Repair is radical–and you can do it!

by Claire Tenscher

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2021 Mazama Bulletin.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – pillars of the sustainability mantra. Many of us buy bulk, bring our canvas totes to the store, and sort out as much recyclable waste as possible. I once made a New Year’s resolution to not buy anything that came in a plastic package for two months. But what about the fourth R? 

Repair is often the most difficult R to practice. First, most good repairs require specialized equipment and knowledge. I’m not questioning the silver tape repaired spark-hole in your puffy – but that’s solution won’t work for everything. To repair most fabrics you’ll need at a minimum a spool of thread and a needle. Beyond that, the would-be repairer needs to know basic sewing techniques like how to tie a knot at the end of your thread, a stitch type, and how to end your seam. Other things, like chipped skis, delaminated hiking boots, or skins that are coming unglued require techniques only applicable in those specific situations.

Luckily for all of us, the internet has made many of these repairs accessible to the layman. Youtube videos, blogs, and thousands of obscure forums across the web offer detailed steps to complete many types of repair. 

Some would argue that time is an issue, but many repairs, especially clothing repairs, can be completed in half an hour or less. I do not think people are too lazy to repair their gear either; we’re dedicated, passionate people.

The greatest barrier to Repair for many of us is emotional. We have been conditioned to think success means having new-looking clothes with no flaws or blemishes. Ads make us lust after the gear we don’t own yet. Someone with patches on their clothes looks less-than. Fitting in often feels like it requires a certain standard of dress. I can hear the devil’s advocate pointing to a fashionable sweater that comes with patched elbows, or distressed denim. But those items look new. A patched hole on a sock is clearly a repair, not a fashion statement, embroidery covering up moth holes tells the story of a sweater that was kept rather than discarded. Frequently we see people who wear repaired gear as iconoclasts, as the last of the real dirtbags. With bravery and a small amount of time, we can be those iconoclasts.

Embrace repair. Repairing an item when it is damaged instead of throwing it away prevents it from going to a landfill and prevents the waste associated shipping and making a new one. Try a simple repair Learn to darn. Take your shoes in to be re-soled. Wear your repair with pride. Whether your issue is know-how or being nervous to wear something repaired, join me! 

I am going to share some simple repair techniques, and some of the items I’ve repaired, and had repaired in the next few pages. It is humbling to share this work – I’m far from an expert. But I believe in practicing what I preach. I want to encourage those who’ve never repaired anything to give it a try and celebrate my fellow Mazamas who are already repairing their gear. If you have a repair you’d like to share, or if you need help with a repair, send us a picture and some tips on how you did it: publications@mazamas.org.

Some tips for people new to repair:

1. Don’t be embarrassed if your repair is obvious. Overcome the shame in visible mending and in ugly mending. As a society we need to be comfortable with imperfection. If we can’t pridefully wear things we fix there will always be stigma around repaired clothing. This is classist as well as unsustainable. Think of your repair as art, as sustainability, as making your stuff unique.
2. If you can’t fix it, check out one of our local Pacific Northwest Repair companies. Seattle and Portland are both home to gear repair shops, they’re active on Instagram – it’s a ton of fun to see the projects they work on. There are also cobblers who specialize in shoes and boots and local tailors who can make gear fit you and fix clothing.

A note about these techniques: I’m a big fan of diving into something. This isn’t a master class on sewing or any other kind of repair. Check out YouTube and Instagram if you want to learn some really masterful techniques – or see videos of the techniques I describe. This hopefully doesn’t need to be said: but we are not advocating for repairing essential safety items, climbing gear and ropes come to mind, which a poor repair could cause to become dangerous. Repurpose or recycle those things!

Some vocab:

Right side: the side of the fabric that will show when worn. For example on a sock, the right side is the side that doesn’t touch your foot. On a pillow, the right side is the outside.

Wrong side: the side of the fabric that is hidden when worn. The inside of a sock, the side of a pair of pants that touches your body.

Seam allowance: the space between needle holes and the edge of the fabric. This space prevents your stitches from ripping to the edge of the fabric and helps prevent the fabric from unraveling.

For the following stitches you’ll need: needle, scissors, thread.

Whip Stitch: Fixing holes in socks without darning

I frequently use a whip stitch because it’s simple and strong. Full disclosure, I have not learned to darn so I repair all my socks with a whip stitch. It works for me and holds up to heavy use. If there is a hole where fabric has been fully worn away, this method will make your item slightly smaller, it could also cause some abrasion. It’s great for small holes in socks, not great for a big hole in the thigh of your jeans or a seam where most of the seam allowance has ripped away. If you’re looking to cover a large hole consider patching or darning.

Pros: Easy, prevents fabric from unravelling, visible

Cons: Visible

Steps:

1. Tie a knot at the end of a piece of thread, you’ll get a feeling for how much thread to use as you repair things more frequently. I generally about a foot of thread to give myself plenty of length to work with. If the repair is in an area that gets a lot of use I will double the thread over and tie the ends together. There are all kinds of fancy knot tying techniques for sewing. For a single strand of thread I simply tie two overhand knots on top of each other – it’s easy to remember and effective.
2. Turn your item inside out if possible. You’ll be stitching on the inside of the garment. If you can’t turn the item inside out, like the jacket shown below, your seam will be visible. If you would prefer the smooth side of the seam against your skin, adjust appropriately.
3. Insert the thread in the fabric and pull through, til the knot is flush with the fabric.
4. Hold the sides of the hole together and take your needle through both sides. Pull the thread through until it stops.
5. Insert the needle in the opposite side of the seam, piercing both sides again. Pull the thread through.
6. Repeat this looping process until you have closed the hole. Keep the stitches close together. If you’re worried about the strength of the seam, repeat the process going the opposite direction.
7. Once you think you’re done turn the item inside out and/or tug on the two sides of the fabric. If you still see a hole, you’ll need to whip stitch over that area as well. In the demonstration here I had tried to keep my stitches too close to the edge of the hole, there wasn’t enough margin to close up the entire area. I simply flipped the sock inside out again and moved the needle further away from the edge to include more area in my seam.
8. When you’re ready to finish the seam, stick the needle in the fabric under one of your other stitches and pull it out in almost the same spot. Don’t pull tight. Thread the needle through the loop you just created and THEN tighten.
9. Repeat step 7 for extra security. Trim your thread tail close to the knot.
10. Ready to wear!

Ladder Stitch: Invisible Repairs

Learning the ladder stitch prompted me to write this article. I am proud of my visible repairs, but it’s also nice to have something in my toolkit that isn’t obvious. Think of the ladder stitch like a corset, your thread pulls the two sides together.

This one is also good for sewing pillows closed after stuffing them.

Pros: Still relatively easy, flies under the radar

Cons: Doesn’t work in every situation

Steps

1. Tie a knot at the end of a piece of thread, you’ll get a feeling for how much thread to use as you repair things more frequently. I generally about a foot of thread to give myself plenty of length to work with. If the repair is in an area that gets a lot of use I will double the thread over and tie the ends together. There are all kinds of fancy knot tying techniques for sewing. For a single strand of thread I simply tie two overhand knots on top of each other – it’s easy to remember and effective.
2. Insert your needle in the fabric, starting from the underside so your knot is protected and hidden.
3. Cross the gap and insert the needle in the other side of the fabric, leave some seam allowance. Often I simply follow the ridge where the two pieces of fabric met before they pulled apart. Run the needle behind the fabric for a few MM, then poke it through the same side. The ‘longer’ the distance between the needle holes the looser the edge will be.
4. Cross the needle over to the other side and repeat step 3.
5. Repeat 3-4 until you have stitches along the entire length of the hole. As you go, pull the thread to tighten.
6. There are two methods to end this seam. You can make a small visible knot, like in the whip stitch or you can tie a knot in your thread right where your line of stitches ends. To get the knot really close to the last stitch insert your needle into the middle of the knot and use the needle to pull the knot down. Remove the needle from the same side you inserted it. Then stab the needle into the seam and pull hard enough that the knot pops through the fabric and is hidden under the surface. Trim your thread ends and pull them inside the item so they are hidden.

Bonus Round: Epoxied ski chip

I was pretty bothered by a big chip I took out of a pair of skis. Leaving it open was an option but could have led to further chipping and some increased rust potential.

Steps:

1. Make sure the surface is clean and dry, remove any debris.
2. Create a dam using masking tape, a couple of layers will create a nice wall around your chipped area. The green line is where I made my dam.
3. Mix your epoxy (available in small tubes from the hardware store)
4. Fill the chipped area with the epoxy, a bit of meniscus over the non-tape side is fine, but try to keep the epoxy level with the area of the ski. You can sand it down if needed.
5. Follow the curing/dying steps on the epoxy packaging.
6. When fully cured, remove the tape, and sand and rough areas or greebles.

A note on getting other people to repair your gear:

Several major outdoor brands offer free repairs on their gear. I’ve had generally positive results from these programs. The one exception: I sent a jacket in for a simple repair – one cuff needed new elastic binding; I received a new jacket instead. Perhaps they thought I’d reject a mismatched cuff, maybe the repair was more expensive than giving me credit for a new coat, or maybe their repair shop was full. The repair was truly simple, and something I could have done myself. At the time I was excited to get credit because I saw it as ‘better’ than getting my used jacket back. I’ve since changed my philosophy when it comes to asking brands to repair my gear: if they can’t complete the repair for whatever reason, I ask for it back and fix it myself. Ask the company you’re working with if they will send your gear back if they can’t fix it. Repair companies often have access to fabric for patching that you or I don’t have lying around and have professional sewing machines that can tackle much tougher stuff.