How to Darn a Sweater by Hand

Match darning yarn to the color and texture of the sweater.

Darning is a sewing technique that sewers use to reinforce or mend weakened or ripped fabric. Darning was central to everyday life prior to the mass manufacture of textiles. Unlike today, where in most developed countries it is easy and inexpensive to replace worn-out clothing, historically darning was a commonplace and practical skill necessary to keeping clothing in good shape. A sweater, with a hole, can be darned by hand using a traditional woven darning technique in order to bring the sweater back to life.

Things You'll Need

• Yarn
• Darning needle

Instructions

1. Turn the sweater inside out and lay it on a flat surface.

2. Unwind an arm length of yarn that is as similar as possible to the quality, texture and color of the yarn used to make the sweater.

3. Thread the darning needle. Do not tie the yarn in a knot with the two pieces. Instead leave a tail of two inches from the top of the needle.

4. Baste the yarn in a circle approximately a half inch outside of the fraying edges of the hole. Do not let basting distort the shape of the hole or pull or tug on the threads, however. Baste a second circle inside the first. Tie off the baste gently by looping the needle so the thread comes under itself. Cut the yarn, leaving a one inch tail.

5. Re-thread the needle in the same way. Insert the needle on the top of the right-hand side of the hole on the outside of the outer basted circle thread. Begin to weave the needle under and over the existing threads, then stretch horizontally across the hole. Keeping the threads taunt, make a few small stitches in the existing threads and frayed threads.

6. Loop the needle loosely around the outer basted circle to account for future pull. Repeat the stitch going back in the the other direction. Repeat weaving until the entire hole is covered in horizontal threading.

7. Reorient the weaving technique and begin to weave the thread vertically going from left to right. Weave a running stitch under and over each horizontal thread. Pull each thread taunt. The last weave should finish at the top right of the hole.

8. Tie off the end of the thread gently by tying it in a knot to the tail hanging from the basted circle. Snip the loose ends.

9. Turn the sweater outside in. Use your fingers or the darning needle to push back any of the frayed edges back to the inside of the sweater.

Tips & Warnings

• The frayed edges should be pulled into the crosshatched, latticed threads of the woven darn. This helps keep them secure and prevent further fraying.

• The quality of a darn job depends not only on the tautness of the stitch, but on the extent to which the repair threads match the existing yarn.

References

• Nordic Needle; Stitching Techniques -- Darning; Debi Feyh
• "Butterick Publishing Company"; The New Dressmaker -- Chapter 30; 1921