Why we should repair our clothes - and how to do it
If you value your clothes, you repair them
My grandmother often told me about her favorite dress when I was a child. She owned a single, beautiful, striped dress, crocheted for her from many colorful yarns. As she grew older and taller, her mother added more and more stripes to the hem and sleeves, so the dress grew with my grandmother, and she could continue to wear it. This is how the lifecycles of many garments were extended back then: socks with holes were darned, fabric patches were sewn onto the knees of worn-out trousers and the elbows of tattered sweaters, everything was mended until it literally fell apart. Due to the scarcity of resources around World War II, clothes had to be preserved for as long as possible. They were regularly repaired and often passed down through many generations.
Why repairing clothes is worthwhile for everyone
As clothing became more available and cheaper, repairing it became less common. If you can get a new T-shirt for the price of a coffee, is it still worth repairing? Many garments are now disposed of rather than mended. That this is a mistake is proven by statistics from WRAP. This stands for Waste and Resources Action Programme and is a British non-profit organization that works on sustainability, resource use, waste prevention, and circular economy. In their 2025 report, WRAP breaks down: out of 5 repaired items, 4 replace the purchase of a new item. This results in a displacement rate of 82.2 percent. And if you repair a cotton T-shirt instead of buying a new one, you can save more than 7.5 kg of CO2e. That's equivalent to about 25 hours of ironing.
Repairing a garment is not only good for the environment, but it has many other advantages: especially if it is a high-quality item, the repair is often significantly cheaper than buying new. And the fit of the clothes also plays a big role, because for a pair of jeans to fit really well, it usually takes a long search and then many days of wear. In addition, by doing the repair yourself, you develop a new connection to your clothes, appreciate them more, and at the same time send a signal to large companies that would prefer to sell you more and more (often poorly made) clothes.
Repairing clothes - with and without a sewing machine
Many people have probably sewn a button back on or darned a hole in a wool sweater by hand. But did you know that you can also quickly and easily make life-saving repairs to your favorite clothes with a sewing machine? And that's even if you still consider yourself a beginner at sewing.
1. Two ways to mend holes
No matter how careful you are: If you like and wear a garment often, small holes are often unavoidable over time. But they are quickly mended:
The No-Sew Solution: A particularly uncomplicated solution for small holes are Prym self-adhesive rub-on patches. They work without sewing and can simply be rubbed onto the damaged material. The patches adhere firmly, are durable, and are suitable for various fabrics.
Darning holes with a sewing machine: If you prefer a more classic approach, you can also darn holes, especially in heavily stressed areas such as the knees or crotch of trousers: For this, a piece of fabric in a matching color is placed under the hole from the inside. Then, from the top, sew several times in the direction of the grain over the damaged area. Normal thread in a matching color is sufficient for this. If you want to deliberately show off the repair look, you can also use effect yarn, for example sparkling yarn.
2. Making trousers fit
Trousers that are too wide or too long can be shortened or narrowed very easily. First, the trousers are pinned to the desired length, and then stitched along the marked line. The right needle is important here: a special jeans needle should be used for jeans, while a lighter universal needle, for example size 70, is suitable for cotton.
Conversely, many trousers can also be lengthened. And, fortunately, unpicking seams is one of the easiest repair and alteration techniques. For this, the hem is opened with a seam ripper. The Seam-Fix from Madeira, for example, is particularly suitable: it has a high-quality steel blade with a safety ball tip and a thread remover at both ends. In addition, it has a specially shaped rubber cap that can be used to remove thread remnants from the fabric, similar to an eraser.
3. Reinforce fabrics
If the fabric of a particularly beloved garment becomes thin or threadbare in certain areas, it can be reinforced from the back with the Tender Touch. The material is ironed on and gives the fabric slight stability without significantly altering its original texture.
Alternatively, fabrics can also be doubled to reinforce garments in high-stress areas. To join two layers of fabric, Thermofix, also colloquially known as "witch's spit," is suitable. For this, the material is cut to the appropriate size and placed between the two layers of fabric, so that the right sides, i.e., the "pretty" sides, face outwards. Then, it is ironed: the Thermofix melts due to the heat and bonds the two layers together.
4. The right sewing machine foot works wonders
With different sewing machine feet, you can repair and adjust clothes almost professionally. Dealing with different feet for the sewing machine may sound like extra effort at first, but it significantly simplifies many work steps.
For example, a hemmer foot rolls the fabric edge: you insert the fabric into the opening of the presser foot, start sewing, and the foot automatically creates a neat, even hem.
A bias tape binder works similarly. The bias tape is guided and folded by the shape of the presser foot so that it wraps around the fabric and can be sewn on without any problems. This ensures a particularly neat finish at the hem.
A special zipper foot, on the other hand, is helpful if you need to replace a zipper, as this can quickly become a challenge without professional equipment. It is important to buy presser feet that match the brand of your own sewing machine. Then, they can usually be easily replaced at the push of a button.
Even if it may sound like an additional household task: repairing not only gives you better-fitting, mended, and wearable clothes back. It also has an almost meditative quality to consciously take time for these small care units and to take care of your own clothes, as they deserve. Even if we almost forgot that.
It also has an almost meditative quality to consciously take time for these small care units and to take care of your own clothes, as they deserve.
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About the author
With us, she shares insights into developments and inspirations from the fashion world - with a special focus on historical contexts and social dynamics.
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