Most garments are thrown away over damage that would take twenty minutes and about a pound of thread to fix. None of the following requires a sewing machine or any real skill, only a needle, matching thread, and a willingness to make it slightly imperfect.
A split seam
The easiest of the three, because the fabric is undamaged and you are only replacing thread. Turn the garment inside out, and work along the original seam line, going a good two centimetres past the split at each end into the intact stitching. That overlap is what stops it reopening. Use a backstitch, which means going forward two stitch lengths and back one, over and over. It looks slow and it is the strongest hand stitch there is.
A small hole
Do not pull the edges together and knot them, which is the instinct and which puckers the fabric permanently. Instead darn it: run a grid of stitches across the hole in one direction, then weave a second set through them at right angles. You are rebuilding the weave rather than closing a gap. On jersey, work loosely so the repair can stretch with the fabric.
A worn cuff or hem
When ribbing goes slack, the fabric is usually fine and the elastic has gone. The quick fix is to turn the cuff up by a centimetre and stitch it down, which shortens the sleeve slightly and firms up the opening. The better fix is to unpick the cuff and replace it, which takes about an hour and is genuinely worth learning if you like the garment.
A note on visible mending
Matching thread exactly is difficult and often not worth the effort. Contrasting thread, done neatly, looks deliberate. A garment with an obvious repair reads as something someone cared about, which is a better look than something that has never been worn.
If a repair is beyond you and the garment came from us, send it in. We will fix what we can and tell you honestly when something is finished.
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