I just pulled my new stonewashed 501 out of the washer and am a little depressed. About four inches of the outseam's overlock stitch came loose! 
My girlfriend looked funny when I was a bit anxious about washing the jeans, but I read numerous times that seams came loose after the first washing.
I hope that this is a one time only flaw and only bad luck.
sorry to hear it Klaus
you may wan to use a lighter to seal the end of the loose thread which should help keep more from coming loose. a tailor may be able to run a simple line of stitches down the outseam. bad luck, man!
Thanks for your concern, Ned!
I'm lucky that my girlfriend is a tailor. She said fixing it will be no problem, I am just so disappointed that pants that should be durable and rugged come apart after only a few days of wear and one washing.
oh yeah that's right...lucky you!
they are pre-wash, right?
Yes, they are medium stonewashed (0193). I suspect the prewash process did some damage already. Nevertheless, the older jeans never showed any problems. I'm not even sure if they still use real pumice stones for the treatment, they might use enzymes now.
I have a pair 501s-stf 0808, made in Dominican Republic, indigo blue. Showered 5 times in them. The dark color stayed, the lower legs stayed darker. The interesting is, that the denim seems to be like cardboard (paper thins). very thin and stiff. The other pair, 501s - stf 0908, made in Mexico, showered 3 times, machine washed (very small qty of soap) have the feel of heavier denim and no stiffness. Could just a bit of soap make this big a difference? Or, are we looking at different denim weaves from different countries. I got both pr from Sheplers, a month apart. I wonder if they will ship by mfg of country? If so, what country has the denim material best for fit and shrink to what we expect. 501 stf are almost impossible to find on a shelf in my part of the country. So, I buy through internet.
All I can say for now is that the prewashed is from Haiti and sewing and overall appearance are not too good. The STF is from Mexico and the seams are all perfect, the only flaw on them are the rivets, which look like pressed in with too much force. And I'd say the STFs denim looks like better quality fabric.
I mailed LS&Co about the 0193. Their answer consisted of the usual one-liner, saying that only products bought from approved retailers fall under the warranty, so ebay bought ones are out. After I answered them in a long, open, but still polite way, they told me to have the matter forwarded to the managment. I don't expect anything, but it's worth a try.
Here are some pictures of the problem:
This is where the overlock sewing came loose, it's about 10cm long, but will continue to fall apart along the whole inseam due to bad sewing:
The same happened where the pockets meet the outseam:
Here a picture of the overlock stitching, as it should be (below) and the flimsy sewing, which goes only about half as deep into the fabric as the other one:
looks like the stitching wasn't "deep" enough and got frayed off. bad luck! it's a shame what little lapses in quality can turn into.
looks like the stitching wasn't "deep" enough and got frayed off
Exactly what happened. Usually, there was a quality control after Levi's jeans had been finished. An employee checked for sizing, sewing, fabric, thread ends got "cleaned". My pair should've never left the factory with this sewing, the jeans would fall apart after a few washes. The seamstress isn't to blame at all, though, as low wages and work pressure won't allow for thorough sewing. Forturnately, my girlfriend was able to repaire the mistakes. 
well that's good news. must be nice having a tailor in the family
must be nice having a tailor in the family
It is indeed. I have two custom made jeans, and when buying clothes they don't have to fit exactly, they can always be modified. Especially when looking for rigid jeans inseam or leg width doesn't matter too much, as changes before the first wash still produce a "factory" look after washing. This way I had boot cut jeans made straight leg ones, for example.
sweet!
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