Mend your clothes: easy repairs that cut textile waste

A lost button, a dropped hem or a small hole is the most common reason a good piece of clothing stops being worn, and each of them takes minutes to fix with a needle and thread. Mending what you already own cuts textile waste and saves money, and you do not need a sewing machine or any special skill to start.

What you need

A small kit covers almost every fix: a few hand-sewing needles, thread in black, white and a couple of colours you wear often, small scissors, pins, and a few spare buttons. Many new garments come with a spare button attached inside, so keep those together in a jar.

Sew a button back on

1. Thread the needle, pull the thread so the two ends are even, and knot them together. A doubled thread is stronger.
2. Find where the old button was. You can usually see the old holes or loose threads.
3. Push the needle up from the back of the fabric and through one hole of the button.
4. Lay a pin or toothpick across the top of the button and sew over it. This leaves a little slack so the button can sit on top of the buttonhole fabric.
5. Go up and down through the holes five or six times. On a four-hole button, sew either two parallel lines or a cross.
6. Remove the pin, bring the needle out between the button and the fabric, and wrap the thread around the stitches a few times to make a short stem.
7. Push the needle to the back and finish with a few small stitches on top of each other before cutting the thread.

Fix a fallen hem

When the stitching on a trouser or skirt hem comes loose, fold the hem back along its old crease and pin it. Use a single thread in a matching colour and a slip stitch: pick up just one or two threads of the outer fabric, then slide the needle along inside the fold for about a centimetre, and repeat. The stitches stay nearly invisible from the outside. Tie off securely at the end.

Close a small tear or seam split

If a seam has come apart, turn the garment inside out and sew along the original stitching line with small, even backstitches, starting and ending a little way into the intact seam. For a small tear in the fabric itself, sew an iron-on or sew-on patch to the inside, or make the repair a feature with a visible patch or contrasting stitches on the outside.

Darn a hole in a sock or jumper

For small holes in knitwear, a darn rebuilds the fabric. Sew rows of stitches across the hole and a little beyond it in one direction, then weave the thread over and under those rows in the other direction to make a small woven patch. Wool thread or yarn close to the original works best. Do it while the hole is small: it gets harder the bigger it grows.

When to pass it on instead

Some items will not be worn again even after a repair, perhaps because they no longer fit or suit you. If they are in good condition, swap, sell or donate them. Worn-out textiles can often go to a textile recycling bank. Keep them out of household recycling bins unless your area says otherwise; our guide to cut packaging waste with reusable swaps has more ideas for reusing what you already own.