This time we’ll show you how to do some Scotch and Swiss Darning, a little bit more fiddley than regular woven darning but both great techniques to learn for your repair repertoire!
Scotch darning can be used on a whole load of items. It has a little bit of stretch to it, it has more of a ‘net’ struture than woven darning. We’ll also cover Honeycomb darning which is a similar technique but worked in a circle.
Swiss Darning is perfect for mending knitted garments that have a regular knit pattern. We will begin by working on a duplicate stitch, then work up to creating out scaffold stitch and how to Swiss darn. We will also show you how to create a Swiss darn look with a latch hook.
Depending on the garment you bring we may get you to practise Swiss darning on some chunkier knit fabric, it can be a much trickier to try and do on a tiny knit for the first time.
If none of that makes any sense to you, do not fear we will guide you through it! We will show you tips for visible and invisible mending. We’ll also spend time covering how to source and match the right yarns for your garment and equipment essentials. You can bring your holey item and get straight to it or we’ll have plenty of fabrics scraps you can practice on.
Suitable for people with some experience stitching, even if it’s just basic embroidery or experienced stitchers also welcome!
This workshop is good for people who have a little bit of experience sewing, if you have never sewn before our Intro to Darning the week before this one is a great first step!
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Feel free to bring along your items with holes, we can talk about the most suitable techniques to help you get mending. Or you are free to practise on our scrap fabrics to try out different techniques. You'll also leave with our handy darning guidebook so you can carry on at home.
You can darn almost anything but knitted items like jumpers or socks work well for these techniques. \ (thinner items like t-shirts or shirts can be much tricker as the fabrics are finer, other mending techniques might be more suitable for these).
We have an array of yarns and threads made from different fibres, wool, cashmere, acrylic etc but if you have a really specific colour and fibre in mind for your repair you might want to try and source it beforehand as, as much as we can try we can’t have everything!
Stick to as close a match in fibre and weight as the item you are mending as you can.