Hints & Tips

Archive for the ‘Repairs’ Category

Have you ever had a stretch top that gets little holes in it?  It may be that the fabric has been caught, or perhaps it got attacked when it was in the washing machine?  Anyway repairing stretch fabric can be difficult, because any repair is going to be noticeable.

With today’s fashions anything goes, and you can use this to repair a stretch top.  Let’s assume you have a stretch top with a small hole in the very front just below the waist.  This is a very noticeable area.

Turn the garment inside out, and pin on an angle from one side to the other.  You will create a diagonal seam from one side seam to the other.  You could create a few seams on the top, but you will only be taking the small dart in the minimum amount necessary to create a seam.  The section with the hole, you may have to sew a little more, but once you turn it inside out and iron the seam flat, it will look like the top has section joined together.

It looks a lot better than trying to darn the hole.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Have you noticed that a lot of the machine knit cardigans and tops begin to unravel around the neck area? The biggest problem you have is finding a thread or wool colour that matches the garment.  Most people do not save the little plastic bag that comes with most knit garments.  They supply a small amount of wool, so that if something does go wrong, you can repair it with the same wool, however if the sample has been lost it is hard to match the wool.

For future reference, if you do buy a knit garment, place the little plastic sample in your lingerie draw in a small container.  That way every time you have a sample, pop it in there with all the others for future use.

But in the mean time, let’s say you have lost your sample.  What I do is turn a sleeve inside out, and unravel the inside arm seam very carefully.  This will have been sewn with the wool, and it is usually in a chain stitch that can be unraveled.  (I do have a section in my book on how to unravel a chain stitch)   

The benefit of unpicking the inside arm seam, is that you can sew this seam back up using your sewing machine, and no one will know that you unpicked it.  Try and sew it back together with a thread as close in colour to the garment as possible.  When sewing knit, have your stitch length between a medium to large length.  Never try and sew a knit with the stitch length too tight.  You will have to pull the ribbing aside as you sew, to ensure you stitch into the original section that was sewn.

Now thread the wool that you unpicked onto a needle, and catch each knitted loop ONE at a time.  It is a slow process, and if you are doing this for a customer, you should charge for your time.  To give you an idea, I generally charge around $15 – $18 to do this, depending on how much has unraveled.  It should take you around 20 minutes to complete. 

You will notice that you have to do the front and the back. If you are doing this for the first time, you might like to begin by repairing the underside first.  That way you get your practice in, and then when you do the front you will have worked out your rhythm.

This also applies if you have a hole in a knit.  Unpick the inside arm seam and use that wool to repair the hole.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

There are many different types of repairs, however one that I do a lot of is what I call Bond and Darn.  Buy yourself some Vizaflex which you can get from any sewing shop.  You only need a small amount, because it is expensive.  Cut some fabric out that matches the tear in the garment and iron it on to the sticky side of the vizaflex.  Then peel off the back sheet and iron this on to the garment on the wrong side under the tear.  Try to have the tear pulled together.  Now find some cotton that matches as close as possible to the fabric.  Blind hemming thread is perfect.  Look at the grain of the fabric, and change your stitch length to a very small stitch length.  Darn back and forward in the weave of the fabric, never going over the same section twice.  Move back and forward across the weave.  How well it looks will depend on the type of fabric.  Wool and linens are the best.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Studs can look great, but they do tend to fall out or break.  Carefully take the stud off and put a piece of fabric behind the hole and bond and darn.  If you have been able to get the stud out without creating too much of a hole, you can put a buttonhole on the top section, and nice buttons that look like studs.

There is a heavy fabric you can buy with iron on on the back of it.  It comes in white and I recently repaired a pair of shorts, taking the studs off, then I unpicked the flap section and inserted this over the top of the holes.

Use your imagination with repairs.  The fashion today allows for just about anything.  Particularly with jeans.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie