How to repair clothes, according to experts

Once upon a time, sewing and mending clothes was commonplace —?more a given than a unique hobby. At some point in the last few decades, though, it became something of a lost art. Why have people stopped mending their clothing? Schools stopped offering home economics classes, technology boomed and fast fashion became increasingly popular — a fact for which we’re now paying dearly, from both an environmental and a human rights perspective. Our culture of extreme consumerism means countless people think nothing of buying fast fashion “hauls” and even less of discarding clothes at the first sign of damage. “All of a sudden, it’s more inconvenient to fix something than it is to buy something new,” says Elysha Schuhbauer, an artist, mender and one half of Worth Mending in Ontario, Canada. “We’re in a kind of weird, upside-down moment.”

But all hope is not lost. In the past few years, it seems there’s been growing interest in slow fashion — not only?thrifting, but also sewing and mending. On one of the most pleasant corners of the internet, you’ll find a treasure trove of videos showcasing everything from visible mending to “thrift flips” and beginner sewing journeys. “Mending is such a basic human skill,” Schuhbauer says. It’s certainly one worth learning.

Why should you learn to mend?

Shopping secondhand is a great step in creating a more sustainable closet, but as any eco expert will tell you, the best thing you can do is buy less to begin with. That means shopping for quality items (made sustainably and ethically) that will stand the test of time, but also learning a few key skills so you can repair those items as needed rather than discarding them and condemning them to life in an already-overflowing landfill. “Mending is a great way to reject consumerism,” says Lily Fulop, the author of “Wear, Repair, Repurpose: A Maker’s Guide to Mending and Upcycling Clothes.”

“Getting into mending is a great mindset shift that will hopefully help you look at all your possessions through a lens of repair and reuse, whether you do it yourself or not,” Fulop says.

With that shift, not only will you be less inclined to give up on your damaged or stained items, but you may also find yourself upcycling or reviving pieces you no longer love into ones you do, and considering potential secondhand purchases differently. “It’s always really helpful to be able to customize thrifted items —?[for example], because [they] might not be exactly the right size, or the style might be a little out of date or [they] might have some holes or stains,” Fulop says.

Once you pick up the skills, the benefit can also take you beyond your clothes. For example, Angela Sison, a sewing and mending educator and the designer behind Conrado, a brand that creates clothing from upcycled deadstock fabric, says you can fairly easily reattach bag handles or repair worn straps, hem curtains and patch up pillowcases.

And, Fulop says, “you can use some mending techniques to repair furniture, [like] patching a hole in a couch.”

Beyond the functional benefits, “it feels good to sew with your hands, and [it] is a great way to reduce anxiety and feel productive,” Fulop says.

“I love doing things with my hands,” Schuhbauer says. “That kind of creative work helps to ground me in something that is tangible —?building a deeper relationship with my stuff through adding my own touch to it. Caring for my garments is a thing I do to care for myself.”

Can beginners mend?

Perhaps the biggest misconception about mending and sewing is that it’s only for advanced, skilled makers. The reality is, “it’s something you can learn in a few hours and just keep practicing,” Fulop says, pointing out that she’s made TikTok videos that explain certain stitches in less than a minute. “It’s a skill that’s a matter of practice, not innate talent.”

Plus, as Schuhbauer points out, “the stakes are so low” in mending. “Whatever we’re mending, we had already to some degree started to write off,” they say. “We were going to get rid of it, so if we don’t like how the mend turns out, we can learn from that and try again next time.”

You don’t need much, either. “As a beginner, you can get a lot fixed with really, really basic skills and really basic equipment,” Schuhbauer says. “You can mend a lot with just a needle and thread, a pair of scissors to cut the thread and some fabric. You don’t even necessarily have to go out of your way to buy it; it can be a similar garment.”

How to mend your clothes

Change your mindset and start with observation

How do you patch clothes for beginners? While the skills may be pretty easy to pick up, “the mindset [is] probably the trickiest thing to learn,” Schuhbauer says. “The mindset [of], ‘Oh, I could fix that rather than throwing it out,’ is something that took me a lot longer to learn.”

The mending process actually starts before you pick up a needle and thread. “Beyond the basic skills of the stitches and how to sew fabric back together, it’s a really big skill to be aware of what way a garment has broken in order to fix it in a way that is the strongest,” Schuhbauer says. They break it down by separating items into three potential categories: “It could be just a snag [or] a random rip; that’s different from how you would mend a spot that’s worn thin by abrasion —?like the inner thigh [of jeans] or the bottom of a sock — versus a popped seam. It’s [about] noticing, ‘Okay, what happened here? Oh, I got that caught on a nail, or the stitching on the seam is worn out.’”

Focus on basic skills and stitches at first

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the idea of learning to mend; the key, Sison says, is to avoid overthinking it. “Focus on the actual thing [you] have to repair,” she says, noting that you can usually quickly find a video tutorial online to follow along.

“Like most crafts, there are more beginner-friendly methods and more advanced ones,” Fulop says. “Beginners can learn the basic hand stitches and be able to do quite a bit, especially patching. Darning is a little more complicated, for example, and then there are really fancy decorative stitches you can learn.”

Any mender will tell you there are certain repairs and skills that tend to pop up repeatedly.

Patching

You’ve likely had a pair of jeans or other pants that wore thin in the knees or upper thighs; all they need to be back in action is a patch. In fact, you don’t even have to wait until an actual hole appears. When you notice the fabric visibly wearing thin, Schuhbrauer suggests using a patch and making sure it’s bigger than the worn-out area. “You always want to make sure any stitches you’re making are being anchored into fabric that is still strong and intact,” they say. Plus, they note, “patching bigger than the area that’s currently worn out is going to save you further down the line.”

Patches also come in handy for holes that result from snags or the like. “Little pinholes in T-shirts happen quite frequently,” Schuhbrauer says. For these, they recommend placing a patch (ideally of the same or similar fabric) over or under the hole and stitching it in place.

As for whether to put the patch on the inside or outside of the garment, Schuhbrauer says it’s largely personal preference. “If I’m doing a pair of jeans, and I put a patch on the outside, it’s going to be the outside layer again that wears through, so [the patch] is protecting the fabric underneath it,” they add. Then again, “It depends on how I want it to look. I usually go for the inside [when patching the jeans’ crotch area] because it blends in a little more seamlessly.”

Darning

“Darning is actually more related to weaving or knitting than sewing,” Fulop says, describing the technique for fixing holes in fabric by interweaving rows of thread. It’s most frequently used for socks, but you can also darn sweaters and other woven pieces.

You can darn with thread the same color as your garment, or have fun with it and use more conspicuous colors. “I love how artful they turn out,” Schuhbrauer says. Regardless, they stress the same “mend ‘bigger than the wear’” advice that they gave for patching.

Sewing popped seams

“If you can see that the thread has broken where it was [originally] sewn,” you fix it pretty quickly (particularly if you’re using a sewing machine, but it’s also doable with hand-stitching) by just sewing right in line with the rest of the seam, Schuhbrauer says. Just remember to sew a bit on either side of the broken area (so, doubling up on the existing seam) to ensure your repair is strong.

Attaching buttons

“Learning how to put a button on is one of the easiest things to do,” Sison says. Certain sewing machines have settings (with instructions) specifically for creating buttonholes and attaching the buttons to fabric, though Sison says she typically does so by hand.

Covering stains

Mending, of course, typically refers to fixing things that are broken. But in this case, it can also extend to covering stains on your clothing. How often have you tossed a beloved shirt because of one small-but-stubborn blemish? “If something is stained and doesn’t require a structural repair, you can ‘mend’ it by painting over it,” Fulop says. You can cover stains with creative stitching or fun patches. Look at it as an opportunity to add new personality to the piece.

Visible mending

In fact, you can adopt the same mindset for actual repairs as well. “Your mending doesn’t have to be invisible,” Schuhbrauer says. “I am a huge advocate for visible mending and using mending and stitching as a way to add to the story and the relationship we have with our garments, and making it artful. We can get caught up in the perfectionism of it, but I think mending is a really lovely way to work on letting go of some of that misconception that it needs to be perfectly invisible so that it never happened.”

As for the actual sewing, Fulop recommends starting with hand stitches, particularly the running stitch, back stitch and whip stitch. “The running stitch and whip stitch are both great for patching. The whip stitch can repair frayed cuffs, [and] the back stitch is the closest thing to replicating a machine stitch, so you can use it to fix seams or do alterations.”

In fact, even if you just start with one, you can manage quite a few repairs.“The basic running stitch can do a lot,” Sison says. “It’s basically just putting two pieces of fabric together and running the needle up and down the fabrics to keep [them] together.”

Think beyond the sewing machine

Sewing machines are fantastic; they can handle all sorts of fabrics, stitches and tasks easily and efficiently. But not all sewing —?and certainly not all mending —?actually requires a sewing machine. Those basic stitches mentioned above can all be done by hand —?in fact, a whip stitch is specifically a hand stitch. If you don’t want to buy a sewing machine, can’t currently afford one or simply prefer mending by hand, you can still achieve almost all repairs (and if needed, get the help of a professional or a shared sewing machine — as can be found at some local libraries, for example — to do the rest).

“I purposely teach hand-sewing because it’s easier,” Sison says. “But when there’s a zipper repair or a big skirt that [you] want to hem, that’s definitely something a machine would be helpful for, because it would be faster and more accurate in the way you’re sewing straight lines. They’re going to be really long lines that you’ll be sewing, and it would take forever [by hand]. A sewing machine will definitely cut down the time.”

You can even get away with lots of repairs and mending without any sort of stitching, which can be particularly helpful if you struggle with fine motor skills or manual dexterity. “There are no-sew products that can be helpful, like iron-on patches or hemming tape,” Fulop says.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

There are countless resources out there that can help you on your mending journey, from books to Instagram accounts and TikTok videos. But you can also go deeper, get more specialized advice and interact with others by joining virtual or in-person workshops and courses. Simply search the type of course you’d like to take (such as darning, visible mending or beginner sewing) in your area and you’re likely to find plenty of options.

Ultimately, though, you may decide mending isn’t for you —?whether you’re struggling to get the hang of certain repairs, aren’t able to devote the time or simply don’t enjoy it. That doesn’t mean your only option is to trash your damaged clothes, though. “There’s no shame in getting help on your mending,” Schuhbrauer says. They suggest you can take clothes to a tailor or mending professional, or look to community groups like your local Buy Nothing Project chapter. “People who don’t mend or sew professionally might be open to doing those sorts of skill [shares],” they say. You might even be able to find a Repair Cafe or similar local organizations, increasingly more of which, Schubrauer says, are popping up around the world.

What do I need to mend clothes?

You don’t need an extensive kit to begin your mending journey. “When picking up a new hobby, I totally fall into it too, where you want to buy everything,” Schuhbrauer says. “But getting started, you can get a long way with some good quality thread and some needles, some snips and embroidery floss,” Schuhbrauer says.

Much of these mending products can be found secondhand —?“Look for reused materials to up your sustainability game,” Fulop says. “Does your city have a Creative Reuse store, [which is] basically a thrift store for craft supplies? Regular thrift stores often have supplies, too. You might have a relative with a great stash they’re not using. Ask around!” Here’s what to look for on your search.