A thin lawn can sometimes be a very difficult lawn repair.
Check out
http://www.grassstitcher.com/Thin_Lawn_Areas.html to learn how the popular Grass Stitcher make this work real hassle-free. All you really need to do is fill in the sparse areas, without damaging the existing grass blades. Many people cover every thing with topsoil and begin over or dig everything up and begin over; you simply don't need to do that much work. The Grass Stitcher will perforate between the grass blades in order to plant grass seed easily and quickly so the grass blades connect with each other for a dense thick lawn only using turf seed and the Grass Stitcher.