Mending Hole in Pants

A small hole near the hem of my roommate’s pants, related to an incident with lab work and a bit of sulfuric acid. It’s a very clean hole with minimal damage outside the destroyed area, so the repair will only have to cover a small area outside the hole itself.

As this is a small hole on a stretchy fabric, the obvious choice for neat mending is the technique of Darning, which essentially weaves a new piece of fabric over the hole.

The first step for darning is to clip the few loose threads in the hole, fraycheck the edges (completely optional), and mark out the rectangular shape of the mend. The fabric for this piece is cut diagonally to the hem, and the mend will follow the grain of the fabric so that the stretch of the fabric we weave on will be in the same direction as the original fabric.

In-progress. The first few vertical rows, the completed vertical rows, and then the back of the mend after the weaving is complete (but before the extra length of thread is trimmed).

The completed repair!