Mending - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

Resources for Mending Clothes

We toss out over 80 pounds of textiles each year. These textiles are often made of plastic materials (polyester, nylon), made in unethical conditions, dyed with harsh dyes that often get put into the rivers, etc. Even a single cotton shirt releases carbon emissions and uses tons of water. 

So the best thing to prevent the unsustainable growth of the fashion industry is to make sure that your clothing lasts as long as possible. To do so, mending clothing is a must. So here are some resources to help you learn how to do various things, such as sewing a button, to tailoring clothes, or even upcycling old clothing into new styles. 

* How to sew on three different types of button

* How to hand sew on a patch on a torn pair of jeans

* How to sew up a hole in an old shirt

* How to sew a simple T-shirt

* How to upcycle old clothing into new clothing

* More upcycle and sewing techniques

* How to repair a damaged sock

* How to do an invisible stitch

* 3 different stitches to work with for different results

* How to make a T-shirt smaller so it fits you better

* How to make repairs to your shoes

These are just a few of the things that you can do in order to make sure that your clothing lasts for a long time. Nobody wants to keep buying new clothing, as it is expensive and wasteful. 

So making alterations to your clothing, or fixing small holes hen you see them can be hugely beneficial to your wallet, to garment workers, and to the environment in the long term. 

Do you know how to fix tears in leather? I got my jacket from a thrift store so it came with a few holes and I'm too scared to try and fix it cause idk if you can even sew leather

Good on you for thrifting your clothes!

Leather is an interesting material. It's strong and durable, and will last for decades when taken care of properly. As it's a natural material, it will biodegrade at the end of its lifecycle and won't shed microplastics unlike some faux leather types (though not all, like these eco-friendly leather alternatives).

That being said, our modern leather industry is resource-intensive and can pose health- and environmental hazards. I would highly recommend buying second-hand leather over new leather, like you did.

If you do buy new leather, try to research the sustainability and ethics of the company you're buying from. Look for B Corp companies, or support indigenous designers.

Mending leather:

Sewing leather:

You absolutely can sew leather!

The most important thing to remember when sewing leather is that every hole you make while sewing is irreversible. Unlike fabric, holes are highly visible in leather. Try to avoid using pins, and plan your stitches up front if you can.

If you plan on using a sewing machine, you'll need a set of leather needles and you'll probably also benefit from getting an appropriate sewing foot.

As for hand sewing: if it's very thin leather, you could probably get away with using a large sharp needle. If the leather's too thick for standard sewing needles, you'll need leather needles, also known as glover needles, which have a triangular point. This point allows them to pass through leather without tearing it. You may also benefit from having something on hand to puncture holes into your leather, like a stitching awl.

Gluing leather:

If sewing isn't your thing, you can also try fabric glue. Just make sure to use a glue that's suitable for leather, as other glues may damage your leather. If the edges of the holes are too big to glue together, get some spare leather and glue on patches. Try to upcycle leather if you can for this, for example from leather objects that are beyond repair.

Visible mending:

If you'd like to do visible mending on your jacket, check out these Reddit topics on the subject:

How can I fix my leather couch?

Stitches in leather - yay or nay?

Advice needed. Very fine leather coat.

Old leather jacket repairs

hey, i need to fix up a hole in a (wool/ knit) sweater. the lady at the store i bought the right sort of yarn for it at said i needed to secure/ „catch“ all the stitches/ loose parts so the sweater doesn‘t end up unravelling over time. can you explain how best to do this or do you have any resources for it? i feel very overwhelmed and i don‘t wanna ruin my sweater by doing it wrong

Mending holes in knit fabric

The thing about knitting is that it's basically a collection of loops. If one loop gives in, the rest of the fabric risks unravelling, too. That's why this person mentioned "catching" all the stitches: if you miss one, your sweater might continue unravelling.

(Image source) [ID: a woven fabric (plain weave) versus a knit fabric (stockinette stitch).]

That probably sounds super stressful, but don't worry! There's different ways to fix knitting. Some are easier, and some are harder. Let's take a look.

Swiss darning:

The cleanest and most invisible fix is Swiss darning. This type of mending requires you to thread through the loops of the hole, and use those to knit new stitches. Swiss darning is probably the trickiest way to mend knits mentioned in this post.

If you've got a really small hole, you could also try duplicate stitch which doesn't require threading. This technique can also be used to reinforce worn-out spots in knitting, or even for embroidery.

Check out Patty Lyons' written guides on Swiss darning and duplicate stitch to see how it's done, or these YouTube guides on Swiss darning and duplicate stitch by Heather Storta and Stuart Moores Textiles.

(Image source) [ID: a black and white image showing how to do Swiss darning on a piece of knitting with a hole in it. Threads have been threaded between the loose knit loops, and a tapestry needle is weaving new knit stitches along these threads. Text: "Fig.3."]

(Image source) [ID: example of a hole in a gray piece of knitting that's been mended with the duplicate stitch. Six stitches have been mended with yellow yarn. Text: "Ta Da, a brand new section of knitting with no bulk - Swiss Darning Magic. PattyLyons."]

Woven darning:

If you don't feel like recreating knit stitches, you can also do woven darning on knit fabrics. The technique's the same as you would use for a woven item.

Note that a darned patch like this is not stretchy, unlike its surrounding fabric. You can somewhat remediate this by darning diagonally, but it'll still be less stretchy than actual knit fabric.

(Image source) [ID: close-up on a hole in a swatch of beige knitting that's been patched with a woven darn in light blue, dark blue, red, pink, and yellow yarn.]

(Image source) [ID: vintage instructions on how to darn a hole.]

Knitting over the hole:

You can also knit a patch and sew it across the hole, or pick up stitches around your hole and knit over it. Don't forget to finish off the loose stitches at the edge of the hole on the wrong side. Loop your yarn through them, making sure to catch them all, and secure them.

This YouTube video by VeryPink Knits will show you how to knit across a hole. If you're more of a written tutorial person, take a look at this Berroco article on knit patches.

(Image source) [ID: a gray sweater on which a red knit patch has been added to cover up a hole.]

Crochet:

If you're an avid crocheter, crochet's also an option to fix holes in knits.

(Image source) [ID: close-up on the shoulder of a blue knit sleeveless top with a hood. A hole has been mended with crochet, using red and brown thread. Text: "Cucicucicoo".]

Picking up dropped stitches:

If just one line of stitches was damaged, you could try picking up the dropped stitches with a crochet hook.

Fabric patches:

If you'd rather not knit or crochet anything, you could just sew a patch over the hole. First sew around the hole to stabilise the stitches, then sew a piece of fabric over or under the hole. Sandwich the hole between two pieces of fabric for extra security.

Use stretchy fabric and a stitch that allows for stretch to retain the stretch of the original knit material. If you do use a patch of woven fabric, note that this will effect the material's stretchiness.

(Image source) [ID: close-up on the neckline of a gray knit sweater. A hole has been mended with a green patch of fabric and sashiko stitching in yellow thread.]

(Image source) [ID: close-up on the elbow of a black and white knit sweater. The elbow has been patched with a heart-shaped scrap of red fabric with white polkadots and sewn on with a whipstitch.]

Conclusion:

This list is not exhaustive, but will give you some ideas on how to get started. You can go as visible or invisible as you want with these techniques.

Remember to use a yarn that's similar in weight and fibre as your sweater! If you darn a polyester sweater with real wool, you risk the wool patch felting in the wash, for example.

hello tumbler people! did anyone here ever organised a clothes-mending workshop? i'm thinking of organising one in my city but i don't have much experience in mending nor organising workshops so i'm looking for some tips! did you ever attended/organised one and how did it look like?