How to mend clothes: basic repairs and visible mending

Clothing production is resource-intensive — it uses water, energy, dyes and labour at every stage. Making what you already own last longer is the most direct way to reduce that footprint. Mending also saves money, and the skills build quickly with practice.

Why mending matters

Making a garment requires significant resources at every stage — growing or producing the fibre, spinning and weaving or knitting it into fabric, dyeing it, cutting and sewing the garment, packaging and transporting it. When a piece of clothing is thrown away and replaced, all of those resources go with it.

The fashion industry produces a huge volume of clothing globally, and a large proportion of it is discarded after very little use. Mending sits at the very top of the clothing hierarchy: keeping garments in active use, in good condition, for as long as possible. It also keeps you out of the shops, which saves money. See our clothing care guide for how washing, drying and storage choices extend garment life, and our fast fashion guide for the wider picture on why this all matters.

The good news: most clothing failures are simple ones that are entirely fixable at home with basic skills and inexpensive tools.

Your starter mending kit

You don't need much to get started. A basic kit covers most repairs:

• Needles — a variety pack covers most fabrics; sharps for woven fabrics, ballpoint for knits
• Thread — black, white, grey, cream and a mid-brown handle most garments; add colours as you go
• Small, sharp scissors — dedicated fabric scissors that don't cut paper stay sharper
• Pins — for holding fabric in position while you work
• A thimble — optional but protects your finger when pushing a needle through thick fabric
• A seam ripper — for unpicking stitches cleanly before re-sewing; faster and safer than scissors
• Iron-on patches or fabric scraps — for patching holes; matching fabric from inside a hem or seam allowance can give an invisible repair
• A darning mushroom — a wooden mushroom-shaped tool that stretches the fabric taut for darning; a light bulb or tennis ball works as a substitute
• Safety pins — for quick temporary repairs and holding zips while you work

How to sew on a button

A missing button is one of the most common clothing failures — and one of the quickest to fix. Cut a length of thread about 50 cm long, thread your needle and knot the ends together so you're working with a doubled thread.

1. Position the button. Place the button where you want it — use the opposite buttonhole as a guide for placement. Pin it in place if helpful, or hold it with your finger and thumb.
2. Anchor your thread. Push the needle up from the wrong side (inside the garment) through the fabric and through one hole of the button. Pull the thread through until the knot sits snug against the fabric on the inside.
3. Sew through the holes. Pass the needle down through the opposite hole and back through the fabric. For a four-hole button, sew through one pair of holes several times, then repeat with the other pair. Aim for at least four passes through each pair.
4. Create a thread shank. On the final pass, bring the needle up between the button and the fabric but don't go through the button. Wind the thread several times around the stitches between the fabric and the button. This creates a short stem (the shank) that gives the button room to move through the buttonhole.
5. Secure the thread. Take the needle to the wrong side of the fabric and make two or three small stitches through the existing stitching to secure. Trim the thread.

Fixing seams, hems and patches

Split seams are easy to fix. Turn the garment inside out, pin the seam back together, then sew along the original seam line with a small running stitch or backstitch. Backstitch is stronger — push the needle back into the previous stitch each time — and is good for seams under tension, like trouser side seams. Secure with a few small stitches at both ends.

Hemming trousers or a skirt is manageable by hand even without a sewing machine. Turn up the hem to the right length, pin it in place all the way around, then use a slip stitch (a nearly invisible hand stitch that catches only a thread or two from the outer fabric) or a running stitch through the fold. Press with an iron once finished to sharpen the fold.

Patching a hole or worn area can be done several ways:

• Iron-on patches are the fastest option — cut to size, position over the hole, and press with a hot iron for the time specified on the packet. Add a line of hand stitching around the edge for durability.
• Hand-sewn patches from matching fabric (cut from an inside seam allowance for an invisible repair, or from contrast fabric for a visible one) are more durable. Pin the patch in place on the right side or wrong side of the garment and stitch around the edges with small, neat stitches.
• For jeans knees, a patch on the inside of the leg, secured with running stitch across the worn area in a grid pattern, is both sturdy and quick.

Darning socks and knitwear

Darning is the traditional technique for repairing holes in knitted fabric — socks, jumpers, elbows of cardigans. It involves weaving new yarn across the hole to recreate the fabric structure. It's meditative once you get the hang of it, and a well-darned sock is just as wearable as a new one.

1. Prepare the sock. Place the darning mushroom (or a smooth round object) inside the sock under the hole, stretching the fabric taut without distorting it.
2. Choose your yarn or thread. Ideally use a yarn that matches the fibre content and weight of the sock — wool darning yarn for wool socks, for instance. Contrast thread is fine if you're happy with visible mending.
3. Anchor the thread. Start a few millimetres outside the hole in the intact fabric. Weave in a tail rather than knotting, to avoid a lump.
4. Lay the warp threads. Run parallel lines of thread back and forth across the hole, extending a few millimetres into the intact fabric on each side. These are the warp threads that the weaving will lock into.
5. Weave across the warp. Turn the mushroom ninety degrees and begin weaving across the warp threads — over one, under one, alternating on each row. This creates a woven patch that recreates the fabric.
6. Secure and trim. When the hole is filled, weave the thread back into the surrounding fabric for a centimetre or so and trim.

Visible mending and creative repair

Visible mending is the deliberate choice to make your repair a feature rather than a hidden fix. It's a growing craft movement, but it also has deep roots — Japanese sashiko embroidery was traditionally used to reinforce and repair working clothes, and the resulting patterns are celebrated for their beauty.

• Sashiko uses a simple running stitch in contrasting thread, worked in geometric patterns across a worn or reinforced area. A grid, rows of waves or a traditional hexagon pattern can transform a worn elbow or knee into a striking detail.
• Embroidery over stains or thin patches — a flower, a geometric motif or a simple abstract design in colourful thread can cover a mark that won't wash out and make the garment more individual in the process.
• Contrasting patches from fabric scraps, other old garments or even printed fabrics can be applied as design features — on pockets, elbows or as a collection of patches that tell a garment's story.
• Sashiko on jeans is particularly popular — the indigo denim provides a classic contrast for white or cream stitching, and heavily darned jeans have become a sought-after aesthetic in their own right.

Visible mending requires no more skill than ordinary mending — the running stitch used in sashiko is about as simple as hand sewing gets. What it adds is intention: the choice to make repair visible and to value it as craft.

When to use a tailor or cobbler

Some repairs are genuinely beyond sensible home mending — not because the skills don't exist, but because the job requires a sewing machine, specialist tools or a level of precision that comes with professional experience. Knowing when to outsource a repair is part of getting the most out of your clothes.

• Go to a tailor for: replacing a broken zip in a structured jacket or dress; re-lining a coat; taking in or letting out a waistband; alterations that affect the shape or fit of a garment; machine-sewn repairs on heavy fabric like denim or canvas.
• Go to a cobbler for: resoling shoes and boots; replacing worn heels; structural repairs to stitching on footwear; stretching or adjusting leather. A good cobbler can add years to a pair of quality shoes.
• Use a repairs café or community mending event if you have one nearby — volunteers will often help with repairs for free or a small donation, and it's a good way to learn techniques you can then use yourself.

Professional tailoring and cobbling are almost always cheaper than replacing a garment or pair of shoes, and far more sustainable. The cost of a zip replacement is a fraction of a new jacket; resoling extends a good boot almost indefinitely.

For guidance on caring for clothes to reduce the wear and tear that leads to repairs, see our clothing care guide. For ideas on what to do when a garment genuinely can't be saved, see our guides on textile recycling and home repairs.

• Assemble a basic mending kit: needles, thread in a few colours, scissors, pins, a seam ripper.
• Fix small problems early — a split seam repaired today is a five-minute job; left a month it becomes a ruined garment.
• Try iron-on patches for quick reinforcement of thin areas before they become holes.
• Learn to sew a button and stitch a seam — two skills that handle most common failures.
• Explore darning for socks and elbows — it's easier than it looks.
• Consider visible mending as an option: repair and decoration at the same time.
• Use a tailor for zips and structural work, a cobbler for shoes.