garment mending

At Nellie Quats we truly believe in garments that last a life time. Choosing to buy fewer but better quality pieces is a great start, but learning to care for them is equally important. We do our best to create beautiful long lasting products, but of course being clothes for little ones, they will go through some natural wear and tear. One of the single most effective ways to minimise consumption is through repairing your garments and maximising their life span. A few simple and easy tips can save a garment that you might have considered throwing away, helping the planet and saving you money if you were thinking of buying a replacement.

sewing on a button

Here’s what you’ll need :

- Button (Please email us if you’ve lost a button - we’ll be happy to send over a matching replacement if we have one.)

- Matching thread (if you can, use a matt thread, and if you can’t get a perfect colour match, it’s always best to chose a slightly darker shade)

- Sewing needle

- Scissors

1. Cut a long piece of thread and thread it through the eye of the needle, meeting the two ends and tying a double knot.

2. Hold the replacement button in it’s correct place on the garment with one hand. With the other, start from the back of the fabric, poke your needle through to the front, making sure to poke through a button hole.

3. Pull the needle and thread all the way through until it stops and push the needle back down into an opposite button hole pulling through at the back. If the button has 4 holes, make a criss-cross pattern with your stitches.

4. Continue with the previous steps, creating stitches until your button is firmly in place. Gently pull the button to double check it doesn’t loosen. 8 stitches is a good amount to stop it falling off again.

5. Finish off at the back of the fabric by either tying a double knot, or by threading the needle through a small amount of fabric on the surface of the back and pulling through. Repeat three times in the same spot and cut off the thread, being careful not to cut through any stitching.

fixing a split seam

Here’s what you’ll need :

- Sewing needle (or sewing machine)

- Matching thread (if you can, use a matt thread, and if you can’t get a perfect colour match, it’s always best to chose a slightly darker shade)

- Sewing pin

- Scissors

1. Cut a long piece of thread and thread it through the eye of the needle, meeting the two ends and tying a double knot.

2. Turn the garment inside out so you can see the line of stitching and where the thread has split. Place a sewing pin along the seam line to help hold the fabric in place.(You can remove this when you reach it during sewing).

4. Starting at one end, poke the needle from the underside through to the top surface of the fabric and pull all the way out, until the thread is taut. If possible, use the holes where the stitching once was as a guide for the line to follow. Following your seam line, approximately 0.5cm away, on the same side the needle has just exited, push back through to the underside, making sure to pull the thread all the way through.

5. Copying the same distance as the first stitch, again push the needle from underside to the surface, pulling the thread all the way through.

6. This time, change direction and stitch back towards your start point, as if trying the fill in the gap created. Poke the needle down touching the previous stitch and pull the thread back to the underside.

7. Next, poke the needle up further along the seam line and pull the thread through, making sure to keep stitches as even in size as possible.

8. Repeat these steps all the way along the seam until you've created a chain of stitches.

9. Once you’ve reach the other end, finish off by either tying a knot, or by threading the needle through a small amount of fabric on the surface of the back and pulling through. Repeat three times in the same spot and cut off the thread, being careful not to cut through any stitching.

Sewing by hand is an efficient way of securing a seam, however it can also be done using a sewing machine, making sure to backstitch at each end to stop the thread coming unstitched again.

fixing holes

There’s lots of different ways to fix holes in garments. Some will look more seamless than others. If you’re really precious about something, it may be best to take it to a tailor to fix. But if you think you want to give it a go, here’s some quick fix ideas to help.

This method works best on small holes, with materials that don’t fray much, like Liberty print cotton.

Here’s what you’ll need :

- Small piece of interfacing

- Iron

- Scissors

1. Cut 2 small pieces of fusing paper, one slightly bigger than the hole and one bigger than the first.

2. Pinch the hole together and iron so that the fabric stays in place and the raw edge is on the inside of the garment.

Here’s what you’ll need :

- Small piece of interfacing

- Iron

- Scissors

3. Turn the garment inside out and place the fusing paper onto the the hole with the glue side ( usually bumpy in texture ) touching it. Place the larger piece of fusing paper on top of that.

4. Place a cotton cloth on top of the fusing paper and hold the iron on for 10 seconds. Double check the fusing paper is firmly stuck and repress any peeling edges.

5. Turn the garment the right way out and press the edges of the hole closed.

Bigger holes are more tricky to sew discreetly - particularly holes in linen which frays easily. They can be mended using a similar method to the small holes but with added stitching to finish it, in order to prevent the fabric from fraying further.

Here’s what you’ll need :

- Small piece of interfacing

- Iron

- Scissors

- Sewing Needle

- Matching thread (if you can, use a matt
thread, and if you can’t get a perfect colour match, it’s always best to chose a slightly darker shade)

1. Follow the above instructions for fixing smaller holes.

2. Cut a long piece of thread and thread it through the eye of the needle, meeting the two ends and tying a double knot.

3. At one end of the hole, starting on one side, poke the needle up from the back of the fabric and pull all the way through so that the thread is taut.

4. Crossing over to the other side of the hole, poke the needle back down and pull through the underside so that your needle and thread is on the side you started at. Make sure you pull the thread tightly at the end of each stitch.

5. Repeat again creating stitches across the hole until the hole is fully covered - this is sometimes called darning.

6. Finish off at the back of the fabric by either tying a knot, or by threading the needle through a small amount of fabric on the surface of the back and pulling through. Repeat three times in the same spot and cut off the thread, being careful not to cut through any stitching.

If there’s any repair you’re unsure of, please feel free to send us an email, and hopefully we can offer some help, or alternatively for professional help, take to your local tailor to fix.

If your garment is completely beyond repair, why not see if it can be made into something else? Often a dress with a tear can be turned into a top, or made into clothing for dolls and teddies.