Hand sewing

Pick a seam to follow

Needle, thread and your own two hands — from first stitches to full thrift-flips. Start anywhere; every lesson stands on its own.

on the bench

01 · 12 lessons

Everyday Mending

Buttons, hems, seams and holes — the repairs every wardrobe needs.

Nº 01

Fix a Fallen Trouser Hem by Hand

When the hemming thread on a pair of trousers gives way, the hem drops and hangs loose at the ankle. This lesson takes a first-time mender through removing the old thread, refolding the hem to the right length, and stitching it back by hand so the repair barely shows.

8 steps · EN · УК

Nº 02

Let down a skirt hem for extra length

Reclaim the length folded into a skirt's deep hem so a skirt that has grown too short fits again. You will rip out the old hem, press the crease away, mark an even new hemline, and finish the edge — choosing one of three finishes to match how much length you need to recover.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 03

Mend a small hole in a knit T-shirt by darning

Close a small hole in a knit T-shirt by darning — weaving a small web of thread across the gap so the mend stretches with the knit instead of pulling tight and puckering. In thread that matches the shirt the mend stays quiet; in a contrasting color, worked in even rows, it becomes a visible mend you can wear on purpose.

8 steps · EN

Nº 04

Patch a worn trouser knee with a hemmed patch

Close and reinforce a worn or thin trouser knee with a hemmed patch — the strongest of the hand patches, set on the wrong side so every raw edge is enclosed. You cut the patch on grain an inch larger than the worn place and hem it down, then cut away the worn cloth and hem the opening, so the mend holds by two squares of stitching.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 05

Reinforce a Tearing Pocket Corner with a Cloth Stay

A pocket corner takes the strain every time you push your hand in, so it is one of the first places a garment gives way. This lesson backs the weak corner with a small cloth stay and locks it with a bar of stitches, spreading the strain so the corner holds instead of tearing through.

8 steps · EN

Nº 06

Rejoin a ripped side seam by hand

Rejoin a ripped straight side seam so it holds under the same strain that tore it: clear the failed stitches, realign the two edges on the crease the old seam left, re-sew the line so it overlaps the sound stitching at each end, then press and finish the raw edges. The seam is closed with a secure, locking backstitch, so learn that stitch first if it is new to you.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 07

Sew on a four-hole button

Attach a four-hole button so it sits in the right place and holds through wear and washing. You will mark the spot, sew the button on over a pin to leave a little slack, then wind that slack into a thread shank so the button rides on a short neck of thread instead of straining the cloth.

8 steps · EN · УК

Nº 08

Sew on a shank button

Attach or replace a shank button — the kind with its own metal loop — so it holds through real wear and washing. You will locate the button from its buttonhole, anchor the thread, work eight to ten passes through the loop, and fasten off where the stitches stay hidden.

7 steps · EN

Nº 09

Reinforce, place, and finish a snap fastener so it holds through washing

Snap fasteners tear straight out of thin or worn cloth when the spot is not reinforced first. You will back each half with a small stay so it holds, choose thread that survives washing, mark where the fastener sits, and finish your thread so it will not work loose — the foundation that makes a sewn-on snap last.

6 steps · EN

Nº 10

Sew on a two-hole button so the closing hangs straight

Replace a missing or loose two-hole button and set it exactly where the buttonhole falls, so the closing hangs straight instead of pulling crooked. You mark the spot from the buttonhole, sew a firm bar of thread through both holes, and wind a short shank so the button has room to sit under the buttonhole lap when the closing is fastened.

7 steps · EN

Nº 11

Ready a loose hook and eye for resewing

A hook or eye pulls loose at the spots that take the most strain — plackets, cuff ends, the corners of pockets. This lesson shows you how to catch a failing fastener in your weekly mending review and ready it, and the cloth behind it, so it is set to go back on. The attachment stitch itself is covered in a separate lesson.

7 steps · EN

Nº 12

Take up jeans that are too long

Shorten jeans that pool at the ankle to a length that clears your shoe, keeping the denim straight, the cut edge from fraying, and the hem strong enough to survive the wash. The work is mostly careful measuring and one row of strong stitching, by hand or by machine.

11 steps · EN

02 · 10 lessons

Visible & Decorative Mending

Sashiko, darning and patches that celebrate the repair instead of hiding it.

Nº 01

Boro-inspired layered patching: reinforce a worn place with running stitch

Reinforce a worn or thin place in a garment by laying a second layer of cloth over it and quilting the two together with rows of running stitch, in the Japanese boro and sashiko tradition. The stitching spreads the strain across both layers so they wear as one, and the finished mend lies flat and shows honest, visible repair.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 02

Catch-Stitch a Flannel Patch on Cozy Fabrics

Repair a worn or thin spot on a flannel garment — underwear, a petticoat, a baby's layette piece, or a blanket — with a flat flannel patch held down by catch-stitching. Because flannel is too thick to fold twice, the patch goes on with flat raw edges, and the crossed stitches bind those edges down so the mend stays soft and stretches with the cloth.

10 steps · EN · УК

Nº 03

Cover a Stain with a Decorative Quilted Patch

A stain that will not wash out can be hidden under a cloth patch stitched down in rows of running stitch. Worked in a contrasting thread, those even rows read as a deliberate trim rather than a repair.

8 steps · EN · УК

Nº 04

Start a Sock-Heel Darn: Lay the Woven Foundation

Begin repairing a worn hole at a sock heel by laying the lengthwise foundation threads a woven darn is built on. This covers the first stage only — the parallel strands span the hole but do not close it, so the sock is not yet mended until crosswise threads are later woven through them.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 05

Darn a Thin Patch Before It Becomes a Hole

Reinforce a worn, thin spot in cotton, wool, or silk cloth by darning it with rows of fine running stitches before it opens into a hole. You work on the wrong side, carry the stitches into the sound cloth around the wear, and keep the darn loose so the cloth stays supple. An optional embroidered border turns the mend into a visible feature.

10 steps · EN · УК

Nº 06

Embroider Over a Mended Tear

Turn a darned tear into a detail that looks intended. You first close the tear with rows of running stitches, then work an embroidered figure over and a little past the darn so the stitches grip sound cloth and the repair reads as trim rather than damage.

9 steps · EN

Nº 07

Repair a three-cornered tear by darning

A three-cornered tear — the L-shaped rip cloth gets when it catches on a nail or a branch — is repaired by darning: replacing the broken threads with rows of fine running stitches worked across each leg of the tear. This lesson covers matching your thread to the cloth, darning both legs so the corner is held, and reinforcing the spot with a backing stay if it takes hard wear.

8 steps · EN · УК

Nº 08

Sashiko-style reinforcement stitching on worn jeans

Back a thinning or worn spot on your jeans with a cloth stay and work rows of running stitches through both layers, so the worn cloth stops fraying and the strain spreads into sound denim. The visible rows of stitching become part of the garment rather than a hidden repair.

10 steps · EN

Nº 09

Sew a Visible Contrasting Patch with Sashiko Running Stitch

Lay a contrasting cotton patch over a worn or thin spot and hold it down with close rows of running stitch, in the Japanese sashiko tradition where the stitching is both repair and ornament. The rows bind the layers so they wear as one, and the visible pattern makes the mend a decorative feature as well as a repair.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 10

Swiss Darning: Rebuild a Worn Knit Sweater

Rebuild a worn wool sweater with Swiss darning (duplicate stitch): retrace the knit loop by loop to double a thin elbow or cuff, and weave a small hole shut so it cannot run further. The mend keeps the stretch of the knit and, worked in matching yarn, is hard to see.

8 steps · EN

03 · 9 lessons

Upcycling & Thrift Flips

Resize, crop and restyle second-hand finds into clothes you love.

Nº 01

Crop a Long Dress into a Top with a Deep Hand-Sewn Hem

Turn a long dress you've stopped wearing into a cropped top by marking a new length on your own body, cutting away the skirt, and finishing the raw edge with a deep hand-sewn hem that stays hidden on the outside and holds through the wash.

6 steps · EN · УК

Nº 02

Crop a T-shirt with a clean, hand-sewn hem

Turn a too-long T-shirt into a cropped length finished with a narrow double-fold hem sewn by hand. You will mark a new bottom line, cut it, then fold and stitch the cut edge so it is enclosed inside the hem rather than left raw.

10 steps · EN · УК

Nº 03

Cut Down an Adult Shirt into a Child's Garment

Turn a worn but sound adult shirt into a smaller shirt or apron for a child by cutting the new pieces from the parts that wear least and sewing them by hand. You will lay out and cut on grain, baste and sew the seams with a running stitch, secure the thread so nothing pulls out, and finish the raw edges.

9 steps · EN

Nº 04

Harvest usable fabric from a worn-out garment

Take apart a garment that is past wearing and reclaim the sound cloth from it, so the good parts can serve as patches, facings, or pieces for a new project. You will learn to judge which areas are still strong, open the old seams without harming the cloth, and read the grain so the reclaimed pieces hang true.

10 steps · EN · УК

Nº 05

Let out a snug waistband by opening the side seams

Let out the side seams of a snug skirt or pair of trousers to gain room at the waist, using the seam allowance the garment was cut with. You will open the tight section, press out the old seam line, and restitch on a new line so the garment fits again instead of going unworn.

8 steps · EN · УК

Nº 06

Take in a loose waistband: gather the back with a hidden cotton tape

Draw in the loose back of a soft, hollow waistband by threading a cotton tape through its channel and gathering the extra fabric to your waist measurement. This keeps a thrifted skirt or pair of trousers sitting on your hips without touching the front or the closure. The method needs a soft, folded-tube band with a hollow channel; a stiff interfaced band, like most jeans, has no channel to thread and is out of scope.

10 steps · EN

Nº 07

Take in a thrifted shirt at the side seams

Bring a loose thrifted shirt closer to your shape by taking in the two lower side seams with a French seam, which encloses the raw edges for a clean finish inside and out. The take-in tapers to nothing a few centimetres below the underarm, so the armholes and sleeves are left as they are.

9 steps · EN

Nº 08

Taper Wide-Leg Trousers to a Straight Leg by Hand

Narrow a pair of wide-leg trousers you already own into a straight-leg cut by hand, reusing a garment instead of buying new. You will pin and test a new inseam line, sew and secure it, finish the seam allowance, and re-hem where the seam meets the bottom edge.

11 steps · EN

Nº 09

Turn a Maxi Skirt into a Midi with a Hand-Sewn Hem

Shorten a too-long maxi skirt to a midi length you will actually wear by cutting off the excess and hand-sewing a hem that stays hidden on the right side. It is a patient, low-cost way to keep a thrifted or outgrown skirt in rotation instead of sending it to landfill.

9 steps · EN

04 · 9 lessons

Sustainable Basics

Tote bags, scrunchies and a mending kit — small makes that replace throwaways.

Nº 01

Assemble a Mending Kit That Lasts

Gather your needles, thread, small tools, fasteners, and saved cloth into one basket kept in one place. With a stocked kit a rip gets sewn while you remember it; without one it gets looked at and laid aside.

8 steps · EN

Nº 02

Turn a cloth pouch into a drawstring produce bag

Add a drawstring casing and two pull-strings to a plain cloth pouch so it closes into a reusable produce bag. The two strings gather the mouth from both sides at once, which one string cannot do. This lesson covers the casing and the drawstrings; start from a plain cotton or linen pouch that is already seamed up both sides.

10 steps · EN · УК

Nº 03

Make a fabric scrunchie with a hidden French seam

Make a fabric scrunchie from a strip of light, washable fabric, ideally a piece salvaged from a worn-out garment. You join it into a tube with a French seam that shuts every raw edge inside, so it holds up to repeated washing without fraying, then thread it with elastic and close it into a ring.

9 steps · EN

Nº 04

Make fabric ties and bands from salvaged cloth

Turn a worn but sound cotton or linen garment into flat fabric ties and bands — apron strings, drawstrings, a bag handle — by cutting strips on the straight grain and joining them to the length you need with a French seam. The work reuses cloth that would otherwise go to the rag bag and gives a join that shuts its own raw edges out of sight.

8 steps · EN

Nº 05

Sew a casing and thread elastic through a loose edge

Turn a folded edge into a casing — a tunnel of cloth — and thread flat elastic through it to gather a too-loose waist, sleeve, or ankle to fit. This is the repair that rescues a thrifted garment that hangs open, and the join is left renewable so you can replace the elastic when it wears out without rebuilding the casing.

9 steps · EN

Nº 06

Sew a Drawstring Project Bag

Turn a single piece of firm cotton into a drawstring bag whose French seams hide every raw edge inside, so it holds up to being turned inside out and stuffed with your tools and projects. Two drawstrings, one at each side, let the mouth cinch closed from both sides at once — something a single cord cannot do.

11 steps · EN

Nº 07

Hem and Gather a Half-Apron Body, Ready for Its Band

Turn one straight width of firm cotton into the gathered body of a half-apron: hem the two sides and the bottom, then draw the top into even gathers at your waist width, ready to have a band set on. You will also shrink the band the next stage needs. Setting that band and making the ties belongs to a separate lesson and is not covered here.

8 steps · EN

Nº 08

Sew a simple drawstring everyday bag

Turn one rectangle of firm cotton or denim into a drawstring bag you can carry every day, using a French seam that wraps and hides its own raw edges and a two-row casing for the strings. The sources build this as a first project in hems, seams, and casings, so the same plan in other sizes also makes shoe bags, laundry bags, and school bags.

11 steps · EN

Nº 09

Prepare your tools and press by fiber before sewing

Before you cut or stitch, ready the handful of tools a seam needs and learn to match your iron to the cloth, so each press leaves the fabric flat and clean instead of scorched or shined. This preparation keeps a first project from being ruined by a bent needle or a bare-iron shine on wool.

6 steps · EN

05 · 9 lessons

Hand-Sewing Fundamentals

The stitches, seams and fabric sense everything else is built on.

Nº 01

Sew a strong seam with the backstitch

The backstitch is the strongest of the hand stitches and stands in for machine stitching on a seam that has to hold. In this lesson you build a plain seam with it: match and baste the two pieces, work the backstitch, then finish and press the seam. You should already know how to start and fasten off a thread, because securing both ends is what keeps the seam from pulling out.

9 steps · EN

Nº 02

Overcasting raw edges and the blanket stitch

Raw cut edges of woven fabric ravel in wear and washing until a seam or patch gives way. In this lesson you will practice two hand stitches that stop that: overcasting, a row of slanting stitches for the seam allowances inside a garment, and the blanket stitch, a firmer purled edge for blankets, flannel edges, and the border of an applied patch.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 03

Hemming Stitch and Slip Stitch: Finishing a Hem by Hand

Finish a hem by hand with the two stitches that do the work: the hemming stitch, which fastens a folded edge down to the cloth, and the slip stitch (blind hemming), which holds a hem so no stitching shows on either side — a clean way to take up a thrifted or hand-me-down garment. Begin with the hem already folded and pressed and your needle threaded and knotted, and fasten the thread off at the end; this lesson teaches the two stitches themselves and assumes you can already thread, knot, and fasten off.

6 steps · EN · УК

Nº 04

Basting: what it is and when to use it

Before a seam or a patch is sewn for good, the cloth has to be held so it cannot shift out of place. This lesson explains what basting is — a temporary line of long stitches that keeps two layers in position until the permanent stitching is worked — and walks through choosing your needle and thread, positioning the pieces, and pinning them steady. It stops at getting the cloth ready; forming the stitch itself comes in the running-stitch lesson.

6 steps · EN · УК

Nº 05

Sew a flat-felled seam

A flat-felled seam encloses both raw edges inside a folded, twice-stitched join that presses flat and holds up to repeated washing — the seam you see on jeans and work shirts. You will allow and sew the first seam, press it, lay and press the fell, ease it around any curve, and add the second row of stitching that holds the fold down.

7 steps · EN

Nº 06

Sew a French seam: enclose raw edges in two passes

A French seam wraps both raw edges inside the seam itself, so nothing frays on the inside of a light, sheer, or often-washed piece. You sew it in two passes — a narrow row on the outside, then a second row on the inside that shuts the raw edges away — and it works on straight seams like the sides of a skirt, a pillowcase, or a drawstring bag.

9 steps · EN · УК

Nº 07

Sew a plain seam and press it open

Build a plain seam — the join that underlies most garments — and press it open so it lies flat. This lesson assumes you can already run a straight line of stitching by hand or machine; its focus is squaring the raw edges, setting the seam allowance, joining the pieces the right way, and pressing the seam open the way a finished garment needs.

9 steps · EN

Nº 08

Match a needle to your thread, and fasten off a snap

Before your first stitch, the needle and thread have to suit each other and the cloth. This lesson shows how to pick a needle by its type and number, match it to the right thread, spot a needle that would damage your fabric, and fasten off a snap so no stitch shows.

7 steps · EN

Nº 09

Grain, bias, and selvage: how to read woven cloth

Learn to read a piece of woven cloth: find the selvage, tell the lengthwise grain from the crosswise, and feel where the bias stretches. Knowing which way the grain runs is what makes a garment hang straight, a bias binding curve smoothly around an edge, and a mending patch sit flat instead of pulling against the cloth around it.

9 steps · EN