Mend Your Wardrobe with these Tips and Tricks
Do you have a favourite sweater that has a hole in it? Are you trying to be more sustainable with your wardrobe? You should mend your clothes instead of throwing them away! In today’s blog, we talk all about skills in sewing and fixing. Plus, the kit the helps you do it!
Tools You’ll Need
To mend clothes by hand, it helps to have a basic sewing kit. These contain:
- Tape Measures. Any kind works fine! These are used to measure parts of your body and the fabric you use.
- Fabric-marking tools. Typically these are pens or chalk wheels whose mark disappears when you iron or wash it. Perfect for making precise mends.
- Seam Ripper. Made a mistake or wanting to change a team? This sharp metal hook carefully removes stitches. Meanwhile, using scissors or snips for removal results in holes in the fabric.
- Sewing Thread. Cheap or old thread will break. Therefore, choose reels of polyester of 100% cotton thread. A small colour range should cover most mending projects.
- Needle Threader. This will help you guide the thread through the eye of needle without a magnifying glass.
- Hand-sewing Needles. Different mend-jobs require needles of different thickness because of the toughness of the fabric.
- Pins. These will help you keep things in place during a repair. Use a pin cushion to store them while working.
- Safety Pins. Not only are you less likely to prick yourself, but they also help when threading elastic through a channel.
- Small, Sharp Scissors or Thread Snips. These help make precise cuts.
Other Useful Supplies
While the basics are essential, other equipment helps you mend your wardrobe.
- Fabric Scissors. Pinking shears reduce fraying but cutting a zigzag edge. Don’t use them for other tasks or they’ll blunt!
- Iron and Ironing Board. Using these household items improves the finished look of the repair or alteration.
- Sewing Machine. This will make most mends quicker and more professional-looking.
- Fabric Scraps. Not only can they reinforce or fill in holes and worn-through areas, but they also create patches, pockets, and additional lengths for hems.
- Buttons. You never know when a button might suddenly go astray. Always keep that spare button to hand!
- Bias Binding. This is a strip of fabric with its edges folded towards the centre. When applied over a raw or worn edge, it creates a new, stronger finish,
- Iron-On Patches. Great for a mend that needs to cover a hole or stain!
- Elastic. Need to change the tightness of a waist line? Elastic is your friend.
How to Mend Your Clothes
Now you know what you need, but how do you use it? Check out these common issues and how to mend them.
Sewing a Button
- Remove any remains of threads attached to the item of clothing.
- Thread a needle. Hold together both ends and tie a knot. Then, tie an additional not to make it bulkier.
- Push the needle through the the fabric from behind and through a top hole. Remember, to hold the button in place.
- Push the needle through the hole below and thread all the way through.
- Repeat step 3 and 4 a few more times and then do the same for the other holes (if use a 4-hole button).
- Flip the garment so you clearly see the area behind the button. Make two small stitches over each other. Pull tight and trim the excess thread.
Zip Issues
There are three main types of zips you might need to mend:
- Open-ended
- Closed-ended
- Concealed/invisible
Sticky zip? Use a crayon to lubricate the zip’s teeth. Jiggle the slider to work it in.
Broken or missing pull? Thread a thin piece of wire or a paper clip and make a ring to acts as a new zip pull.
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