# The New Dressmaker/Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30
DARNING AND MENDING
Reenforcing—Running Darn—Woven Darn—Broken Stitch—Drop Stitch—Set-in Piece—Underlaid Piece Darned In—Stoting—Mending Tissue or Tailors' Tissue—Triangular Tear—Patches—Flannel Patch—Hem Patch—Overhanded Patch
DARNING is a simple remedy for many cases of prevention as well as cure. A few general directions will apply to darning in all its various phases. Neatness and the careful selection of materials most appropriate for the work are the chief requirements for successful darning. Whether the material to be darned is cotton, silk or wool the darning thread should correspond in thickness and color to the thread in the fabric, and the needle should be neither too coarse nor too fine. Ill. 347. Reenforcing a Worn Place
FOR REENFORC1NG worn places before the hole has come through, particular care should be taken to make the work as inconspicuous as possible. A thread or raveling of the material will do better than one of sewing silk, as the latter, no matter how well matched in color, will be sure to have a luster that will bring the stitches into prominence. The drawn thread need not be long; short ones can be worked in just as well.
Baste the part to be mended over a piece of medium stiff, glazed paper, or table oilcloth. Use a needle as fine as the thread will permit. Darn back and forth with as fine stitches as possible, following the grain of the goods and keeping the threads loose so that they will not draw. (Ill. 347.) The ends of the threads are not fastened, but are clipped off close to the garment when the work is finished.
Ill. 348. A Running Darn A RUNNING DARN is used when the garment is worn too thin to be mended satisfactorily by reenforcing. Insert the needle a short distance from the edge of the worn or thin part, and parallel with the thread of the weave. Run it under a few threads and over a few, to the opposite side of the worn place. (Ill. 348.) Returning, run the needle over the threads that were taken up, and under those over which it passed in the first row. Continue the process until the whole thin surface has been given a new body. In Illustration 348, white thread was used in order to show the stitches.
When the part to be mended requires still more body than can be given by the running darn, a piece of the material may be laid on the wrong side, and while applying the running darn, this piece is occasionally caught up by the needle to hold the piece securely in position.
A WOVEN DARN is necessary when a hole has been worn through the material. The threads in this case are woven both lengthwise and crosswise with the weave of the garment. (Ill. 349.) Baste the part with the hole over a piece of paper or table oilcloth taking care not to draw it out of shape nor to let it bag. Do not trim off the frayed or worn edges. The unevenness around the edge, which these frayed ends create in the process of darning, ​Ill. 349. Woven Darn helps to make the darned place less conspicuous. The lengthwise threads are run in first. Starting well in from the edge of the hole at one side, take up a few small stitches, cross over to the opposite side and again run a few stitches into the edge. Keep the threads taut, but not tight enough to pull. Returning, leave a tiny loop at the turning-point, to allow for shrinkage of the darning threads. Continue back and forth till the hole has been covered. Now begin the crosswise threads in the same way; darn over and under the lengthwise stitches, alternating with each return thread. (Ill. 349.) The frayed edges are caught in the weave as they happen to come, and are firmly secured between the latticed threads. (Ill. 349.)
STOCKINGS are darned on the right side to keep a smooth surface next the foot. A darning-egg or ball, held in the left hand, is slipped under the hole, with the stocking stretched smoothly, but not tightly, over it. The darning is done with the right hand. In a woven darn the darning threads in a stocking usually run up and down with the rib, and then across, but when the hole is at the knee or heel, where greater elasticity is desired, the threads are run across diagonally.
Ill. 350. Picking up a Dropped Stitch A BROKEN STITCH or two in a stocking can be easily remedied if attended to at once. With a silk thread, pick up the broken stitches and draw the edges together, and by a web-like weaving close the hole.
A DROPPED STITCH is more easily remedied by the use of a crochet-hook than by darning. Slip a fine crochet-hook through the little loop at the lower end of the hole; catch up the first thread and pull it through the loop. Continue until every dropped thread has been caught, then securely fasten the last loop at the end with a few sewing stitches. Illustration 350 shows the position of the crochet-hook picking up dropped stitches.
Ill. 351. Setting a Piece in a Stocking with the Ball Stitch TO SET IN A PIECE WITH THE BALL STITCH is a way of extending the usefulness of the stocking when the hole is too large to be neatly darned. For this purpose keep on hand the leg portions of stockings of which the feet have been worn out.
Baste the part to be mended over a piece of paper and trim off the ragged edge. Cut a piece from a stocking-leg, matching it in color and texture, with the ribs running like those in the stocking, and conforming in shape to the hole, but a trifle smaller.
Ill. 352. An Underlaid Piece Darned In Baste this piece into position on the paper and join the two edges, the needle passing in close stitches, alternating, over one edge and under the opposite, until the piece has been securely and neatly worked into position. (Ill. 351.) The stitch in this method will be seen to form a kind of lacing, and is called the "ball-stitch". It must be done evenly and closely, but not tightly enough to raise the edges. (Ill. 351.)
AN UNDERLAID PIECE DARNED IN is a better method of closing a hole when the stocking or garment is very loosely woven ​or knitted, in which case the use of a darning-egg would give it a baggy appearance. Do not trim off the ragged edges. Cut the underlying piece a trifle larger than the hole, but conforming to it in shape and matching it in color and texture. Baste the piece on the paper first, and then lay the hole over it. Or the torn piece may be stretched over an embroidery hoop and the patch basted to it. Run the darning-needle back and forth (Ill.tion 352), over and under the lapped edges, closely weaving them together, keeping down all the loose ends. Illustration 352 shows the right side of the finished darn, a black thread having been used in the illustration to show the stitches. Ill. 353. A Cut in Heavy Cloth Ill. 354. Stoting with a Hair STOTING is a process of mending much used by tailors, especially on closely woven or very heavy cloth that does not fray. The first illustration, Illustration 353, shows the cut, and in Illustration 354 is shown the position of the needle and thread in the process of stoting. Use either a thread drawn from the cloth, or a hair to do the stoting.
The part to be mended is basted smoothly over a piece of paper. The needle is inserted about half an inch from the torn edge, and run between the threads of the cloth, across the cut, to half an inch on the opposite side, and drawn through. Reinserting it, run the needle back on a somewhat slanting line and continue until the cut has been closed. Then repeat the same process, running the threads in the opposite direction. When pressed, this mending can hardly be noticed, but stoting can only be done over a clean cut or tear. On material that is not thick enough for the needle to pass between the weave, it must be done on the wrong side as lightly as possible.
MENDING TISSUE, or TAILOR'S TISSUE, as it is sometimes called, is a great convenience in cases of awkward rents or tears where patching would be undesirable. It is a semi-transparent substance, resembling the thin rubber used in dress shields. It melts under a hot iron and acts like a glue, holding the torn fibers together.
Ill. 355. A Rent Repaired with Mending Tissue A TRIANGULAR TEAR should be mended immediately, before the edges have had a chance to fray. The torn part of the garment should be laid, wrong side up, over an ironing-board. Push the torn edges together, bringing them as nearly as possible to their original position. Ill. 356. A Piece Set In Lay a square piece of the mending tissue large enough to completely cover it over the tear and a piece of the cloth over the tissue. Baste the cloth piece in position, but do not let the basting threads run through the mending tissue or they can not be easily drawn out. Then run a hot iron over it all several times until the two pieces and the ragged edges are nicely stuck together. Cut away all superfluous material around the edges. Illustration 355 shows a satisfactory result of this method of mending on the right side of the material.
​A PATCH may also be set in with mendiog tissue in cases where it is undesirable to have any stitches showing. The hole is trimmed to a square or oblong shape, and a piece cut the same shape, but a seam's width wider all around. Lay the garment over an ironing-board, as directed above, and, between the edges of the hole and the lapped edge of the patch lay strips of the mending tissue. Be careful not to have any of the tissue extending beyond the torn edge on the right side, as it will make an ugly mark after being pressed. Illustration 356 shows a hole neatly mended by this method.
Ill. 357. Right Side of Flannel Patch A PATCH is generally used for mending flannel or heavy woven underwear, particularly if the garment is too much worn to warrant the time and work necessary for a careful darn.
A FLANNEL PATCH is a piece of the material basted on the wrong side of the worn or torn part and catch-stitched to the garment with small stitches all around the edge. The worn place, or the ragged edge of the hole, is then cut away from the right side, and the edge catch-stitched all around in the same manner. (Ill. 357.)
A HEMMED PATCH is used—unless the hole is so small that it can be neatly darned—for mending material that requires frequent laundering, such as muslin underwear, bedding
| Ill. 358. Wrong Side of Hemmed Patch | Ill. 359. Right Side of Hemmed Patch |
or household linen. If the material is striped or figured, the patch should be cut so that the lines will match. Pin the patch into position on the underside of the piece to be mended. Crease a seam all around and baste it down. Now cut out the worn part, allowing a narrow seam at the edge. Clip the edge a trifle at each corner, turn in the seam, and baste it down. Then with fine stitches sew the patch down all around on both sides of the material. (Ills. 358 and 359.)
AN OVERHANDED PATCH is used on material that is seldom washed, and where the raw edge on the wrong side is not objectionable. The sewing in this patch is not so noticeable as in the hemmed patch, for it has but one line of stitches. In cutting the patch be sure to match the stripe or figure. The piece should be large enough to cover the hole well when it is basted over it with tailors' tacks. (Directions for tailors' tacks are given on page 85.) When the patch has been basted and cut apart, it will be seen that ​the exact outline of the patch has been marked on both the garment and the patch. The uneven edges are trimmed away leaving a narrow seam. (Illustrations 360 and 361.) Notch the corners of the hole diagonally to the line of tacks, and trim off the corners of the patch. Turn the seam edges of both hole and patch toward the wrong side on the line of the tacks and baste together. Then with small overhand stitches sew the patch in securely, being careful during the whole proceeding to keep the warp and woof threads of the material straight at the joining edges. Illustrations 360 and 361 show both sides of the patch after it has been well pressed.
Clothing, household linens, etc., should be darned or mended at the first sign of wear. Immediate attention often saves actual holes by reenforcing worn places, and the amount of mending will be perceptibly reduced. Mending should be done before the articles are washed, for in washing the worn place is likely to give and become a hole.
Ill. 360. Setting in an Overhanded Patch :
| Ill. 361. Wrong Side of Patch | Ill. 362. Completed Patch |