Fix Your Threads: A Beginner’s Guide to Mending

There’s something quietly radical about choosing to care—for your clothes, your planet, yourself. A needle, some thread, and a little patience can feel like small things. But together? They can shift how you see your wardrobe—and your power. What if mending wasn’t just repair—but reclamation?
Kate-Sekules_Mending

By Shai Alise Davis

It’s a Saturday evening, and you’re already late for meeting up with your friends, when you notice the LBD you planned to wear has a gaping hole. For a second, you think about tossing it, until you remember the tons of clothing already in landfills, poisoning our environment. Sending the dress to a tailor would be too costly. Then, like an epiphany, you realize, what if you mend it yourself?

What is Mending

Mending is the act of repairing something that is damaged, typically using needlework. It is an ancient art that has been practiced for centuries and across many cultures. While mending was commonly done out of necessity, it also served as a great creative outlet, as demonstrated by sashiko and patchwork.

For centuries, mending was a skill passed on from one generation to the next, usually from mother to daughter. In some cultures, repairing your clothes is no longer the standard. We live in an age of mass consumption and fast fashion, where our society no longer values preserving what we already have, but instead prioritizes buying new.

 As someone who isn’t “crafty,” I never learned how to mend. But over the years, as I have become more conscious of how I consume and how I care for my clothing, I’ve realized just how important knowing how to mend is. Everyone can benefit from knowing how to mend. Now, as we look for ways to keep ourselves safe from the summer heat, it is the perfect time to take on a new hobby.

Why Mending Matters

The current fashion model treats clothing as disposable. Your jacket zipper breaks? Just buy a new one. It is estimated that 11.3 million tons of clothing textiles end up in landfills in the U.S. annually. This is dire when synthetic material makes up over 60% of our clothing, and will take hundreds of years to decompose. 

Mending is meaningful because it is a rejection of overconsumption and supports a circular model of fashion. WRAP, a global environmental nonprofit, published a report finding that the displacement rate of repairing an item is 82.2%. WRAP defines displacement rate as “the rate at which buying, renting, or repairing an item through a circular business model displaces the purchase of a new item.” Additionally, repairing one cotton shirt can save over 7.5 kilograms of carbon emissions. 

Mending is restorative and relaxing.  It is an intentional act that helps you slow down. We live in such a fast-paced culture, where taking time to fix a button on a shirt can seem like a huge inconvenience. In today’s world, adopting a slow fashion approach to how you care for your clothes is not only empowering but radical. 

Visible vs. Invisible Mending

Visible Mending is a technique where the repairs are noticeable and artistic. Think patchwork and embroidery. Visible mending is celebrated for showcasing self-expression and creativity.

A popular type of visible mending is sashiko. It is a traditional Japanese technique that uses a simple running stitch to create a decorative embroidered pattern. Atsushi Futatsuya, a Sashiko artisan and expert, describes the technique as a way “ to repair the damaged fabric to recycle (upcycle) and repurpose the fabric to something unique.” 

Stemming from the word boroboro, which translates to something tattered, boro is another traditional Japanese mending style. The boro method utilizes old fabric scraps to layer and patch damages. Boro was done out of necessity by the rural peasant class during the Edo period. According to Futatsuya, boro is the result of continuous sashiko over generations. 

Appliqué is a technique where patches are sewn onto a fabric.  Historically and across cultures, this method was used to create quilts, but it is also a creative way to patch up holes in clothes. 

Invisible mending is a repair technique where clothes are restored to match their original appearance. It isn’t as simple as matching the thread color to the fabric, but also matching the stitching and pattern. Two popular types are Swiss darning and French reweaving. Swiss darning involves repairing damage to knitwear by duplicating the original pattern. French rewaving is used for more delicate materials, such as silk or wool.

Choosing between visible and invisible mending ultimately comes down to personal and artistic preference, although there are factors to consider. Because you are attempting to replicate the original appearance, invisible mending is harder and higher skilled. However, invisible mending can also be more “practical” depending on the garment, such as if you’re repairing a work uniform. 

How To Start Mending

Mending Supplies

First and foremost, you need supplies. You can buy a sewing kit from a craft, grocery, or creative reuse store.

Needles: Arounna Khounnoraj, a fiber artist, suggests two types of needles for starting. An embroidery needle for patching and stitch work, and a tapestry needle for knitwear. 

Thread/yarn: The general “rule” is to use the same type of thread as the fabric (e.g., cotton thread for cotton material). Khounnoraj recommends regular sewing thread (the kind that typically comes in sewing kits) and embroidery thread. For thicker material, like knitwear, look for OEKO-Tex or GOTS Certified yarn.

Safety Pins: These will help you keep layers of clothes together, and a plus is that you most likely already have some lying around your house!

Beginner Stitching Techniques

Running Stitch: Perhaps the most common stitch technique. Start by threading your needle and tying a knot at the end. Then, pull the thread through the fabric from the back until the knot hits the fabric. Next, weave the needle in and out of the fabric, in an under-and-over movement. Keep the distance between the stitches equal. Video Tutorial.

Backstitch: Recommended for mending seams and embroidery. Again, start by threading your needle and tying a knot, and pull the needle through the fabric from the back until the knot hits the fabric. Make one stitch in a forward direction and push the needle back through the top, a stitch length ahead of the previous stitch. Next, insert the needle back into the end of your stitch. Repeat, bringing the needle underneath and back. Video Tutorial.

Slip Stitch: This stitch is nearly invisible and is ideal for hemming or closing holes at the seam. First, pin your gap closed with your safety pins. Next, thread your needle and tie a knot at the end. Then, starting from the inside, pull the needle through one end until the knot touches the fabric. Make a small stitch and continue making tiny stitches by alternating sides, pulling the edges together as you go. Video Tutorial.

Mending Techniques

Once you gain an understanding of how to do basic stitching, you can begin to mend. Here are some helpful video tutorials on essential mending techniques. 

Mending Services

Repairing your clothes might not always be an option. Maybe the project is too large or highly skilled. Look into local mending services in your area. The MendIt App is a platform that connects people to area mending experts.

Other repair services:

Creatives to Follow

Also hosts of online and in-person workshops like :

It’s Not Just on the Consumers

It’s customary in other industries to provide repair services to consumers, but in fashion, this is lacking. The fashion industry must become serious about providing repair services to customers.  It affirms that the industry is sincere about shifting to a circular model of fashion. It should not just be up to consumers to take the steps to make circular fashion become a reality.

The United Repair Centre is a Dutch-based textile repair service. According to the website, “URC offers clothing brands a strategic partnership that combines expert garment repair services with an unparalleled tech platform.” According to the center, they saved 12 tons of textile waste, reducing 70 kilograms of carbon emissions.

Patagonia, revered for its commitment to the environment, offers repair services and helpful mending guides. Similarly, Eileen Fisher offers its own repair service program. Hopefully, other brands will follow in their steps and show a commitment to our environment. 

My Mending Experience 

Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried my hand at mending. I started by darning socks, a great starting point for beginners. 

For my first “big” project, I decided to repair a cardigan that had a large hole near the left sleeve. To start this project, I used a sewing kit and tips from Visible Mending. 

Then, I turned the cardigan inside out and then inserted safety pins to keep the fabric together. I did a simple running stitch, and voila, the hole was gone. 

I was initially intimidated to take on this project, but in the end, it felt extremely restorative. It was soothing to my brain to engage in an active activity rather than doomscrolling. Now, after years of this cardigan sitting in the back of my closet, I can finally wear it again!

Mending isn’t just about clothes—it’s about changing our relationship to consumption.

A call to action: mend one item this month and share it with #PeahenBlog and mention us @peahen.studio so we can show you off!

Title photo: art by Kate Sekules

Shai Davis is a Texas-based freelance journalist. With a focus on the environment, she explores how fashion, sustainability, and culture intersect. 

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