Repairing damaged Judogi

[dan_norris]

Anyone got any advice for fixing a Judogi that has been ripped or torn? I have two that have gotten ripped in recent practices and hate to just throw them out.

[Starkjudo]

Take them to a good seamstress to be re-stitched. Occasionally, you have one with a huuge hole, that can't be stitched back together on its own - but if you have a third, older gi too threadbare for practice, it can be used for "spare parts."

[Joseph Svinth]

Sailmakers work, too.

[John Connolly]

I used to have a costume-designer girlfriend that would use her professional grade surger to repair my dogi (Double weave judogi), which lasted years, and I have found that my own sad home repairs since splitting with her had been lasting 2 weeks tops. Find someone that has the real tools and know-how to work with tough fabric...

[MarkF]

I'm curious to know just how long your judogi last and the major use of the dogi before replacement or major repairs are needed.

I ask because of the differences in the manner the uwagi is used compared to the sixties and seventies. I used the same two dogi for training, mainly randori and competition. Other than patching the shitagi occasionally, rips in the jacket were rare (ripping the shitagi from back to front could be heard from one side of the hall to the other. Ten minutes, I think, was the time limit to put on another pair of pants.

I know they are very different today from those of old. Today gripping is a different game as there is just more of the jacket to grip. Back in the day, the uwagi was probably not nearly as well-made but they were tighter, the sleeves were much shorter (just at or below the elbow), the shitagi just below the knee to the middle/upper calf. The cost was about 11.00 USD to 13.00 USD and one could get in one shiai per week, if you were willing to drive a few hours (it could be difficult and gets old pretty quickly). But the uwagi endured more than a couple of decades, so do you think that the larger, oversized judogi of today is the culprit or was it simply made better (better for the same purposes then from the newer ones of today)? I would add that to grip one almost had to offer up a piece of the dogi to get even close to the ease of gripping today. Well, not ease as in easy, there are just more points on the dogi to grip.

Other than growing out of the dogi, damage was usually not a problem though this only applies to the uwagi. When it did happen, it could be torn at the bottom of the jacket, but even those were pretty short and were only gripped on the front (at least that is what I did. I purposely gripped low to get more of the lapel out of the obi).

It is just a thought if anyone wants to take it on. Otherwise ignore the thread stealing and continue on with the reparing of the dogi.



Mark

[John Connolly]

Well, I'm pretty sure my problems started on my old dogi when I began using bleach (due to staining 'round the neck n pits... ewww). No such thing as Oxy products at the time, and hydrogen peroxide was just for scrapes n cuts. It lasted about 8 years, but really turned zombie-ragged in the last 3. The uwagi began to fall apart at the shoulder seams and obi/hip area from all the tugging on weakened fabric.

I blame bleach.