Clothes get holes in them. That’s a given.
Even high quality garments will wear out eventually, but that doesn’t mean you should throw them out! Anyone can throw things away, but with a little time and ingenuity, YOU can be one of the few. The proud. The darn-ers.
Darning, in case you haven’t heard, is mending a hole with hand-stitching (or these days, maybe machine stitching). To darn a hole, you can either weave across it, or crochet around it. Guess which one’s easier.
OF COURSE weaving is much easier, but I saw a video on Pinterest of how to crochet a hole closed, which I wanted to try on my sister’s vintage swimsuit. The how to video (starting at minute 0:43) is shown here: https://pin.it/3VoFm1y
My sister got this 90’s vintage swimsuit at a thrift shop in either Florida or Louisiana, and it fits perfectly. Since she’s only 17, I don’t want to bear her in public on this blog, but here’s kind of what it looks like:
However, since the suit is 21-30 years old, the lining has a little wear and tear. The hole got a little bigger once I initially started sewing on it, so I had to cut the tear to be more even and start again. Here’s what I’m working with.
I started by encasing the hole with my embroidery floss, making sure to catch the thread as the needle came out of the hole. You can also see I started about 1/4″ back from the hole to stabilize it. Essentially, I’m doing a “blanket stitch”.
Just go all the way around the hole, and…
Once you have the first row done, you’ll repeat that same blanket stitch motion on top of the first row.
You go around and around and around until you’ve made a web!
Each time the thread meets itself on the other side, you blanket stitch those two loops together (and by that I mean, the loop that started the row, and the loop that ends it. Blanket stitch those together).
Once you’ve made it to the center of the hole, simply tie a knot and trim your thread tail, and that’s it!
Of course, as I mentioned earlier, there are other ways to darn, and that’s why I’m including a very easy to follow video on how to weave-darn. Just a word of encouragement: nothing you do the first time comes out like you imagine it will in your mind, but don’t let that stop you from trying again and again until you’re satisfied. The only difference between a pro and a life-long novice is one of them didn’t give up when the going got rough.
Now go be a pro, darn it!
Moonflower DIY 