If so, it all starts with getting rid of the idea that clothes need to be thrown away at the first sign of a hole. Patching and repairing old clothes are great ways to give them new life and keep them out of the landfill. It's also a fun, creative way to express yourself through your clothing.
With Skip laundry detergent, it's easy to learn how to sew a patch over a hole in your favourite pants or shirts. We’ll give you all the tips and tricks you need to know about patching clothing including when to know it's time to recycle old clothes into something new.
Top Tips for Clothes Patching
First off, you need to decide where you’re going and what you’re going to create with this new patched item. There are a few ways that cloth recycling and patching can happen:
Functional vs Decorative
Are you sewing patches on jeans to make them look cute or so that you can wear them for a few more years? If you want to patch your clothing for functional purposes, then you should always try and find a fabric that is as close to the fabric itself as possible. If you’re going to create something new and creative, then you can choose a fabric that is colourful and different to give your item a new look.
By Hand vs Sewing Machine
Will you be sewing the patch by hand or with a sewing machine? If you don’t have a sewing machine at home, then of course learning how to patch clothing by hand is essential. When you sew by hand you can often create intricate and interesting detail that you might not be able to create on a machine. Of course, a sewing machine can go a lot quicker and be slightly more time efficient.
Do you want to learn more about how to sew? Read our blog on How To Sew: A Step-by-step Guide For Beginners now.
Inside or Outside
This part lends itself to knowing whether you’re patching your item for decorative or functional purposes. The rule of thumb with patching is to generally place the patch on the inside of the shirt or pants so that it isn’t obvious. When darning a woolen jersey, you should also darn the item inside out. However
No matter how or why you’re patching something up, follow these tips to make your patching process easier:
Make sure you cut the patch to be a cm or two larger than the hole
Always pin the patch in place to make sure it doesn’t move out of place while sewing.
What To Do If You Can’t Patch ‘Em?
If your clothing has more than one hole in, it and is as patched up as it can be, it might be time to consider recycling old clothes into new items. Here are some of our favourite recycling ideas for old clothes:
Cut out squares from old shirts and create a quilt
Turn old jeans into headbands or scrunchies for hair ties
Old dresses and skirts can be repurposed into cushion covers.
Consider donating old clothes to charity or even composting fabrics like cotton and linens.
For more tips on the benefits of recycling old fabrics and clothes, read our blog on How To Recycle Old Clothes now.
Choose Skip to keep your old (and new) clothes looking newer for longer. The anti-ageing technology in Skip Liquid Detergent protects your clothes by maintaining colour and whiteness, removing bobbles and roughness, and removing stains.
For more fashion tips and other great tricks, visit Cleanipedia today.