  

Patch on other knee

I decided on the old khakis in an attempt to see how many wears I could get out of them. Things were going along the day I put them on, until I changed out to go biking and when changing back into them my foot caught the the front left thigh part of the pants produced another gapping hole.  was going to ask my wife if she could repair it for me, but I thought the better of it. I also wondered about purchasing a sew on patch. I was thinking of every possible way to repair the pants to yet get more wear out of them. When she saw me, she commented to the effect that why is she the one that has to throw out worn clothes, and that pair of pants should be in the trash. Well, I had to wear them another day just to get one more day of wear out of them, but I chose to change pants when I went to book club that evening. 

Patch on back pocket

As I assessed the pants, I thought of making them into shorts, but the repair near wear my wallet sites, the twice repaired hole in the pocket, and the now gapping hole by the thigh dissuaded me. After all, I don't have the sew skills to hem when cut into shorts (I don't think I would be allowed to touch the wife's precious Janome sewing machine), and I was not about to do it by hand. I had to draw the line somewhere. Part of me wanted to patch the pants, but the wife's comment got the better of me. If they were blue jeans I probably could have sold them for some money since some people like to wear what are called "distressed" jeans--and they buy them that way. My distressed pants are naturally wear that way. 

Inside of pocket was patched twice

I started writing this as a reserve to use when I ran out of material. As I am about to post this, the jeans I am wearing have holes in the knees, which have been patched, but holes are now forming in varied places on the thigh. If the wife notices, these two may not pass her test and be relegated to the trash.

Look close and you see the fabric becoming thread bare