Presumably, Thomas Paine was not talking about the soles of socks, and I am also left to presume that women wore clothes during revolutionary times, as well as men.

Nevertheless. Here we are. Repairing our clothes. Or as my husband likes to say: “You are working on your post-apocalyptic skills.”

Now I’ve seen some videos of people who literally have a tiny knitting machine that they use to darn holes on knitted fabric. I imagine it works on any fabric. But before I got myself into anything too complicated, I tried a simpler, slow-stitched, hand technique.

As you can see above, the trick to repairing a hole, any hole in your clothes, is to delineate the area you will stitch.

Then you want to start and end each stitch across the hole with an “anchor” stitch. This is important. It helps to hold the shape, length and tautness of the long stitch.

I used some decorative thread that I had from Wonderfil that was attributed to Sue Spargo. Eleganza Perle Size #5. This is a fairly substantive thread. Nothing that I would ever use in a sewing machine. Standard Valdani perle cotton is usually Size #8 or #12.

Thread actually gets to be a heavier weight as the numbers go down. The calculation is based on how many kilometers of thread will weigh one kilogram. So a thread that is thicker and more robust will have fewer kilometers per kilogram.

With this method, we’re actually creating the warp and weft of a fabric, as we stitch it out. You can see one layer above, after it’s finished.

Next, we start the weaved layer. Again, you must create an anchor stitch at the start and end of every row. This, of course, is where a little tool would come in handy, but it’s certainly easy enough to do by hand. Weave in and out every single thread. This part is easier to do if you turn the needle and use the blunt end to weave. Don’t worry, I missed a few. It happens. But the more precise you can be about getting your needle in and out in the right places, the more it starts to look like a woven fabric.

I was working on stretch jeans, and so, I noticed a bit of puckering from pulling the stitches taut. I could probably have avoided that it I had stabilized the area, but I really wanted to just try it without a lot of fuss.

I used a small hoop and opened the pant leg up on the side to make it easier for me to stitch.

Would I consider it lovely? I don’t know. It’s unique. And I think with a bit of practice, I could get this to where It’s pretty cool.

I urge you to start repairing your clothes. On social media, I see the youngsters buying up all of Grandma’s old quilts at garage sales and thrift stores and turning them into hoodies and dance pants. It’s really something.

Hope you enjoy some slow stitching in your life, and find you own way to revitalize something that might have ended in the trash.

Sashiko is another gem on my list of repairs. I just bought myself some Sashiko needles. Can’t wait to try that.

To close this one out, we’ll give Thomas Paine the respect he deserves when he speaks of tyranny.

“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
–Thomas Paine, 1776