Repair What You Wear is a unique, free-to-access website that teaches and inspires anyone to easily mend their own clothes.
At a time when people are increasingly aware of the importance of reducing waste as well as saving money, Repair What You Wear gives people easy-to-use techniques and skills to mend their own clothes.
You can watch video our video tutorials and learn to fix a tear in jeans, mend holes in knitwear, and do visible and invisible mending on jackets, skirts, uniforms, and many more types of garments.
There are also educational videos about the nature of different types of fabrics to help you choose the best material for your garments and mends.
Could you a do a video of this technique on a knit dress that is one solid color? I have a khaki knit dress I want to shorten that I'm scared to cut because I have no idea where to cut it because it doesn't have the green stitch like your dress.
It should work on larger holes. If the fabric moves around a lot then the stitching (using "wooly nylon" should be firm enough to hold the shoe shape otherwise your foot may "slop" a bit. If you need to mend a large hole in a vulnerable place then a stick on patch may be needed. Hope this is helpful.
A very good question and it is tricky. tend to either leave it blank, especially on Binca style fabric, or to a stitch at 45 degrees on woven firmer fabric, do a 45 degree corner stitch and a sneaky stitch to catch the fabric so it stay in position. Should I put the on the video to do list?
Could you do this with synthetic fibers or do you really need the wool's tendency to stick for this to work? I snagged a really thin cotton/acrylic sweater I love and want to wear again!
It can work on any fibre providing the hole is not too big. The wool has a texture that tends to hide the changes of the mend in the knit structure but you can do it on any fibre. Any worries, send a picture to repairwhatyouwear@gmail.com for advice.
This was such a great demonstration. Subscribed immediately after seeing the rest of your content too; thank you for sharing your knowledge so freely! Also, a question -- I've looked through the mending playlist, but I didn't see a video on tips to adapt mending to wear at the end of a sleeve or other edges. There's a beloved merino techwear sweater I want to save and the sleeve ends are starting to fray. (It has two layers, sewn/hemmed a few inches up the sleeve, so it's kind of like a hole if you folded the sweater in this video in half.) Do you have any pointers?
Thank you for this note. Please send a photo to repairwhatyouwear@gmail.com but also look at our chain stitch on a cashmere card video, this may be the "solution". knitwear is often too fine for darning wool and chain stitch is stretchy, can protect from further fraying and look attractive. We are not fans of darning on fine knitwear cuffs.
Thank you! I have so many lovely fine wool sweaters and shirts, but they keep getting tears. This is the easiest invisible mending tutorial I've seen, with non specialty supplies!
That’s for the tutorial. I did this with heat activated button thread. It has adhesive in the thread fibers so when you put an iron on the thread, it creates a strong bond.
Thanks a lot for the sharing. I tried to is method to mend my merino wool sweater. It works. It holds well even after machine wash in delicate mode plus non-crease function.
Very useful and timely video - thank you. I found the fingertip button hold tricky, so I used a bamboo skewer as a spacer. My trouser seam repair was less successful, serviceable but a bit wonky. I will keep practising.
I bought this sweater at goodwill and I was able to fix the small hole because of you! Thank you, this video was very helpful and I will forever use your method.
How would you catch the last loop? I noticed that there's a hole beginning to appear on my sweater but it's a really fluffy mohair blend and I can't see the individual loops very well. There's a completely loose loop on one vertical row and I think the one next to it is also unraveling. From the back I can't see the hole, but the knit does feel a bit thinner on that part and it bends more easily, almost like it's broken.
You can always work on the front of the sweater, stitching round a loop and taking the thread straight to the back where you can secure the thread. Then take it to the front to another loop that needs tying down. This will tie down loose loops and blend them into the mend. The trick is not to see much thread on the top. Hope this is helpful.
Hello. I've checked and I used some knitting yarn that was partly silk, which is why it shines. I'd knitted a hat! It is great for embellishment too and comes in bright colours. I'll see if I can get the name.
Wow. I had two holes in a grey lambswool sweater, followed your instructions and now can't even find the repairs. One hole was large - about 1 cm x 1 cm. I can't even find the big repair. The steam shot at the end really made the difference. Thanks so much!
I just tried this on my polyester jacket lining and I snapped the needle trying to pull one of the stitches through 😭 It was a pretty sturdy needle, too. Is it possible I just need to take it to a tailor?
It should be possible to do this on almost any fabrics. Can you kindly send a photo to repairwhatyouwear@gmail.com so we can take a look? When fabric is thick it is often a very sharp needle that is required but we can see what solutions there are.
