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Mending isn’t just about saving our resources. It celebrates the craftsman’s ability to create beautiful, sturdy fabrics from scratch. Instead of laying your beautiful shawl, blanket, or handmade sweater aside when small holes appear, consider darning, a quick and satisfying decorative sewing technique used to repair worn areas in fabric or knitting using only needle and thread.
## Understanding the Basics
Darning requires very minimal materials, most of which are likely already within your possession: a darning needle, darning thread or yarn matched as closely as possible to the color of the fabric, and a darning egg or ball—which is optional. Darning eggs provide a solid surface stuffing for the area being repaired. But as said, it’s optional. An alternative such as any rounded object like a lightbulb or even a tennis ball can be used instead.
Each fabric has unique qualities, so it’s essential to match the material as closely as possible to the original fibers when you are looking for darning thread or yarn. The ideal is to use the same yarn that the item was knitted from; when this isn’t possible, look for something of a similar weight and fiber content.
Content is broken down into two grades – fine-grade and medium-grade darning. If you are repairing a fine knit, you may need to use embroidery thread in a color match rather than a heavier yarn.
## Prepping for Darning
Before beginning the darning process, clean the item to be mended. Wetting natural fiber yarns tends to “set” stitches and make them more stable. Next, take your darning needle, thread it with the same yarn or thread used to knit the item, and identify the area on which a hole exists. Position your darning egg or another round object underneath it.
You need to keep an adequate amount of loose thread to work with. We recommended an arm’s length of thread through the needle to ensure easy maneuvering in and out of the hole, and knotting the end to prevent it from pulling through the fabric completely.
Here is an excellent tip to stop fraying of darning thread; knot together two ends of darning thread smoothly. The technique is a godsend as it helps in reducing the overall bulk of the knot.
## The Darning Technique
The process of darning involves creating a woven patch that integrates with the existing fabric. Let’s assume you are mending a hole at the center of the fabric.
Follow these steps:
1. Start your darning about half an inch from the bottom right-hand side of the intended hole. It would be helpful to work in good lighting to see the warp and weft of the fabric clearly.
2. With your threaded needle, begin weaving in and out of the intact knitted stitches, moving towards the hole. Your motive should be to emulate the fabric’s original knit structure. If it is stockinette, for example, follow the rows of the “v” shape.
3. Once you reach the hole, continue the in-and-out sewing motion as if the thread is forming a bridge over the gap. Always leave a bit of slack to each woven row to prevent pulling or bunching the fabric.
4. After completing the first row across the hole, shift up a row and repeat the process until you’ve covered the entire vertical length of the hole with woven thread rows.
## Over the Bridge
Now that the base of our woven patch is in place and the hole is covered, it’s time to turn the fabric 90 degrees and start weaving in the opposite, or perpendicular, direction—over and under the warp threads you’ve created.
1. Start from the bottom of the hole and weave your thread under and over the newly created horizontal threads, working your way to the top of the hole.
2. When the woven patch covers the hole entirely, continue weaving into the undamaged stitches surrounding the hole to blend the darned area with the rest of the fabric.
3. Finally, secure the end of your yarn on the wrong side of the fabric with a few back stitches, and trim the loose end off.
And now, voila! Your knitted item is mended and just as good as new.
## The Beauty of Invisible Darning
Although it does sound somewhat paradoxical, often the best darn is one you can’t see – invisible darning. This technique is essentially the same as regular darning, but with a more meticulous matching of the color and structure of the original knit. It can take time to perfect this craft, but with patience and practice, it is indeed possible to make your mends invisible.
## Swiss Darning
Also known as duplicate stitch, Swiss darning is a type of darning used for reinforcing parts of the knit, like elbows or heels, prone to wear and tear.
While Swiss darning is not entirely suitable for mending holes, it is excellent for worn areas or thinning spots that might soon become holes. The technique involves using a darning needle and yarn to follow (or duplicate) the existing knit stitches. To Swiss darn, you push your darning needle through the base of an existing stitch, then weave the yarn over the stitch in the same way it was originally knitted.
Now, as a beginner, all these darning techniques might sound a tad tedious. But remember, Rome was not built in a day. The key to perfecting darning lies in patient practice.
While mending might seem like a chore to some, the process of slow sewing can be therapeutic and grants you additional control over your wearable items. Not to mention it’s such a great step towards sustainability. Happy darning!
