Such Treasures

A question — “How do you mend holes in knit shirts?” — came in from my mending basket post of yesterday. If anyone has any resources to share in this regard, I know that I, and very probably Mrs. Bancks (who posed the question), will be very grateful!

My method is not any pro method of repair, but I’ll still share it.

Seam line tear. If the tear is at a seam line, I serge it closed, with the following settings:

• 3-thread overlock (narrow or wide depending on how the original seam was put in)
• stretchy thread (such as Superior Threads Polyarn) in both lower and upper loopers
• increase the differential (up to 2.0 for very strechy knit)
• stitch length (to 4 or even 4.5 for very stretchy knit)

Alternately, I also close a seam-line tear by hand, with needle and thread. Again, I use the Superior Threads Polyarn stretchy thread. I slip-stitch the hole or tear closed from the inside, beginning with a doubled and knotted length of thread and ending the repair stitching with a knot. I add a dot of Fray Check (or other thread glue) to the knots and then clip the thread ends.

Tear within body of knit fabric garment. I use a needle and stretchy thread (Superior Threads polyarn). I slip-stitch the hole or tear closed from the inside, beginning with a doubled and knotted length of thread and ending the repair stitching with a knot. I add a dot of Fray Check (or other thread glue) to the knots and then clip the thread ends.

Tear within body of yarn-weight sweater. Using yarn, of the closest match I can get — in weight and color — from my scraps, I close the sides of the hole/tear with a darning needle, again from the inside. I begin with a knotted single length of yarn and I make sure to leave at least a 6″ tail at the beginning. After the stitching, I knot the end of the yarn, leaving a 6″ tail. Again using the darning needle, I weave the yarn ends into the original inner stitches of the garment. I also add a dot of Fray Check to the knots.

Sometimes, one of my patches might end up unnoticeable. It is more likely when the tear is at a seam line or in a yarn-weight sweater. I aim to make my patch as unnoticeable as possible, but have to admit that I am mostly concerned with functionality. For instance, if it is one of the children’s play shirts, I just get the hole closed.

What do you think? How do you mend knit clothing items?