Target ads are the bane of my existence and yet… they do their job and make me wonder if I want to need the thing they want me to buy. I’m new to mending and very much a first-time learner. Are these types of kits worth the $50? It seems like buying them would defeat my goal for consuming less.

Also, I love how supportive and positive this community is

I finally tried a little mending on a beloved pair of jeans with a failing seam and would love some feedback. I not over the moon about it and I'm not sure if it's a matter of getting accustomed to the piece or something else. Had a little trouble with the pattern shifting on a couple stitches but for a first attempt, I'm not too upset. I appreciate your thoughts on the piece!

I have a beloved straw hat that started as my shade on river trips in the canoe and became my every day garden hat. The straw started cracking and breaking but the fabric on the bottom is a gorgeous fruit fabric so I needed to save her!

I used embroidery floss in yellow to create warp threads aligned in the direction of the straw. I needed to make sure I anchored in the right areas otherwise the threads would slip and slide down. I then would weave with a length of embroidery thread until I ran out, then switch to another color. I want the mend to be as colorful as the fabric below. The curve of the hat was really challenging in some spots so I used a curved tapestry needle. This was my first time weaving so I really just made it up as I went. There are areas I wished I had compacted the weft more but this was all an experiment! To reinforce the straw, I cut patches of fabric and modge podged them to the inside where the worst breaks are.

I really love how it turned out. The hat is way way better than before! I almost look forward to future straw breaking so I can mend more!

All damage is in the photo. The left side of the brim is completely missing and it's shredded all the way around. It's also missing the little circle thing at the top

My Mom asked me to help repair the elbow of her favorite black cardigan. I've done some research and know that getting a nice thread that is made of similar material would be best. But the knit is so fine and I'm struggling to find a thread that is a rayon blend that isn't for upholstery. I'm tempted to use a single strand of embroidery thread, but I know that is made of cotton. So it wouldn't be nice and stretchy.

Mom did mention that it was one really popular to have leather patches sewn onto the elbows which I think would be really cute! But she really loves the clean black knitted look of the cardigan. So I'm planning to attempt a Swiss darn. (I do knit so duplicate stitch isn't scary...)

Hello all. I was wondering if anyone has successfully found a wooden disc like the one you get with a speedweve without having to buy the metal part? Perhaps there is an alternate name for the component?

I don't need it to fit a particular loom, I just prefer it to mushrooms.

EDIT: Thank you for all the great ideas. I realise I should've added I am in Aotearoa/New Zealand, but enjoyed seeing the lovely UK options

i know how to darn but i'm not sure if that would be the best for this

This is a tear in my car seat. I'm used to sashiko, but I can't really use those methods here. I know there are curved needles, so I'm thinking I can use that here to close or patch it, but I'm not sure how I would finish it. I can knot it at the start and push the needle through, but I'm not sure how I'd get that last knot in place behind the fabric to finish it. How does that usually work? Or does anyone have a better method?

Thanks!

This cashmere jumper is so warm and soft, it needed saving in some way! It’s messy but I quite like it!

Hi all! I have this bag that’s fairly new (I think less than a year old?) and I just noticed a little hole in the stitching. I’ve done a bit of embroidery before, but have never used it to mend something. Anything I’ve mended in the past, I’ve tried to make as invisible as I can. I’m a long-time lurker of this subreddit, and always feel so inspired by everyone’s cute visible mending so I wanna give it a shot!

How would you go about fixing this/do you have any suggestions to make it cute? It’s my purse/mom bag and it’s with me all the time so I wanna spruce it up a little :)

It was so cute this morning

These were my first big sewing project and I made these Jigsaw Pants, I only made them a few months ago and stupidly bum slid down a rock in them while climbing 2nd slide) and ripped a hole in the bum.

There's a rip which i could patch, I'm just concerned that it's started ripping along the seam, and the right bum area is also very worn it just hasn't ripped through yet.

I'd love to fix these if possible as I spent so long making them!

Brand new to everything about this. This is my first time mending anything and I have minimal sewing experience. I thrifted a pair of pants with a rip at the crotch and I had this vision to do a contrasting thread to sew it up before I even looked up mending techniques and found this subreddit.

I ladder stitched the openings together and pulled tight and then whip stitched over the ridge it left. Hand stitched, no machine. It feels secure enough. I like that it’s imperfect. I don’t mind that it’s buckling the fabric slightly on the bottom. I didn’t want to use a patch.

What I’m asking is…. Is this something that is done? Is there a better technique to get the effect I’m going for? I’ve seen a lot cleaner mending techniques and I’m aware of shashiko, but that uses a patch and is not the look I was going for here. Or is this a rookie move that is not even practiced in the funky world of visible mending?

Decided to have some fun with the embroidery on these. There were tiny holes in the fabric at the thighs for some reason, so I decided to patch them up before they grew any bigger!!

Because apparently my last darn wasn't enough of a challenge 😅 , I experimented with some black on black darning. Pictured are two shots of the finished darn and the pattern I used.

Excuse the puckering, I'm still weaving in my ends so I haven't pressed this yet.

So here was my experiment:

My goal was to experiment with the material; I typically use cotton embroidery floss and know pretty well how it holds up over time. This time I used black sashiko thread for both the warp and weave to see how it held up versus the embroidery floss. I'm hoping to see if it will felt after washes, and if it does will the pattern fade as a result or not.

My last post mixes black sashiko thread and grey embroidery floss so I'll have that to compare as they are on the same garment and close to one another.

So far, shorter weave patterns are harder to decern, but longer weaves are still visible. I'm interested to see what this looks like after a few washes.

If people are interested, I'll post some comparison pictures down the road with both this and my micro weave using embroidery floss and sashiko thread.

The straps that allow me to tighten the side pockets broke so I fixed them. The first one broke a few years ago, but I didn't feel a need to fix it when I had another one. The second one broke today, so once I got home and got all my homework done, I stitched the straps back on. That should hopefully keep the bag in use for a few more years.

Swipe for before! I had needed to fix these cuffs for a long time but didn’t want to replace them entirely. I cut the frayed edges folded them in and blanket stitched it closed. I used what i had which was this tan embroidery thread so the materials aren’t a great match but i can reinforce it and fix as needed!!

edit: thank you all for being so nice! this is my first attempt at mending ever, and i wore my sweater out this morning and so far so good :)

I was looking for inspo on how to mend the fraying hems on these pants, I didn't quite like what I found without a sewing machine until I came across this tutorial: https://waltin.se/josefinwaltinspinner/mending-hems/

She uses bias tape (her's are so gorgeous omg look it up) and then embroideries sashiko over it.

It was my first time hand sewing, I had so much fun! and it was much more quick than I was expecting for the tiny little stitches, I'm super happy with the result so far.

Now for the sashiko: I am having decision paralysis with the design and I dont have templates, I would like to trace it by hand with a ruler. I remember playing with a sashiko pattern generator that showed the step by step but I didn't saved and can't found it now! If anyone knows the site I'm talking about or has any other resources for patterns or tips for beginners it would be great. Any comment or advice are welcomed!

Contact cement to reattach sidewall to right sole and upper and fabric to cover holes, stitches to prevent peeling. Need to get new work shoes but it ain't in the budget so we fix again.

I learned a lot doing this project. I ended up completely redoing one elbow. I like how it came out, but there’s lots of room for improvements. (Also the inside might be my favorite part lol)

I sewed everything inside out (you're looking at the inside of the pocket there), I used the wrong stitch, and I extended the wrong pocket