Make Do and Mend: Darning
OMG DIAGONAL!!!
To keep it S–T–R–E–T–C–H–Y–!
Why hasn’t anyone told me this?
I was taught a different/additional method of repairing knit fabric while maintaining its stretch, essentially one that reconstructs the fabric in the same way it was originally put together, making it pretty hard to see if you have similar yarn. Not sure where it comes from, this video seems to be the same thing I was told to do. Probably the best way to decide between them is just based on which seems more work for the hole you have, and whether you care about it being visible.
[Image description: A vintage three-paged tutorial for darning. The text is as follows,
Page one: “How to Darn Holes and Tears by Mrs. Sew-and-Sew
Do not wait for holes to develop. It is better to darn as soon as garments begin to wear thin. Imitate, as well as possible, the text of the fabric being darned. When darning a big hole, tack a piece of net at the back and darn across it, and this will give extra support to the stitches. A tear should be tacked round on to a piece of paper, to hold the edges in position.”
Page two: “Darning a Hole / First clear the loops of fluff and broken ends of threads from knitted garments or clip away ragged edges from the machine knit fabrics. Always use a darning ball under large holes.
Make the darn the shape of a hole.
Darn up and down the hole first; work on the wrong side.
Choose mending as fine as the material of the garment.
Begin a good distance away from the hole in order to reinforce the thin parts around the hole.
Spread the rows of darning the width of a strand of mending apart.
Pick up the backs of the loops only unless the material is very fine.
Leave loops at the ends of each row and darn so that the stitches alternate with spaces between the stitches in the previous rows.
Pick up the edge of hole in one row then go over the edge of the hole in the next row. If you have cleared the edges of the hole you will find this will be easy and will make a neater mend on the right side of the garment.
Continue the darn over the thin place beyond the hole.
Darning Over the First Rows of Darning
Darn over the hole only and about two stitches of darning beyond.
Leave loops at the ends of each row, and only pick up on the needle the darning stitches.
Pick up the alternate strands of minding in the first row
In alternate rows, pick up the strands of mending you passed over in the previous row.”
Page three: “Darning on Knitted Fabrics / The first stage in darning on knitted fabrics is the same as an ordinary darn, but the direction of the second set of stitches is diagonal.”
On page two, there are two drawings accompanying the text. For “Darning a Hole”, the image shows a hole in the fabric, with vertical rows of running stitches creating a lattice around and over the hole.
For “Darning Over the First Rows of Darning”, the image begins where the first one left off. Now going horizontally, the thread is woven through alternating rows that covers the hole in the fabric. This creates a new woven fabric in the empty space.
On page three, the image for “Darning on Knitted Fabrics” starts begins where image one left off, but instead of having the thread woven through alternating rows horizontally, the thread is woven in on the diagonal. /end image description]
oh holy shit
are you telling me I can fix my clothes instead of buying new ones???
hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah
I am far from a tradwife cottagecore “uuuuuugh we should go back to the fifties!!!” type, but damn I love those old women’s guides for Doing Practical Shit
Repair your clothes, while making them more unique to your style.
There's no need to give up on a sweater with a hole in the elbow or a shirt with a tear in the collar. Visible mending is beginner friendly,
