DIY Jacket Repair

If the insulation isn't stuck to the material I would probably put a piece of tenacious tape on the inside. Then I would put a very thin line of permatex / seam sealer on the outside to keep the edges from unraveling.

What Wade said. Round the edges of the tenacious tape and heat it a bit before applying.

I haven't worked with tenacious tape before, so bear with me here … I should cut the tape into an oval and slide it in between the fabric and the insulation, sticky side up? That seems kinda tricky.

Yes, it'll be tricky, but that'll be the best/least visible way to fix it. And as others have said, put a very thin line of seam grip on the outside afterwards. You can also mask off the rest of the area with painters tape or something to ensure that you only get the seamgrip only on the area you want.

Another option would be to use painters tape and tape along the rip on either side, leaving 1mm of torn edge exposed on either side of rip, put some seamgrip on, then tape over the rip with more painters tape, ensuring that the edges are brought together, then let the seam grip dry/cure and then remove the tape. It'll do the job, but probably not as burly as putting tenacious tape on from the inside before that… But again, that'd be very tough to do.

That's exactly how you do it, Nate. The size of the slit will give you all the room you need to place the Tenacious Tape inside. Carefully position the tape against the insulation, then allign the outer fabric edges and press the fabric onto the sticky side of the tape. You'll have just one chance to get it right, so practice the allignment of the fabric a little before you place the tape inside. Once the fabric is in good contact with the Tenacious Tape, press things together well. After this step, I like to add a thin coating of Seam Grip over the outside, to cover the edges of the outer fabric. This happens to show slightly, but it protects the edges of the slit from fraying. After all this is done, set the project aside for a day or so to let the adhesives fully set.

> You'll have just one chance to get it right …

Not what I wanted to hear. Thanks for all the help though. Much appreciated. Will report back with success or failure.

If you're not particularly fussed about the appearance, simply put the Tenacious or spinnaker tape on the outside.

If you're fussy, put the tape inside, as suggested. One way to make it easier is to find a tape with a backing paper, and only remove a little of the backer, and stick one end of the repair. Then peel the backer as you stick. Obviously, there will come a point where you'll have to remove the backer before you close the hole…

If putting the tape on the outside, draw a tailor's chalk line to extend the hole, so you can align the cut so it sits under the middle of the tape. If putting it inside, mark a line in the centre of the tape, for the same purpose.

How close is the cut to a zipper or other seam that you could resew easily? That may give you better access to the inside of the fabric?

As DS mentioned, you could access the rip from the inside…
Since you won't see the inside of the jacket when you're wearing it…. you could cut it from the inside just behind the outside tear, tape the tear from the inside, then tape the cut you made on the inside of the jacket.

I'm already worried about patching one hole, now you're suggesting I make a second?! In all seriousness, I really appreciate everyone's input. Very helpful. I think I'm going to try and keep it simple and go with Wade's idea.

Well, here's the result after I jimmy'd the tape into the tear.

It's obviously not perfect, but I'm happy with the result. After some seam sealer, it should look pretty good. Thanks again for all the tips!

Looks like a great repair nice work!