London's

Denim Repairs & Alterations

At Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, we champion repairs and alterations to extend the life of your garments, ensuring they stay wearable and meaningful. Our free denim repair service reflects our belief in nurturing connections between people and their clothes, emphasising sustainability and thoughtful care.

Fabric Care

Wash your fabric before making, on a cycle that matches your fibre and fabric construction – generally no more than 30˚c, and with mild detergent. 

M&M recommend pre washing your denim before sewing. Putting a large piece of medium-heavy weight denim into the washing machine can sometimes lead to white creases in the denim because it is a stiff fabric so it doesn’t have room to move around. Pre-washing also ensures you remove any further fabric shrinkage (most fabric manufacturers state 3-5% additional shrinkage, or for our denims it will be approximately 2.5cm in the length only).

We recommend doing the following to avoid creasing, and to prevent shrinkage after making: 

Wash your denim on its own for the first wash. You don’t need to use detergent if you don’t want to, and you can even just use a rinse cycle 
Wet the fabric first before putting it into the drum if you can 
If you can break up your denim fabric into half this will help. Or if you have your pattern already you may be able to break it into smaller parts by looking at the lay plan – leave some wiggle room! 
For the first wash use a delicate 30 degree cycle with a low spin 
If any white creases develop, ironing whilst still damp will help 
Do not tumble dry (general rule of thumb is not to tumble dry denim anyway)