Scotch Darning – a Great Way to Repair Knits

I confess – I love to mend clothes even more than I like to make them. There is something very special about mending socks, mittens, gloves or favourite sweaters. It is a lot like helping an old friend. It feels good.

When I mend small rips in woven fabric or store-bought socks, I usually use baseball stitch (here’s a tutorial that explains how it works). It forms a flat, almost invisible seam that does not add any bulk to the fabric.

But when I have to mend bigger holes or worn-out areas, especially the ones that appear in hand-knitted garments, I use a wonderful old mending technique called Scotch darning. I absolutely love the rustic look it creates and I know that the patch formed by this type of mending will stay intact even when the rest of the fabric falls apart. That’s how strong it is.

Here’s a photo of an elbow patch I made using Scotch darning. This patch covers a pretty big hole on my daughter’s favourite cashmere sweater.

Of course, mending is a very creative process and it is hard to account for all possible shapes of holes in one tutorial, but I’ll show you how this method works in general and I’ll outline the steps that you need to take to mend holes and worn-out areas in your knitted projects.

Now your knitted garment will be happy to serve you for several more years. Every time I look at the patches on my knits, I remember the joy I felt caring for this piece and this memory makes me smile. I hope you will feel that way too when you look at your own mending creations 🙂

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The full step-by-step photo tutorial about this method, is a part of the Knitting Collection #5. Once you order your copy of this collection, you will instantly receive a “big PDF” (336 pages!) with this and 46 other tutorials included in the collection.

You will also receive three knitting patterns as a special bonus, so go ahead and get it all right now before you forget 😊

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If you enjoyed this tutorial,
here’s something else you might find helpful:

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