Mending and Darning Knitted Sweaters

Dear users, dear authors,
What do you do with a hole in a knitted sweater? Can you simply mend and darn it like you would with socks?

If a hole does happen to appear in a sweater, I embroider an appliqué and place it over the hole, because darning is always visible, and whether a patch will look good is another question.

Best regards, Inge

I’m familiar with that, too—back in the day, when the elbows on my favorite cardigan would get more and more threadbare, I’d put leather patches on them.
But the other day I saw a video somewhere that did a great job of showing how to darn knitwear invisibly—that is, if you still have the matching yarn—but I just can’t seem to find it anymore.

How can you keep the stitches from unraveling? Would a patch be enough?

So far, an appliqué
patch has always worked, since it’s sewn on with an appliqué stitch, which is very tight and not too big. However, you shouldn’t use a needle that’s too sharp in the sewing machine, otherwise the stitches will come undone afterward—a wrong needle tends to tear the stitches too easily.

Best regards, Inge

Can’t you do that by hand?

Sure, that works too, but I usually do it with the sewing machine.

Best regards, Inge

I used to always darn it, secure the loose stitches, and then sew a patch over it to hide the hole—all by hand.

Our grandparents might know the answer to this question, because back then, clothes were worn longer and, as a result, mended. But I can only pull the hole closed if it’s not too big. I only think appliqués look nice on kids’ clothes.

The video Veronika mentioned probably shows a great solution. But since I don’t have a hole in my wool sweater right now, I won’t be looking for it. Still, at least I now know there are nicer options than just pulling the hole closed.

Best regards, Ina

I’ve seen two different videos on this topic
Links removed, mod.

Duplicate stitch
No. 1 looks wonderful, but I think it would be difficult with fine yarn. In any case, I don’t have a needle that thin or good eyesight, and unfortunately I don’t have anything close to the right color either.
That’s why I like Video 2 better. I’ll try out this technique on my sweater once I have the right yarn.

Hello marita-marszalek,
Thanks for wanting to share this information. Unfortunately, external links aren’t allowed, so I had to remove it.
Have fun.