Step by step visible mending
I had an accident where I came off my bike the other day, and ripped one of my favourite jeans. I've been thinking of trying visisble mending for a while and this was what I needed to finally make me do it! I practiced on a couple of Ellis’ pairs and then I did my own which you can see at the very top. I’ve since done all of Ellis’ pairs and making a start on Milo’s, it’s quite addictive!
I looked at some tutorials before I started, but a lot of it was trial and error, and I think I’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t, so I thought I’d write down some step by step instructuons in case they’re useful to anyone. I’m obviously not an authortity in this and I’m not the tidiest sitcher in the world, but I think this shows that stuff can look good even when it’s a bit slapdash!
Ok, so here’s what you will need:
Fabrics, ideally in the same sort of weight, composition as the thing you are going to mend
Fabric scissors
Pins of some description
Embroidery thread in relevant colours (I think you can get Japanese embroidery thread which is especially for this, but I just used ordinary)
A sharp embroidery needle - not one of those blunt ones or you won’t get through the various layers of fabric
Also helpful, but not essential:
a sewing machinde
chalk or a washawayable fabric pen
a ruler
Right, so, the steps:
1. Start with tidying up your hole. Cut away any loose threads or frayey bits. if you have a really jaggedy hole you might decice to cut it into a more even shape, but that’s an aesthetic decision really. I’d definitely recommend cutting back the frayed bits though, I didn’t do this on my first attempt and it was a nightmare
2. Cut a rounded shape out of your scrap fabric that is at least 2cms larger than your hole on all sides. If in doubt, go bigger!
I think this looks best when the patch fabric is a different colour to the garment fabric, but I did do one pair of Elli’s trousers with a similar fabric.
3. Overlock the edges of the patch (you can skip this if you don’t have a sewing machine)
4. Pin the patch over the hole from the wrong side. The tutorial I looked at told you to use safety pins, but they just got in the way. After that I used dressmaking pins and that was much easier
5. (This was the step no one else seemed to do) Stitch the patch in place from the wrong side with a thread that is similar to your garment fabric. You don’t have to have to do this, but if you don’t you have to keep the pins in while you do the decorative/visible stitches.
I used embroidery thread for this initially, and that’s what’s shown here, but later on I switched to doing it with sewing thread so it’s less visible. You could use a contrast colour as well if you wanted to maker a feature of it. Anyway, with black embroidery thread on black denim it looks like this.
The alternative to this is to use iron on knee patches you can buy in shops. The iron on stuff on it’s own doesn’t really stick them enough, but it definitely holds it in place while you do the stitches. This costs more though, obviously.
6. Now it’s time to do the visible bit! Choose your contrasting embroidery thread and off you do. The main three designs I’ve gone for are:
Blanket stitch around the edge of the hole. For lots of the boys trousers that’s all I did
Straight lines over the hole. The smaller the stitches the more stable it is.
Wee crosses. I thought that was what the Japanese term Sashiko referred to, but it actually seems to be a term for all decorative mending
If doing the lines or crosses, I found it helpful to draw the straight lines on with chalk first. It’s surprisingly difficult to keep to stitching in a straight line when you’re going over uneven edges and several layers of fabric.
The other thing I’ve done is sew the patch on the right side of the fabric and blanket stitch around it. That looks more like a traditional mend than a visible one.
So that’s all really! It’s really fun and you have something visible to show for what otherwise be quite a boring job. And the boys love it!
I’ll leave you with some of the less elaborate kids trousers
