Light blue Carhartt work jeans with a large tartan patchwork panel on one leg and patched hems, front view — Front, laid flat. One large tartan panel on the leg, patched hems below.

Rework

Tartan Boro Carhartt Jeans

A pair of faded 1990s Carhartt work jeans, repaired and rebuilt with strips of tartan and check cloth, stitched down by hand in white and gold Sashiko.

Base: 1990s Carhartt light blue denim
Patchwork: Tartan-inspired cloth strips, left leg first
Technique: Boro patchwork, Sashiko on top
Thread: White and gold
Hems: Worn cuffs repaired with patch panels
Made in: Edinburgh, by hand

Tartan, mended in

The panel

Strips of tartan, check and plain cloth are laid in a diagonal grid across the thigh, so the old denim shows through between them.

The stitching

Rows of white and gold Sashiko pin each strip down and tie the patchwork back into the jeans.

The hems

Frayed cuffs were not trimmed away. They are rebuilt with thick patchwork panels in red, green, navy and grey.

Details

Back of the jeans with patched hems and a brown Carhartt label on the pocket — Back

Tartan strip panel across the thigh, stitched in a diagonal grid — Thigh panel

Patchwork hem of red, navy and grey cloth with Sashiko — Hem, front

Layered hem patch in red, green and purple tartan — Hem, layered

Close view of the tartan patchwork with Sashiko stitches — Patchwork close up

Carhartt leather label on the back pocket, with small darned patches nearby — Back pocket and label