Visible Mending Can Refresh Your Wardrobe On A Budget

So, you ripped a hole in your favorite pair of jeans. (Or worse: your kid ripped a hole in their favorite pair of jeans.) Don’t drop $100 on new Levi’s. Fix them up – with flair. Patching, darning and embroidery can make damaged clothing look cooler than ever. This is called visible mending.

How to Slash Your Clothing Budget With Visible Mending

Visible mending is more than a money saver — it can be fun. “You can start with really basic tools and basic stitches and make beautiful, durable repairs. But if you keep mending you’ll become more willing to experiment with multiple fabrics, complicated holes and maybe even start mending for your neighbors or hosting a mending circle,” Katrina Rodabaugh, fiber artist and author of Make Thrift Mend, said via email. 

“It’s great fun, and it’s a great metaphor for healing, tending and slowing down to focus on fixing something that’s fixable.” The slow fashion movement can save you money, too. The average American household spent over $1,900 on clothing in 2022, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. 

Ready to mend those hole-y jeans? Here’s how to get started.

1. Assess the damage

First, take a good look at that little hole (or gnarly stain, or three-inch tear). Decide whether you really want to take the time to fix it. How bad is the damage? Is it worth the financial and emotional burden? How long will a repair really take?

 “One small hole will darn quickly but a moth-eaten sweater will take several hours to mend,” Rodabaugh said. 

Serious damage may prompt you to toss that old top into the donation pile. Minor damage, on the other hand, could be a candidate for good old-fashioned invisible mending. There are plenty of simple DIY clothing repairs that are hardly noticeable when done right. 

Thought through the alternatives? Still excited to bring a little kintsugi to your clothes? Just make sure that whatever caused the damage is gone for good. Stained clothes should be completely clean. Ragged tears should be trimmed and contained. Moth-hole-y sweaters should be dry cleaned, dried or frozen. (Learning how to store winter clothes could save you from many future mending sessions!) 

2. Choose a method

With those caveats out of the way, it’s time to get inspired. Scroll through the #visiblemending hashtag on Instagram and you’ll see a dizzying array of colorful clothing. On Rodabaugh’s profile alone, you’ll see a blue and white patch on a beige sweater, sashiko patches in myriad shades of blue denim and more. 

Don’t let the options overwhelm you. Here are a few common approaches to visible mending to try. 

Patching

Let’s not overthink this. If that fabric has a hole, patch it. 

You can add extra strength – and style – with sashiko mending. Sashiko, meaning “little stabs” in Japanese, is a way to reinforce patches with visible stitches. 

To get started, you need a sturdy needle, thread, straight pins, sharp scissors and, of course, patches. (Hint: this is a great use of leftover fabric from old sewing projects.)  “As you progress, you might like to add a fabric pencil, small ruler or tape measure, thimble, safety pins, iron and needle nose pliers,” Rodabaugh said. Those extras help with comfort, neatness and precision, which are important for more ambitious mends. 

Darning

Even if you’re totally clueless about crafting, you’ve probably heard of darning socks. Darning is basically a way to weave fabric where little (or none) exists. It’s a great choice for small holes, knitwear and, yes, socks.

“If you’re darning knits without a patch, you’ll need yarn, a yarn needle and scissors to start – maybe a darning egg if you start darning often,” Rodabaugh said. 

Embroidery

If you’d like to add a little more pizzazz to your mend, consider adding decorative embroidery. A well-placed flower can cover up a stain or camouflage a patch. For best results, use an embroidery needle and floss. 

3. Start Your Journey With Visible Mending

Enough planning: it’s time to start mending. Exactly how you go about it will depend on your clothing – and your creative vision – but there are some do’s and don’ts that can help you no matter what. 

Do your research. There are plenty of resources available: books, social media accounts, websites and even your local crafting club can help you learn how to mend. 

Don’t cut your patch too small. “Make sure it extends ½ – 1 inch beyond the frayed or weakened fabric so the patch is secured to the strong, undamaged fabric of the textile,” Rodabaugh said. Your repair will be much sturdier that way.

Do match materials. “Ideally, your patches, thread and yarn will match the weight and fiber content of the textile you’re mending.” That means midweight denim patches for midweight denim jeans; thick, bulky yarn to darn thick, bulky sweaters. 

Most importantly, don’t let all the information intimidate you. That item of clothing is already damaged, anyway. What’s the worst that could happen? “Have fun! It’s just mending,” Rodabaugh said. “You can always take it out and start over if you like.” 

If you really love visible mending, you don’t have to stick to your own wardrobe. Rescue damaged clothes and sell them online. Read our guide on how to sell clothing on Depop.

Contributor Ciara McLaren is a freelance writer with work in Huffpost, Insider and elsewhere.