How the Victorians Mended Their Clothes: A Lesson in Darning

Hello everyone and welcome to a new video!

My interest in mending and darning really took off when I purchased a beautiful Victorian shawl online. It was greatly discounted because it had some severe moth damage, the extent of which I had not realised until I saw it in person! It's pretty bad. However, the quality of wool fabric, the fine embroidery and beading I think make it a worthwhile long term project to slowly fix it, so that hopefully I may one day wear it with my historical costume. It's a great length, I think approximately two meters, which makes me think it might be mid-to-late Victorian (perhaps 1860s, as shawls were cut long to drape over crinolined skirts?). I did, however, want to learn the proper way to darn, so that I could treat this relic with all due respect, and so here we are! The book 'Needlework for Student Teachers' has been in my collection for a while, and it has good comprehensive instructions which I talk through in this video of how to do plain darning for reinforcing and mending purposes, as well as how to darn over a hole, and how to mend or darn a cut or tear. The other book, Make Do and Mend, is a really cute and interesting book, but it includes mostly general tips from the 1940s rather than detailed instructions.

00:00:00 What is Darning?
00:06:42 Materials
00:07:41 Hand Position
00:08:08 Plain Darning
00:14:01 Darning over a Hole
00:18:26 Darning an Three-Cornered Tear, Hedge Tear or "Catch Tear" (an L cut)

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Instagram (perhaps overactive stories): @catscostumery

Music is from Epidemic Sound.

[tamzinphillips]

I used to darn my socks a lot, and your suggestion to use hair reminded me that I repaired a corner tear in a tweed jacket in the early 80's with hair from my friend Marina who had the longest hair of my friends. It was amazing because the repair was virtually invisible. It wasn't my jacket!

[pippaseaspirit]

A darning mushroom really comes into its own when darning the heels of socks! It ensures that you don’t inadvertently flatten the heel. My mother taught me how to darn when I was a child; I’ve recently become a great-grandmother!

[dees]

I strongly suggest that anyone acquiring a textile item which has had moth problems in the past freezes it on acquisition to avoid bringing a problem into your existing textiles. Pack it into a clean polythene enclosure, excluding as much air as is possible. Seal it well, you may need to use something like parcel tape. Ideally use two layers of polythene, i.e. two freezer bags taped shut. If you have it you can also fill any empty spaces with acid free tissue.Everything is fragile once it has been frozen so in order to help protect your item, place it on a Ford or tray that won’t mind going in the freezer. Put it in the freezer and leave it there undisturbed for two weeks. This is assuming you have a normal domestic freezer which goes down to -18°C. After two weeks left it out on your support board/tray and bring it inside your sewing room. Do not open the bag. Leave it for 24 hours even if you can see condensation on the inside of the bag. Only once 24 hours has passed should you open the bag. If you have one available take an ironing net and spread out your fabric underneath it. Then vacuum through the ironing it to remove any pest debris. This will help you identify if a problem re-occurs as anything new that appears will be a recent occurrence. If you don’t have a vacuum where you can turn down the suction You could tape a cardboard tube to the end of your fat could you nozzle and put holes in the cardboard. This will reduce the overall suction. The role of the ironing is to prevent loose threads being sucked up the vacuum, and to prevent a braiding fabric.

[gabrielles]

I've had lean times in life and I have never been more grateful for the ability to sew. I repaired jeans, hats, buttons, sweaters, embroidery, hems. And made new clothing out of old bedsheets and ripped clothing. Mending is tremendously useful when you hit those leaner times and when you want to save clothing you love.
It helped us out so much.

[carolynward]

My grandmother used to darn my grandfather's socks. She would use an old lightbulb, as it gave a rounded surface to hold the sock in the right shape.

[meamela]

The mending with your own hair-thing reminded me of that it's actually a thing nowadays as well that some people intentionally insert hairs in their knitting when doing heels on socks and other parts that usually wear out fast, to make them last longer and make the inevitable darning easier later on.

[bunhelsingslegacy]

My Slovenian father in-law taught me how to darn my socks some years ago (I wear big fuzzy sox for work and I put holes in them eventually), I used to try to colour match but I've decided to heck with that, it's too hard to see (ESPECIALLY black on black, no matter how good my light is), so now I use contrasting colours. Sometimes I go for a similar colour or one used elsewhere on that sock, sometimes I use it as an excuse to use up that fluorescent orange yarn I don't even know why I bought. The darning bag is where all yarn scraps go when they're too small for other projects.

Glad to be learning some tricks for woven woolens though, since somebunny decided he likes the taste of my wool house coat...<glares at rabbit>

[julieroyce]

My mother taught my brother and I as small children to darn socks using a darning egg. If we ever came to her complaint of being bored with nothing to do, she would set us to darning socks. Needless to say we quickly learned to keep ourselves entertained 😂!

[cutehollygolightly]

My grandmother had plastic eggs that used to come in chocolates with a little toy in it. I know darning and mending because I watched her doing it when I was a kid. It was so neat that it made me feel that fabric was being loved somehow.

[sarahwatts]

Thank you for having a sponsor I've never seen before! I am so tired of Hello Fresh and Brilliant ads it's insane. (Either that, or I am. Even odds.)
I've been thinking a lot about learning how to mend clothes, and this is a great introduction. I'll have to give it a try!

[Destinee]

I love darning and find it really relaxing and satisfying! I love using contrasting colours, especially for socks to create fun colourful visible mends.

[NewWind]

In the past i used my own hair to embroider the hair on the image of a woman i was working on, i couldn't find a thread color that i liked for the hair... so it dawned on me... my hair is "hair colored" why don't i just use my hair as the thread. It came out absolutely perfect! And worked beautifully too! I think i used about 4 strands of my thick hair held together as one thread.

[jsmxwll]

With all the mending and repair I've done over the years, the one tool I can't live without is a magnifying glass on an adjustable arm with a ring light.

I feel much more relaxed and I don't feel my shoulders and neck tighten up so much after a few hours of mending. It also makes it easier to film what I'm doing from the side or from across because I don't need the work so close to my face. I highly recommend it if you want to film this type of work semi-often.

For stitching black on black, or any same color combination really, using a second light at a steep angle raking across your work will add contrast and make details like individual threads and weaves much easier to see. The light you showed in the video would work well for a contrast light. Being able to change the color of the raking light can help you bring out detail, especially with blacks. Some threads and weaves will just pop out better with slightly different colors of raking light. This holds true for pretty much any same-color thread on fabric. If you are using dissimilar material like silk thread on wool it is even more effective. A raking light will also highlight the visibility of the mend for a more critical evaluation of your work.

Hope that's somehow helpful.

[lisascenic]

Very impressive. I taught classes on mending knitwear over zoom, and I appreciate how difficult it is to demonstrate and film this kind of work.

[charlottec]

This was so useful!! I bought a Victorian shawl last year too. I intended to repair the weak points and holes, but had no idea how! Your video is exactly what I needed 😀

[robintheparttimesewer]

Always nice to learn more about mending. Along time ago I used to mend my socks but I didn’t have a darning egg. So being young and flexible I darned with the socks on. I still darn but I now have a darning egg.

Love the lamp! As I age I find I need more light. I now have two large LED fixtures in my sewing room so I can see but I will eventually need more.

[LycIrisAurora]

Oh my goodness I am so glad you showed the corner tear I have just such a rip in one of my favorite skirts. Got caught on a hook hanging off a shelf in a store, and it was only about two months old. I was devastated! I'll give myself some practice but that technique will save me thank you

[looloo]

I too have the book “Make Do and Mend”. I still darn my favourite socks 🧦. They’re too expensive to throw away! Your video was an enjoyable one, thank you 🙏

[vernieplummer]

This was very interesting and informative. You must certainly show us how the shawl looks when you're finished.

[lindaelizabethgreyling]

I have my grandmothers big darning seashell. One can see the use on the top as the needle touched the shell. My mom used it and now it is mine. Anyone else with such a shell?