Repair hole in shorts from fall
 

I have a brand new pair of nice Pactimo cycling shorts that I fell in a few months back and am just now getting around to what to do with them. The hole is about 2" in diameter right on the side of the shorts on the hip bone area.

I've not had a lot of success repairing Lycra-type material in the past and would ordinarily throw these out if they had seen a lot of use but they were virtually brand new. They don't need to look like new or anything as long as the patch/repair will hold, which they've not done in the past for me.

Kucharik offers repairs and alterations, but I'm not sure whether that includes only what they sell. Contact them and ask.

Is it a tear, or is there material missing?
If it's a tear it's often possible to pull the tear back together, overlap the edges 4-5 mm and then run a triple-stitch zig-zag through both layers.
If there's material missing, the item has to be patched with a piece of fabric matching in elasticity. Easiest way to do that is with an overlock sewing machine. Not the most common kind, but not extremely rare either.
W/o an overlock, it's possible to cut a patch by hand and sew it in place with triple stitch zig-zag.
If you don't have a sewing machine it's possible to sew by hand.
On stretchy fabric you can't use a straight seam as then the seam wouldn't stretch.
So try to mimic the triple stitch - maybe downgrade to a double stitch if it gets too tedious.

Dry cleaners often have a repair/altering service too. It might be worthwhile to ask at a place like that.
Another option is to look for an authorized Gore-Tex repair center in your vicinity. Those will know how to work in tricky fabrics too.

Thanks folks. Trying to avoid spending much money on them at this point. Believe they have a split and are missing some material. Typical road rash hole. Funny how skin is easier to heal and deal with than shorts it seems.

just wear em with the hole

Yeah, well, I thought about that but with my luck recently I'd fall on the same side and really get a bad case of roadrash. I may relegate them to, heaven forbid, sp, sp....spin class now that I'm recovering from back surgery and need to keep off the bike for a month.

You don't have access to a good seamstress? Assuming it can be fixed, a repair like that should not cost much at all? I have her the seams of jerseys re-sewn when this have split below the zipper. Sure was a lot cheaper than buying a new jersey.

Arguably the ultimate badge of Frediness. ;)

That's an old race strategy. Show up to a race with a torn kit, and you've got instant cred. Riders will give you a little extra room in the corners, too!

1st idea: black duct tape. 2nd idea: color the skin under the hole with a black sharpie.

If 2 inches of material are missing, I'd probably make a patch out of an old pair of shorts or jersey. If it's just a rip and you can join the edges, a simple hand stitch is plenty.

:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

I like how you think!

Put 'em on spin class or bad weather/dirt/mud duty. I'd go see a seamstress though. Might only cost you 5-10 bucks,

People who sew hate that lycra or similar material.
I would use duck tape, one layer outside, one layer inside. Probably last the life of the shorts.
And it'll look bad@ss

Yeah. Get a professional job so they look the best and last. As mentioned above, I had a woman fix some jerseys for me. Old school, eastern European woman who worked at a cleaners. IIRC, she charged me something like $7 each.

Come to think of it, when I wore wool shorts 30+ years ago I did wear 'em with the road rash holes. And there were several. But all were fairly small. A 2" hole is pushing toward Flashdance kinda punk stripper fashion.

Which one do you think would look best on black shorts? I have blue eyes and graying blonde hair.

In all seriousness there's an alteration shop nearby. I'll take 'em there tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your candid responses. After the Flashdance stripper comment it may go X-rated from here though.

Leaning towards the flames....

https://butterscotchtabby.files.word...wf6fyw60_3.jpg

I've used " Iron Mend "and it works pretty good.

Like caloso says, do your own hand stitching/patching--it's not at all difficult. Also, harvest proper thread from some junked lycra. Makes the process smoother. YouTube's a buncha diy how-to's regarding undoing various seam stitch styles.

Do mind the tension of your hand stitch. Too taut ain't good when it comes to lycra. Nor is too slack. Think zig-zag.

That's what I do with my shorts, gloves and a jersey or 2 that have holes in them from crashes. I hardly notice them anymore. :)

Specialty Outdoors
 

Technical Clothing Repair - Skiing | Biking | Mountaineering I used this place about 3 years ago with excellent results. The repair itself was very reasonable, like $15 for a quarter size tear. However, depending on your location, the postage back and forth will probably cost more than the repair. They are located in Washington state.

good luck
P2

Rainbow polkadots

+1 excellent!

Two more options:

1. Save them for winter use.... and wear under wind/rain pants or tights.
2. Throw them away.

Uncharicteristicly, I'm a guy that sews. Well, that is to say that I have a sewing machine and I know how to operate it. I've had nice shorts that have gotten holes in them and I repair them myself. The problem with this kind of repair is that if you simply bring the edges of the hole/tear together and sew it...it essentially messes up the natural weave of the surrounding fabric and it sometimes creates another hole when it stretches. At best it distorts that natural weave and just looks odd. I've also sewn a patch over the hole with a similar fabric. If you do that, you should use a zig-zag stitch. But still, it looks out of place just because it's hard to find an identical match in fabric. So, what I've done is to repair the hole, as described above (either way), and then wear a cheap pair of lycra/spandex compression shorts over them to hide the repairs and blemishes.

Dan

I've had a local tailor repair several bibs and jerseys for me. I'm sure there is one around you, can't hurt to ask.