How to darn a jumper
Darning meets design
Having trained and worked as a successful milliner, Shelley Zetuni had to rethink her career when the studio she rented in north London was sold off to developers. ‘ I was gutted,’ she says, ‘It was a sad day when I had to leave Hornsey Town Hall, it was a real hub for the community. Such a beautiful modernist building, we felt really fortunate to be there – and the rent was really cheap.’ Unable to find another affordable studio, Shelley had to reconsider her future, ‘It happened around my 50th birthday and the two things colliding made me consider moving on to something new,’ she continues, ‘I didn’t feel entirely comfortable selling couture hats that cost a fortune – really expensive things I couldn’t afford myself, and I’m an accomplished sewer so I decided to move sideways.’
Keen to continue learning and developing her sewing skills, she enrolled at the Royal School of Needlework and completed the certificate in Hand Embroidery. But it was attending an independent class on visible mending with award-winning textile artist Celia Pym that really inspired Shelley to make do and mend. She went home, started repairing her husband’s many pairs of jeans and set up her Sewing Smith Instagram feed. ‘Life had thrown me a bit of a curve ball but I do like a challenge and I’m confident in my skills ,’ she adds, ‘ I wanted to move on in a positive way and do something achievable. And I think in these times the message of ” reduce, reuse, recycle” is very powerful.’
Mr Sewing Smith’s denim jacket
Here’s Shelley’s advice on how to darn a hole in a jumper or cardigan in three easy steps:
Create some ‘warp threads’ by stitching back and forth across the hole in one direction. These should be nice straight lines, evenly spaced. Tension is really important. Try to have a looser tension in your stitches than in the item you’re repairing. And don’t start by darning your best things, give it a few shots and get the tension right first.
Add some running stitches around the hole to reinforce it so that it doesn’t unravel. Work in one direction – for example, from right to left. For your first mend, think about contrasting colours (yarn and knitwear) as it will be easier to see what you are doing. And also, using different colours can create a lovely chequered effect and make a detail of the repair work.
Turn the work 90 degrees and start weaving in and out of the warp threads. Adding reinforcing stitches at either side as you go.
Turn the work 90 degrees and ‘weave’ in the other direction
To darn a jumper you will need:
One piece of knitwear with holes
Thread/yarn of a similar weight to what you are mending ( Shelley recommends using stranded cotton from DMC Threads or Anchor Threads. And wool from the French brand Laine St. Pierre).
1 x tapestry needle ( with a blunt end)
1 x darning needle
A darning mushroom or small embroidery hoop (optional).
Shelley visible mending
Shelley has set up a series of embroidery tutorials on Zoom and is inviting guests to sign up and ‘pay as much as you like’. Classes have a maximum number of four participants and last 90-minutes. The next three sessions will be held on Tuesday 5th May at 1Oam, Thursday 7th May at 8.30pm and Sunday 10th May at 3pm (BST). For those based in the UK, Shelley is happy to send out a small bag of stuff to work on in class (a woolly patch with a hole, two needles and a selection of yarns). ‘So, pull up a chair, make yourself a cuppa, or pour a glass of wine and enjoy learning a new skill that will not only bring you joy but extend the life of your wardrobe!’
For further details see Sewing Smith on Instagram or email [email protected]
Discussion (38 Comments)
Boadicea says:
I’ve said here before how I hate sewing per se but, surprise, surprise, I quite enjoyed the challenge of darning/repairing back in the day. Oh, the times I’ve sat and basket-weaved across huge holes in woolly socks or covered a worn collar with its cutoff shirttail.
Not anymore, thank goodness, but it’s lovely to see cherished garmets given beautiful and imaginative further life rather than consigning them to the ragbag. I think the cardigan and denim jacket look amazing. Well done, Shelley!Antonia Dailly says:
Oh, I LOVE visible repairs. over the years I have bought several cashmere jumpers from charity shops, and have a lovely time mending them. I never though about using two different colours- I’m now thinking about creating a full check with different colours in both warp and weft. Thank you very much for the inspiration.
Mrs Tonia says:
Thanks Alyson for this profile of Shelley and details of her darning workshops. I may well join one of these.
I participated in two mending darning Zoom workshops with artist/Menders organised and hosted by Toast . For the first with woven fabrics, hole in denim for example, I listened took notes made diagrams and asked questions at the end. For the second on repairing holes in knitwear I chose to sew along armed with a cashmere jumper, darning mushroom, embroidery needles and one ply of St Pierre wool. All of which were already in sewing box. Great result with this nudge to get it done there and then.
Thanks for promoting Making Do and Mending 2020 style.Vancouver Barbara says:
This is wonderful. Loving that first mend on the delightful cardigan. It’s a true embellishment. Kintsugi is the Japanese word for mending broken pots with silver and gold and thereby making them more beautiful and more valuable. I see this work as the “kintsugi” of mending. Also love the mended denim. Thank you.
Eleanor S says:
I’ve been mending invisibly for many years but the concept of visible mending and making it a feature – magic! Thank you. My grandmother would be proud:)
sara says:
I Have a beautiful dress 1940’s and the Rats (We are in Sydney Australia where the rats are BIG) ate through the laundry basket and chewed into the dress…. A big chewed hole in one side…..I am about to start trying to mend it….wish me luck !
Nettie Kingswood says:
Hi, I’m Off topic with Helena too! Shelley’s hair IS gorgeous. It’s a beautiful photograph and I am fascinated by the tiny dot tattoos on her hand and wrist. Lovely!
maudie says:
Shelley’s hair is absolutely gorgeous and the dot tattoos are beautiful. What a stunning woman who does stunning visible mending. I have a Pinterest board called Sashiko which is the same kind of thing as this and now is the perfect time to bust out the ‘broken’ clothing and perform ‘art’ on them. Hah – who am I kidding? – but I will have a good bash at it ‘though. I love to see a ‘mended’ woolly – somehow it gives it more soul. My son has a tattoo (from when he was anorexic and slowly recovering) that says ‘A Beautiful Thing is Never Perfect’ and I think that applies to all people and things.
Anna K. says:
I am manually challenged; my needlework looks as if it’s been done by someone wearing boxing gloves and a blindfold, so I have the profoundest respect and admiration for craftspeople and craftsmanship, especially those who see beauty in the damaged and broken and restore it to life and use again.
I think Shelley’s visible repairs are lovely, creative achievements in themselves that also show that the garment was loved enough to give it continuing life – and yes, her hair is fabulous!
Heather Cupit says:
I’d love to mend a yellow cashmere cardi that a moth took a mouthful out of!! And to make the hold a feature, but I fear my darning skills are not up to the task. And, off topic too, I love, love, love that skirt!!
Gabrielle says:
This is a beautiful and timely post. Darning has become one of my favourite meditative occupations during lockdown, but Shelley takes it to another level. Inspirational. I ‘m tempted to create a hole in a jumper just to try out her ideas.
Goddessinthedetails says:
What a great feature! The darning on the jumper is visual poetry. Thank you!
Julia says:
I was lucky enough to be given a lovely old sewing box on legs, full of old French haberdashery. One of the items was a wooden darning ‘egg’ which I had never come across before. I used it to darn a couple of sweaters the darned moths had got, but I could not attempt such intricate coloured work, and sadly would never have the patience!
Janet says:
On clearing out stuff in the spare bedroom, I discovered a red wool blanket well chewed by moths. I’m slowly darning the smaller holes, but will probably repair the largest with some applique and embroidery stitches. Mending clothes etc at the moment is definitely a “thing”, and I’ve bought a couple of books on the subject to help improve my somewhat basic skills. Darning: make, repair, mend by Hikaru Noguchi is excellent and covers a wide variety of items to mend as well as different methods of stitching. Shelley’s work is excellent, using a small embroidery hoop a really helpful idea.
Jane Royce says:
Love this too – and as usual, the comments are gold.
Funnily enough I have JUST come out of a zoom workshop with Emily Jane Nunn, the Toast (clothes shop) mender in residence . Did you know that they have a service whereby you can bring in Toast clothes that need darning or mending?
Am a bit of a clumsy sewer , but hoping that doesn’t matter and might even prove a virtue when it comes to making a ‘feature’ of the darn!Maisie says:
Love this post and enjoy the challenge of darning, from now on I’m going to go for ” visible “. But please can we use the term seamstress rather than sewer. That’s where our toilets empty !
Anna says:
Love this! I have been a mender and darner for years – though not anything like the artwork presented here! Did anyone else darn their tights/stockings? I have done that for over 40 years…holes in toes treated with nail varnish, then careful darning of ladder, from tip (securing the “run’ thread) back to the hole. …
Marcie says:
Yes! We darned and mended everything. I got pretty good at darning my socks, using a light bulb instead of a darning mushroom, and I clearly remember my step-mother and her friends sitting in a circle in the front room, darning socks and underwear and chatting, while their husbands played poker in the basement! In retrospect, darning was fun in its own way, but playing poker with one’s buddies was probably a bit more exciting. But now that I see how beautiful darning can be, I might reassess that judgement. Such beautiful work, and I shall have to revisit my old darning skills. Thank you for a delightful post.
Karen Mary says:
Oh, I love to hand sew, and making things (clothes, household items, etc.) last is what my blog (and lifestyle) is all about, so I especially enjoyed this post. Thanks Allyson!
Patricia Webber says:
I loved this article, especially the first photo of the repaired Brora cardigan, it is an honest repair and the perfect compliment to that garment.
After workshops with Celia Pym and Tom of Holland I now enjoy reparing and am proud to wear my repaired garments. I used to think my mother was wasting her time when she repaired clothes but I realise that she was brought up in different times where extending the life of your clothes meant you saved money that could be used for necessities and bills.
Before my darning conversion and because I hate waste, I used to send any moth eaten cashmere to Turtle Doves. A small firm that reuses the best of the items to make scarves etc. In return for any item you sent them, they sent you back a pair of wristwarmers made from it, win win and made me feel better about discarding and not making the effort to repair.Yes! Turtle Doves is great. Send in your past redemption cashmere and they will send you a pair of re-purposed cashmere wristwarmers for free! Happy Days!
Just looked,they are still operating. I may treat myself to a cowl as I am sure I can spot my old cardi!
CHARITY GIRL says:
I have a darning mushroom that belonged to my husband’s mum. I’m not brilliant at darning, but I love that idea of using different coloured yarns. it looks so beautiful, I’m going to give that a go.
That idea of mending something to make it more beautiful, reminds me of an article I read about. It comes from Japan and consists of mending broken ceramics with gold, so that the cracks stand out. I think it looks beautiful.
Isobel says:
When my daughter and I both indulged ourselves recently and bought a number of pairs of expensive Nishiguchi Kutsushita socks, I said we absolutely must learn to darn beautifully, because we need them to last a long, long time! Coincidentally, a year or so ago I bought a vintage wooden darning mushroom from an op-shop, just because I loved it, but never having darned much, didn’t expect to use it. I loved this post so much I just wish I had something, anything, to practice on right now!
Happy Mum says:
Asking this a bit late in the chain, but just in case: Does anyone know if Laine St Pierre sells a colour sample card? — ie, with a small swatch/length of wool thread for each colour? I know dye lots can vary anyway — but I don’t trust how ‘true’ the colours are, on my computer monitor.
Helena 
Joyce Morris 
Shelley Zetuni 
Nettie Kingswood 
Marjorie Leave a Reply
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I’m a big fan of making do and mending, and somewhere in the house is a vintage darning mushroom: v useful (if only I could find it). I’ve tried this ‘visible mending’ on a hole in an old cream wool blanket, using orange thread. It worked well, and the hole is holding together,