Are you interested in mending your clothes but you’re just not sure where to begin? For this episode, we’re taking a different approach to the topic of mending in that this episode is for complete beginners, no prior knowledge of sewing is needed or assumed AT ALL. But for the regular listeners who already engage in sewing and mending, this episode is kind of for you too. It’s an excellent resource to forward on to people in your life who are interested in keeping their clothes in use for longer, and who you feel might be open to learning how to do it for themselves.This episode is one part pep talk, one part practical guide. You’ll be left feeling empowered to start repairing your own clothes.
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The climate action NGO WRAP has published studies on the impact on keeping our clothes in use for longer.
The items I think you need for a basic but very effective mending kit:
Additional items and materials to allow you to make patches and expand your repertoire of repairs:
And lastly, a couple of useful additions:
Common repair tasks and resources for guidance:
This video by Treasurie shows the three different types of button.
Repairing the broken stitching in a seam:
This video by Rokolee DIY shows both back stitch and a ladder stitch techniques.
This video by GreenecoStyle shows the blind stitch approach to fixing an invisible hem.
If the original stitching at the hem is visible, then I’d recommend a backstitch to replicate the look of sewing machine stitching.
This video by Sewn Company shows how to do backstitching more neatly.
This video by Rokolee DIY shows how to use a whipstitch to close the tear by bringing the edges back together and use a scrap of fabric on the inside to stabilise the repair at the same time. This is a good idea if the tear has occurred in an area of weakened fabric.
This video by @elhrfy shows a more challenging approach but shows how you can effectively deal with a tear in fabric that probably occurred when the garment got caught on something and the surrounding fabric is in good condition.
To Repair a hole or stabilise a worn out area:
This video by This Little Farmhouse walks you through how to make a patch that goes behind the hole.
Katrina Rodabaugh’s book ‘Mending Matters’ is an excellent resource for making and applying both external and internal patches.
This blog post by Indestructables includes two methods, an iron-on no-sew approach, and a hand-stitched approach:
Check out these other episode of CYT:
