Around 300,000 tonnes of clothing ends up in household bins every year in the UK alone. If your garment gets damaged, have a go at repairing it (or style it out and call it character).
If a simple fix is required, the Revive & Thrive Best Dressed winner and long-time sewist, Helen Mcintosh, has a few simple handy tips for keeping your vintage going strong:
1 A Broken Seam
• Turn the item inside out, pin it in place along the break, and either with a sewing machine or a hand-held needle, stitch along the broken thread.
• Most of the time, there will be a fold in the fabric along the original fold line, so use this as a guide.
• Give yourself some leeway from the original break, starting and finishing an inch or two beyond the split so the broken thread isn’t tempted to run leaving you with another hole.
• Better yet, restitch the whole seam.
2 A Dropped Hem
• A hem can be done by turning up the material, then another turn to cover the fraying ends.
• Pin your fold in place and fix with a simple straight stitch.
3 A Popped Button
• Placing your button on the garment, take a needle and thread and stitch across the holes if there are 4, or just one to the other if there are 2.
• Make sure it’s fastened well into your garment so it doesn’t fall off.
• Repeat the process on all your desired buttons. You might want to consider changing up an item with some thrifted or vintage buttons which can give a whole new look to an old item of clothing
Keep Their Story Alive