Patchwork Jeans

I was sewing a button back onto a pair of pants last night and I got to thinking about the lost art of patchwork jeans.

These days it is a fashion statement to have tears in a pair of jeans, but back in the 60's torn jeans were not cool - patches were the thing. No, not those navy blue iron on patches made of some variation on fiberglass, but bright colorful patches. Anything from a NASA commemorative patch to the logo of a favorite sports team was acceptable.

I had several pair of jeans with more patches than denim. In fact the waist and belt loops may have been the only denim remaining. I suppose I should have accepted the need to move on to a new pair of pants when I started spending entire Saturday mornings sewing new patches to the existing patches. But by that time the pants (I couldn't really call them jeans anymore) had become a piece of art.

Yes, I did all the sewing myself - by hand. I could thread a needle with one eye closed. The tip of my right index finger was permanently imprinted with the scaly texture of a thimble. It was tough going driving a needle through two or three layers of overlapping patches, but I was an accomplished craftsman.

So why was it that sewing on that one button last night took more time than running to the store for a new pair of pants? Perhaps it stems from my need for a magnifying glass to supplement my magnifying glasses.