Extend the Life of Your Linens
This visible mending technique patches tiny holes and adds beauty to a bedspread
Amber Ibarra
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My cats are quite rough on my things (thank God I'm cheap and never pay very much for anything). They chase each other at full speed and tear through my house, so naturally they've ripped several small holes in my duvet cover. Even with spilled coffees, menstrual cycles, and dirty cat paws, I've somehow managed to keep my duvet cover bright white for almost six years, so I'll be damned if I need to replace it because of some small holes. I decided to use this opportunity to try a visible mending technique and document the process.
1.
Things you'll need: Needle, embroidery thread, scissors, pins, scrap fabric. For my scrap fabric, I bought a 100% cotton pillow case for $1 from my local thrift store. Since my duvet cover is 100% cotton, I wanted to make sure the patch fabric was also 100% cotton so any future shrinkage and wear would be similar. My thread is also 100% cotton.
2.
Cut out your patch. It can be any shape, but you want it to generously cover up your hole. When you're cutting out your shape, you need to factor in that you will be folding over a small hem (about ¼ inch) around all the sides.
3.
Thread your needle. Tie a small double knot on the end. Be sure to leave a short tail after the knot — when you're done stitching you're going to clean up the loose ends by threading up the tail and weaving it back into the material. Cut small, square notches into the corners of your patch (if you have a round patch, you won't do this) to keep your patch from getting bulky on the corners where the folds will meet.
4.
Fold over the edges of your patch. Do one edge at a time and stitch them in place. This step creates a nice, clean hem and will keep your patch from fraying! Your patch is useless if it's fraying and not structurally sound.
5.
Tie off your thread. When you’ve stitched around all of the edges of your patch, use one of your stitches as an anchor to create a small knot to tie off your thread. Tying a knot off of a stitch is a great way to get your knot to be flush with your project. Tie a double knot to make it extra secure. Trim your thread to be the same length as your tail and re-thread both of them onto your needle. Make a couple additional stitches with your tail strings and cut off any excess. This is a clean way to end your projects without cutting too close to your knot and risking it coming loose in the future.
6.
Check the size of your patch. Make sure that it is still large enough to generously cover up your hole.
Pin your patch to the underside of your fabric. Make sure it completely fills the ripped area. You can move the pins around as you work so they're not in your way; you just want the patch to be secure and not slide around. I chose to put my patch on the underside of my duvet cover because I wanted the subtlety of the visible stitches. You can also place the square patch on the top side using the method I’m showing below, or you can simply stitch it on around the borders of your patch.
7.
8.
Stitch your patch to the fabric. Straight stitches are a good place to start, but you can stitch in circles, crosses, ect. The main idea is to attach the patch to your fabric and to stabilize some of the frayed edges of your hole or rip. As you work your way across and need to start a new row of stitching, poke your needle to the underside of your project and come up in the spot where you want your new row to start.
9.
The finished mend. I chose to do a crosshatch pattern with my stitches (meaning I stitched in horizontal rows first and then layered rows of vertical stitches on top). I like the way it looks and the extra layer of stitches stabilizes my hole or rip even more. Less stitches, less strength.
10.
Here is a peek at what the underside can look like. You'll notice there are a lot of thread tails because I had to re-thread my needle several times. Working with pieces of thread that are too long can be troublesome (lots of twisting and knots), so I work with strands about 18 inches long at a time.
11.
Cat approved! I’m really happy with how the visible stitching looks on this duvet cover, and I’m excited to see how continuous mending will transform it over time.
Thank you, Amber! It is difficult to donate household linens in general, especially if they have holes in them. Extending the life of these textiles by mending them ensures that they don’t end up in landfills!
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