Gi repair

[Gosai]

Well, what can be said about this, other than... the other day while performing Randori at my current dojo, the knee of my gi got a nice big tear in it. Being the cheap-ass I am, I would rather try my hand at repairing it rather than go through the time and expense to purchase a new gi.

So: does anyone have advice on this? Such as a particular type of thread to use? Does it matter?

I'm sure I'm not the only cheapo Judo player 'round these parts.

[jnp]

I have used dental floss to repair rips and tears on my gi in the past with good results. Never seen a straightforward thread repair last more than six months, but your mileage may vary. Just sewed up a tear in my kid's gi the other day using floss.

Waxed or unwaxed doesn't seem to make a difference, but I would avoid mint flavored floss.

[Gosai]

Floss? Never would've thought of that.

Thanks for the advice, jnp!

[The Cap]

And patches, patches do wonders for fixing knee tears in gis. See if your club has some old destroyed gi pants to scavenge the material.

[SpamN'Cheese]

I prefer to sew my ripped gi with this bad boy hurr.
But in all seriousness, I'd go with the floss idea.

[doofaloofa]

jnp, Is the floss for hand stitching only, or have you used it in a machine?

Seeing as I'm off injured I leant my gi top to my portly friend. My last words were don't rip it

The fat bastard

His wife has done a pretty good job on the tear in the skirt with a patch and plenty of stitching

He offered to replace it but I'll see how it lasts, when I eventually get back on the mats

[NeilG]

Why floss as opposed to just using some heavy-duty thread?

[MMAd MMAx]

My first Gi has been ripped and re-patched loads.. because it's my first I'm kind of attached to it.

Just get some cotton thread and a decent sewing needle.
You'll also require some patience and I tend to swear a lot when I stab my fingers with the pins.

[jnp]

Doofaloofa, I have always used the floss with a needle and thread. I've never operated a sewing machine.

Why floss as opposed to just using some heavy-duty thread?

Because in my experience it seems to hold considerably longer than repairs done with any thread, even the heavy duty type.

I learned this trick from a buddy whose wife is a ballerina. Apparently, ballerinas use floss to repair their ballet shoes because there is no thread that will stand up to the abuse that ballet shoes endure.

Knowing this, my buddy used floss when his gi got torn. That was 7 years ago. I've been using floss myself since then. Still haven't had to sew anything a second time.

[Sorekara]

Why floss as opposed to just using some heavy-duty thread?

Floss is amazingly strong. Look it up on Google.