Mend the (big) holes in your sweater
Part 2: Patching holes, and creative knitwear modification!
Table of Contents
Repairing big holes with patches
Creative modifications for knitwear
ICYMI, last week’s newsletter covered popular techniques for repairing small holes, specifically woven darning and swiss darning. It also included a roundup of DIY & professional repair resources:
Part 3 of 3 (coming next Friday) will cover full unravelling & reknitting!
Repairing big holes with patches
Patches are an easy and popular way to patch larger holes. Most commonly seen at the elbows (a spot that gets a lot of wear and tear), it’s possible to apply patches to other parts of your sweaters (and of course other articles of clothing) too. Your choice of patch material will impact the fit and feel of your repaired garment - patches made of knit fabric will be stretchier, whereas woven fabric won’t stretch and may feel a little stiffer in comparison. You can also use leather / suede for a very sturdy repair & professor-ly look. Pre-made patches can be purchased online, but this is also a great opportunity to use up any scrap material you already have at home.
Examples & inspiration
On the left is a classic elbow patch repair, done by Old Flame Mending. On the right, friend
@ Circle of Friends patched up the well-worn underarms of her vintage sweater (we recently spent a lovely afternoon learning & practicing our patching skills with Jenny Cooper of IXV Coffee at Atelier Jolie).DIY resources
For NYC- based folks - FABSCRAP (
) is hosting a ‘layered patching’ workshop in two weeks!There are loads of tutorials online (can find via google search, youtube, instagram, tiktok) - @guccciclone on IG did a really simple & straightforward video, showing their blanket stitch steps in detail:
Earlier today(!)
rounded up some adorable patches in her newsletter:
Professional resources
The following repair professionals offer patching services (in addition to darning, as covered in more detail last week).
Would love to continue adding to this list, let me know if you know of professional repair providers that I should include here!
Creative modifications for knitwear
Beyond darning and patching holes, there are endless ways to creatively reimagine your old sweaters. I’ve come across a bunch of different ideas & resources, from adding embellishment, to overdying, to cutting & sewing knit pieces into a totally new design. For this newsletter, I’m focusing specifically on knitwear - though many of these DIY & professional repair-ers & remakers work with a wide range of garments.
Examples & inspiration
DIY resources
Lydia Bolton - Lydia is a UK-based creative tackling textile waste through workshops, partnerships, and upcycled products. She has great tutorials for reusing textiles, like this DIY patchwork sweater vest guide and this blanket upcycling video:
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Moey Slow Fashion - Moey is an upcycling and DIY enthusiast, and often working with sweaters & knitwear. She posts tons of creative ‘thriftflip’ projects, and offers sewing courses and tutorials on her website / youtube / IG / tiktok.
Professional resources
Most of the professional resources listed below also share fantastic inspiration and sometimes DIY tutorials & guides - I recommend checking out their work and / or following them on social media for creative remaking / remixing ideas.
Eva Joan - is a repair & remaking studio in NYC, offering a number of standard repair services as well as embroidery, and custom remaking.
SUAY - is a vertical sewing and production shop dedicated to textile reuse, recycling and repair. SUAY runs a community dye bath, and takes on custom upcycling projects for individuals and brands.
Green Matters Natural Dye Company - runs a community indigo vat and a dye lot of the month. Customers can send in any garment or household item that is made of natural fibers to be overdyed.
Jas Lewis Henman - Jas is a needle felt artist based in the UK. In addition to selling second-hand sweaters that they have adorned with felt illustrations, Jas takes commissions & custom projects.
Loom app (UK only) - Loom is a marketplace that connects people with designers & creatives that can remake their clothes (so cool, hope they expand to the US soon)!
Make Nu (UK only) - a creative repair provider offering remaking services (including custom embroidery & embellishment).
Would love to hear about any repair & creative reuse projects you’ve embarked on - especially if knitwear related! Drop a comment or connect on Instagram @nextseason.nyc.
Also - if you know of patching & creative remaking resources and providers that I have missed, please let me know so that I can update & include them here, I would love to grow this list.