If you’ve ever heard the old proverb ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ you will understand that maintaining your clothes in the short term can prevent damage becoming worse in the longer term. That means having what you need with you when you are out and about so that you can deal with the problem immediately to stop tears, holes or missing bits becoming worse.
There are lots of cheapie clothing repair kits available all over the shops and the internet. They are usually small, light and inexpensive. The problem is that the quality of what is in them can be lacking, they only have small amounts so if you have a major wardrobe malfunction you still may be left high and dry, and they may not contain what you need in every situation.
The answer is to put your own together. That way you can be assured you will only include good quality items and there will be enough to do what you need. Also, since you put it together yourself, you will know what is in it, so the chances of grabbing your kit in hope only to be disappointed are considerably reduced. Here are my suggestions -
- A small pack of hand sewing needles,
- A good length of each of four repair thread colours: black (or dark brown or blue), white, red, and a medium grey or tan shade., wrapped around a length of cardboard, about 2 metres works quite well,
- A needle threader to be used for repairing knit snags,
- A glue stick for emergency tacking,
- A selection of buttons to replace any that get popped off
- Half dozen to a dozen safety pins, because there is not quicker or more secure fix for an embarrassing clothing tear than a series of safety pins.
- A small pair of scissors or a thread cutter – a lot of the smaller size cheap scissors are rubbish and can let you down. A good, sharp thread cutter will be able to do everything you ask of it and more.
- A thimble
Other items you may wish to include if there is room include a tape measure, seam ripper, latch hook and/or fabric pencil.
It may be a while before you need to use your kit, but when you do need it you will want the contents to be in a serviceable condition, so it is important to have your kit in a robust container. Ideally the container should be metal, hold everything you want in the kit but, fit easily in the pocket or handbag and be easy to open so that the gear it accessible. I have found that an unused glasses (spectacles) case it ideal for the job and most of us will have one or more floating around in a drawer somewhere.
To keep some essentials like a few pins available within the kit, you can secure a fridge magnet to the inside of the top of the glasses case to hold the items magnetically.
