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HandoutHandout 1: Supply & Shopping List
Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List ### Mending and Sewing Repairs by Hand
Here's what you actually need. Not what a craft catalog wants you to buy. Most of this is either already in a drawer somewhere in your house or costs under ten dollars. Bring what you've got to week one and we'll fill gaps together.
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The Budget Tier (get this and you're set)
- Needles, a basic assorted pack. You want a few sizes — a smaller sharp needle for regular fabric, a bigger one for anything heavier like denim or canvas. A pack of assorted "sharps" covers you.
- Thread, all-purpose polyester, a few basic colors. White, black, and a couple of neutrals will get you through most repairs. And here's why polyester over cotton for most jobs: it's got a little give to it, so it survives the wash better and doesn't snap as easy.
- Small scissors or thread snips. Doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be sharp enough to cut thread clean, not fray it.
- Straight pins. A basic tin. You will pin before you sew. Every time. That's not optional in this class.
- A seam ripper. Cheap ones work fine. You will need this more than you think, and that's not a failure, that's just mending.
- Something to fix. A shirt with a button gone, pants with a knee going, a hem that dropped. Bring a real thing. We're not doing practice squares in this class, we're fixing actual clothes.
That whole list, if you're starting from zero, runs maybe fifteen to twenty dollars. You do not need more than that to be capable.
Nice-to-Have Tier (if you catch the bug)
- A pincushion. Keeps pins from disappearing into your carpet and reappearing in your foot later. Oh my heck, ask me how I know.
- A thimble. Some people love these, some can't stand them. I use one for heavier fabric, skip it for thin stuff. Try before you buy if you can.
- Better thread — a good cotton-wrapped polyester, the kind that costs a couple dollars more a spool. This is where I'll be a little opinionated with you: cheap thread is a false economy. It shreds, it tangles, it breaks in the wash, and then you've mended the same tear twice. Spend the extra two dollars.
- A small sewing kit case, just to keep it all together instead of loose in a drawer.
- Fabric patches or scraps, if you want to practice visible mending on knees and elbows. Old jeans are a great source. Don't throw out the legs when the knees blow, save the fabric.
Shopping Notes
Fabric and craft stores along State Street will have everything on the budget list in one aisle, usually near the front. Costco does not sell needles and thread, in case you were hoping to knock this out on your regular run — I checked.
One thing I'll say plain: don't trust the thread color under store lighting. Store lighting lies, especially the fluorescent stuff. If you can, bring the actual garment with you when you buy thread and hold the spool right up against the fabric. Matching thread to your eye under those lights at 9 p.m. is how you end up like me, discovering the next morning your "white" is a half-shade too cool. Nobody else notices. You will notice. For the whole rest of the day.
Get what you can, bring what you have, and don't wait for the "complete" kit before you show up. A needle and a spool of thread is a complete kit. 🌷
- V
HandoutHandout 2: The Cheat Sheet
Handout 2: The Cheat Sheet
Keep this in your sewing basket. Every stitch and setting we covered, one page, so you're not digging through your notes at 9 p.m. trying to remember how a whip stitch goes. And here's why that matters — you will need this at 9 p.m. at some point. That's just how mending works.
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Thread Length Elbow length. That's it. Cut from your spool to your elbow, not longer. My mother told me at age nine that a longer thread will "tangle you into next Tuesday," and forty-some years later she's still right. 👍
Needle Basics - Sharps — general mending, buttons, hems. Your everyday needle. - Embroidery/crewel — bigger eye, easier to thread, fine for most repairs if that's what you've got. - Thimble — use one if you're pushing through anything thick (denim, canvas). Your thumb will thank you. Mine still remembers the curtain incident.
Thread Weight Match thread to fabric weight, not just color. Heavy thread on thin fabric will pucker. Thin thread on denim won't hold. And buy decent thread — the bargain spools shred and snap and you end up doing the job twice, which isn't actually cheaper.
On color: match the thread to the garment in daylight if you can, or at least good light. Store lighting lies to you. Bring the garment to the thread rather than trusting your eye under those Costco lights.
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The Core Stitches
Running stitch Simple in-and-out, even spacing. Your basic stitch for seams and gathering. Not your strongest stitch — don't rely on it alone for stress points like a knee or a crotch seam.
Backstitch Strongest hand stitch there is. Each stitch overlaps the last. Use it anywhere there's real strain — seams that take pulling, waistbands, anything a kid is going to test.
Whip stitch Diagonal stitches over an edge, good for finishing raw edges or closing up a patch from the outside. Some folks call this a slip stitch or a ladder stitch. I spent forty minutes on YouTube once convinced there was a real difference. There isn't. Same stitch, different name, don't let anyone make you feel behind for not knowing that.
Ladder stitch (a.k.a. whip stitch, see above) Used for closing seams invisibly, pulling two folded edges together. Great for the "disappearing" mend on Sunday clothes.
Blanket stitch Edge stitch, decorative and functional, good for a patch you WANT visible. Nothing wrong with a mend people can see. A neat patch is honest.
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Buttons - Four holes: stitch in an X or two parallel lines, six to eight passes per hole. - Leave a small thread shank (loop the thread under the button once or twice before finishing) so the button has room to sit through the fabric — otherwise it'll strain and pop right back off. - Knot off underneath, on the wrong side, always.
Hems - Pin it, then look, THEN sew. Most bad hems happen because someone was in a hurry to start pinning let alone stitching. The looking is the work. - Fold, press if you can, pin every couple inches, check it hangs even before you commit a single stitch.
Patches - Pin from the outside first so you can see what you're doing before you commit. - Trying to hide the patch entirely from the inside sounds smart. First time I tried it I sewed the pant leg clean shut. Oh my heck. Start visible, or at least start careful.
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When NOT to Reach for the Machine For a button, a hem, a small hole — hand stitching is often more precise, not less. You can feel the fabric move under your fingers. A machine is overkill for most of what walks through this classroom door.
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Bring this with you every week. Sunday best, not just fine. 🌷
- V
WorksheetHandout 3: Mend Tracker & Fabric Check
Handout 3: Mend Tracker & Fabric Check
Print this out and fill it in as you go. Don't do this in your head, do it on paper — the looking is the work, and here's why: you'll skip a step if it's not written down in front of you. 👍
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Before You Thread a Needle
What am I fixing? ☐ Button ☐ Hem ☐ Small hole/tear ☐ Seam ☐ Patch job ☐ Other: ___________
What's the fabric? (check the tag — don't guess, store lighting and memory both lie) Fiber content: _______________ Weight: ☐ Light (shirt-weight) ☐ Medium (pants) ☐ Heavy (denim, canvas)
Thread color — bring the garment to the thread spool, not the other way around. Thread I picked: _______________ Did I check it in daylight, not store light? ☐ Yes
Thread length cut: ☐ Elbow length (if it's longer, you'll tangle yourself into next Tuesday)
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The Pin-Look-Sew Checklist
Do these in order. Not out of order. That's most of what goes wrong.
- ☐ Pinned it in place
- ☐ Looked at it — really looked, from the front, held it up to the light
- ☐ Checked it lays flat, nothing puckered
- ☐ THEN started sewing
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Stitch Log
Circle what you used and rate yourself honest, not kind.
Repair Stitch used Went smooth? Would I do differently? Button ☐ yes ☐ no Hem ☐ yes ☐ no Hole/patch ☐ yes ☐ no Seam ☐ yes ☐ no Reminder — slip stitch and ladder stitch are the same stitch under two names. I spent forty minutes confused about that once so you don't have to be.
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Visible or Invisible?
Circle one, and there's no wrong answer here.
VISIBLE MEND — honest, strong, people can see you fixed it and that's fine INVISIBLE MEND — for church clothes, good shirts, anything you want sunday best
If invisible: did you sew from the right side and check your stitches don't show through? ☐ Yes ☐ Checked twice
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The Sewn-It-Shut Test
Before you call it done — turn the garment right-side out and make sure you didn't accidentally sew the opening shut. Oh my heck, ask me how I know. Everybody does this once.
☐ Turned it right-side out and checked
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Final Check
☐ Held it up to the light ☐ Ran my fingers over the mend, felt for puckers or pulls ☐ Would this survive a wash? ☐ Am I proud of this, or just done with it? (Both are allowed answers, but be honest)
One real thing I fixed today: _____________________________
Take it home. Wear it. That's the whole point of the class. 🌷
- V
Videos worth your time
Hand-picked by your instructor, with notes on what to watch for.
- Basic Mending TutorialPurl Soho
Watch how she demonstrates several basic mending stitches in one sitting so you can see whip stitch and running stitch back to back.
- How To: SEW A BUTTON | Hand Sewing Tutorial for BeginnersPaige Handmade
Pay attention to how she anchors the thread and creates a thread shank under the button so it does not sit too tight against the fabric.
Practice corner
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