I figured I owed this sub an update on how the couch patch turned out. I got so much wonderful advice from everyone, and thought I'd share the finished result. I whipstitched the patches to each other first, overlapping them to make it thicker and more durable, and then I attached the full piece to the couch in 5-10 minute sessions over the course of the week. It was tough, but I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Thank you guys so much for the help!

Also cat tax in the last picture. 😁

My daughter-in-law wanted orange in the mend of her jeans. I like the way it came out! My only regret is the orange patch won’t ever be seen by anyone, but that’s where the hole was lol!

My slippers turn 5 next month. Last year (maybe it was the year before?) Two of my toes started poking through. I repaired the holes through needle felting, but soon discovered that not only were my felted repairs much weaker than the original boiled felt, but the boiled felt I had stabbed over and over had also lost some structural integrity. The areas I had worked on started stretching almost immediately, especially where my little toe sits.

I finally had enough and decided to darn over the felted patch to reinforce it and give it some structure. So far it seems to have worked!

The felted patch over the big toe isn't in as much trouble yet (though I do think it looks bad). I will probably darn over that one some time this winter.

A small crack appeared on the other slipper a few weeks ago. I have learned from my mistakes and simply darned that one. No more felting for me.

I used fishing line and a needle to “darn” the screen door. The screen mesh is so old it just crumbled between my fingers. The door is on our family’s old cabin and the screen probably hasn’t been replaced in 30+ years.

After years of it having a gaping hole that let bugs in and got caught on everything, I finally got around to doing something. The mend will either A) give us a few more years to ignore the screen or B) is ugly enough that my dad will replace the screen sooner - either way we all win.

It’s ugly and it was harder to do than expected, but I’m pleased with the results! 😁

Hello !

It was annoying me, my audiopad were destroying themselves. So I took an old tie, strip it into fabric and sew it onto the old audiopad. I've glued them on the plastic thing that hook on the headphones.

It's not the best, but it's working well ! So if you're doubting yourself, it's your signal to do it !

Fixed this grocery bag that tore while I was moving in. One of the straps broke, and one of the top sides ripped. I mended it using patches. For the big patch, I tried sashiko style mending for the first time. My lines are a little wonky but it turned out good enough.

The first picture is the stitch that tore. I think it happened because the embroidery floss is stronger than the fabric itself and when my bracelet caught on the stitch it tore. If I used the same or similar method for this new hole and the others would they hold? Thanks in advance!

Can’t seem to bear the thought of parting with these shorts, so every time they have a new hole I patch it up.

A tiny reminder that even the smallest flowers can find their way through. 🌼

Hi everyone, I'm trying to repair this silk skirt where the horizontal threads have been torn and this shredding has gotten worse. I'm planning to use some washable stabilizer to try to stop it from shredding further. I've done repairs on things like this before but never this huge all at once and wanted to know if anyone had other suggestions or if it's better to just cut out this section of the skirt. TIA!

(Also sorry for the repost, it seems posting on my phone messed up a few things)

Photo in comments since apparently it just didn't like my photos at all.

She asked me if I would fix some damage from her cat on a jacket.....she dropped it off when I was half asleep, didn't look at it until today..... Yikes..... It's bad.... But I like a challenge!

I have full creative control, as soon as I stabilize it I will hand wash it.

She's lucky she's cute.......

I feel like basically every time I wear these pants a new hole appears 😔 Which sucks, because they used to be my favorite pants. The repair job is meh because I'm trying to not overshadow the work I put into embroidering it in the first place, but because I put that much work in the first time I'm having a hard time saying no. And it's not just these pants, I have two others that I gave a lot of love towards maintaining, but it just feels like I can't wear them without creating a new problem to maintain 💔 Is it the point where I should just throw in the towel?

I know its very late to repair them but i love them so maxbe someone could help me or give me advice

Ty

Hi, I want to fix my sweater with a visible yet clean stitch. Preferably straight lines to close the opening fabric and I can only do it by hand. Any advice or tutorials on the stitching? Thank you!

I made a hole in a shirt I am working on while removing its front pocket and this is what I am left with after cleaning it up. After a failed attempt of darning it (following a method shown in the last picture) I am wondering if it's even possible. The shirt is made out of not-stretchy modal and polyester and has a very fine weave. Because it is synthetic I dont want to use fusible interfacing, maybe a piece of the same fabric might work as reinforcement? What approach would be the best to mend this hole so that it doesnt get bigger in the future? I am aiming for something semi-visible as I am planning to embroider over it (edit: it would be a single chain stitch line going over it, so it wouldnt be completely covered but kinda hidden)

My rats chewed some holes in the mesh of one of their play pens. Its not super pretty, but it works!

Opinions on patches over the hole or under the hole?

There are a lot of hours and swear words in this one. It belonged to my Papa. My Nana kept it as a memento of him. It stayed folded in her walk in closet for years. She moved into supportive living and I got the sweater.

It required a lot of hours to get it to a usable condition again. The elbows had thinned badly. Side seams too. I used "duplicate stitch" or "swiss darning" to replicate the knit. Found similar gauge, colour, and wool fibre content yarn to use. The right elbow was so thin I needed to created new fabric entirely.

Behold my nutty little system involving pins into a pressing ham shoved in the sleeve. Each holds a stitch in place and keeps gauge roughly the same.

Ended up mending it sneezing the whole time from the dust in the garment. Knew that if I washed it I would loose a significant amount of structure to the wash water. It got a good eucalan soak post mend. The water was full of the broken wool fibres coming off it.

Looking forward to wearing Papa's favourite sweater this winter. 🥹

Hello!!! As you can tell from the pictures, I've got some truly egregious holes in the heels of my jeans. I wear my jeans very baggy, and along with that comes heel bite, where my jeans are under my shoes. Lots of friction, so holes appear. My request - ideas for a material (either that comes in patterns or will be easy to decorate) that will hold up under my shoes at least for a little while. I'm asking here because obviously these holes will not disappear. Any decoration suggestions are appreciated. I'm thinking of something plant related so i can embroider vines to trail up the back of my legs!!!

So, I have been struggling to figure out the best way to patch and repair these two back pockets since the tears are perpendicular to the area where the pocket flaps are set. I was initially planning on trying to do a scotch-darned patch, but because of the bulk of the internal pocket seam, whenever I try to set in a patch the torn area it just gets in the way.

Any suggestions on the best way to go about repairing these, specifically with hand-stitching (I don't currently have my sewing machine available to use). Thanks in advance! <3

My boyfriend's red hoodie was in rough shape, so I offered to darn it for him!! I decided to have some fun and hid a cute little heart in the stitching. Then I made some on my cuff to match as well ♥️♥️♥️ This was surprisingly easy and fun!!

I bought this shirt in 2009, and until recently thought it was just an extremely well made shirt. Last week I thought I’d lost it (just misplaced) and looked around on the net to see if I could find another. Turns out it is a highly prized item almost impossible to get. I had no clue. I have worn it in regular rotation since I bought it. The sashiko repair on the sleeve is due to a splash of caustic soda. A few years ago the collar gave out so I removed it. Around the same time all the buttons shattered it the dryer so I replaced them as well. The Russian lettering on the back I added earlier this year on a whim.

Bought these 100% merino socks last winter and wore them A LOT, often with Blundstones which I’ve since learned not to do with nice wool socks. They were getting threadbare at the heel so following YouTube and some tips from a friend who mends clothes for a living (dreamy!!), I took my first stab at Swiss darning, trying to match the pattern as closely as possible. I did the sock on the left first. This is pre-block, but I was too proud/excited to wait 🥹

My next project will be a couple of wool jumpers with holes at the armpits and cuffs, so any tips are very welcome!