A Beginner’s Guide to Mending Clothes and Extending Their Life

Mending clothes is a beautiful and meditative way to make your wardrobe last. It also makes a powerful statement about your values. In this article, we’ll explore different types of clothing repair. You’ll learn how to get started with your own needle and thread the next time your favorite sweater or jeans develop a tear.

It took me a while to get over the embarrassment of wearing my older sister’s hand-me-downs at school. Now, I take pride in repairing my clothes and making them last as long as possible.

Each item in my wardrobe tells a unique story. The ones I love most are usually the ones I’ve had the longest. My grandmother’s black beaded 1950s dress reminds me of my first date with my husband. My favorite jeans, bought after becoming a new mother, made me feel like myself again. Thinking of each item as an old friend helps me care for my clothes. I try to repair them when they start to show signs of wear and tear.

Repairing clothing can feel daunting if you’re not used to sewing. It’s easy to worry your stitches won’t be neat or that you’ll make things worse. But with a little patience and determination, you’ll be surprised at what you can do. Learning to mend your clothes is empowering and creative. It’s also a meaningful way to build a more sustainable wardrobe. After all, as the saying goes, the most sustainable wardrobe is the one you already own.

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Why mend your clothes?

The polluting nature of the fashion industry is well known; it’s clear by now that if we want to play our part in fighting climate change, brands need to adopt a circular mentality that takes the end of the life of the clothing into consideration when designing new clothing. We all have a part to play in this shift away from waste; with over 11 million tons of unwanted textiles going to landfill in the US every year, we need to slow down our consumption and learn to extend the life of our clothing.

Mending clothes has become rather an endangered art form over the past few decades, as the fast fashion model of consumption often means it’s easier and cheaper to buy new clothing than to repair old clothing, and many of us aren’t learning the basic sewing skills we need to do simple repairs, like replacing buttons and darning socks. Thankfully, though, as well as the rise of circular fashion, the visible mending trend has really taken off recently, and more and more people are now taking pride in expressing their individuality and sustainable values through the quietly revolutionary act of mending their clothes.

As ethical fashion campaigner, co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement, and author of Loved Clothes Last, Orsola de Castro wrote, “We don’t have to go far to gather the knowledge to make our clothes last longer; a small generational rewind is enough, because reusing and recycling are as old as time, the knowhow is engraved in all cultures and we are hard-wired to it – only now the benefits and implications are wider than ever.” If you’re unsure where to start, ask an older friend or relative to teach you a few basic stitches.

What is visible mending versus invisible mending?

Visible mending is repair work that’s meant to be seen. The repair becomes a feature of the clothing itself. It often uses bright or contrasting threads and colorful patches to highlight the repaired areas.

Invisible mending, on the other hand, blends in with the original fabric. The goal is to make the repair nearly unnoticeable. Choose a thread that matches the fabric color as closely as possible. Use small, simple stitches for a clean finish. Turn the clothing inside out and keep most of the repair hidden on the lining or interior.

Visible Mending Techniques

The visible mending trend encourages us to be playful, not perfectionist. I started with my children’s clothing. These pieces were inexpensive and already torn or stained, so there wasn’t much to lose. The stakes were low, which made it easy to experiment. I used bright embroidery thread and had fun with it – & stitched a pink heart over a hole in the knee of some trousers. I even made a colorful patch to cover a big stain on the front of a dress.

To me, visible mending feels more approachable for someone who isn’t a professional sewer. Of course, different types of repairs suit different clothes and personal styles.

One of the fun things about visible mending is that the options are limitless, and your own style will develop as you make a habit of repairing your clothing. With smaller holes and tears, you can try embroidering a shape over the area that needs repair, and for bigger areas, you can have a play around with adding patches of fabric and embroidering the edges or patterns across the patches. 

Swiss Darning & Japanese Mending

Techniques like Swiss darning can be done in contrasting color threads on holes or patches of wool that are starting to wear thin (it’s always best to start a repair before it gets too bad, rather than once a lot of the fabric has disintegrated or the hole has become too big).

Japanese culture has also had a huge influence over the visible mending movement. You may well have heard of the ancient Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi designed to emphasize and celebrate the life and wear, seeing it as a way to make something more beautiful in its “imperfection” rather than something to be ashamed of. 

Two Japanese mending techniques that apply a similar principle to clothing repairs, turning the repair into something of beauty rather than something to be hidden, are called Boro and Sashiko. Boro is a type of patching that covers the area in need of repair with patches secured with neat lines of running stitch, and Sashiko stitching creates a decorative pattern that can reinforce fabric while beautifying it at the same time. In traditional Sashiko embroidery, white thread is used over indigo fabric; as Sashiko artisan Atsushi explains, “Sashiko is a form and a process of stitching to appreciate the fabric and what we have.”

Boro and Sashiko stitching can be combined to patch and add pattern to clothing that needs reinforcing and repair to make a piece of clothing last longer and give it a whole new lease of life as a beautifully embellished statement piece.

How to get started & what you need in your sewing kit:

Taking the time to learn a few basic stitches will stand you in good stead for your clothing repairs. Embroidery artist and author Christi Johnson shares tutorials on the basics of different types of stitches, including running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch, chain stitch, blanket stitch, and more, in her free resource library.

It’s a good idea to prep your sewing kit in advance so that you have the right supplies to hand when mending your clothes.

Here are some basic sewing kit supplies that will serve you well in your repairing adventures:

• Needles: You’ll need various sizes and strengths of needle, so get a good selection pack. The tougher the fabric, the stronger the needle will need to be. Make sure whatever pack you get includes some darning needles.
• Threads: You’ll also need a variety of threads in different colors and thicknesses. It’s a good idea to start with some basic neutral colored cotton reels, as well as a selection of colorful embroidery threads, and worsted wool.
• Pins (and a pincushion for quick and easy access): You’ll need pins to hold any patches in place while you sew, and also to hold pieces of fabric in the right position while you repair tears.
• Thimble: This isn’t 100% necessary, but can protect your fingers from pricks while you stitch.
• Sewing scissors: Not all scissors are equal, and it’s important to have some sharp sewing scissors and fabric scissors to hand so you can cut your fabric and threads easily.
• Darning mushroom: A darning mushroom can help you hold things like socks in the right shape while you do your repairs so that you don’t sew up an area only to discover it has become misshapen.
• Embroidery hoop: Don’t skip the embroidery hoop! I once stitched over a stain on my daughter’s dress without one, and the fabric bunched up so it hung unevenly. A hoop keeps the fabric flat and prevents puckering.
• Scraps of fabric: Start a rag bag where you can keep scraps of leftover fabric from sewing projects, or clothing that’s beyond repair but can still be cut up and used for patches. You’ll soon have a great stash for repairs and sewing projects.

10 Books on Mending Clothes to Inspire You to Repair and Re-wear

As well as YouTube videos and learning in-person from the elders in our lives, there are plenty of great books that can inspire you and support you as you learn to repair clothing.

1. Loved Clothes Last by Orsola de Castro
2. Mystical Stitches by Christi Johnson
3. Visible Mending by Arounna Khounnoraj
4. Mend and Patch by Kerstin Neumüller
5. Wear, Repair, Repurpose by Lily Fulop
6. The Art of Repair by Molly Martin
7. Mending Matters by Katrina Rodabaugh
8. Make, Thrift, Mend by Katrina Rodabaugh
9. Mending Life by Nina and Sonya Montenegro
10. Fix Your Clothes by Raleigh Briggs

Once you start mending your clothes, you might find joy in the creativity and develop your own repair style. If sewing isn’t for you, support the repair economy by taking your pieces to a local tailor for mending and alterations.

Shifting from a throwaway culture to a sustainable one is simple—start small and remember why making your clothes last matters. With a little practice and experimentation, you’re bound to discover a repair routine that works for you.

About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.