#solarpunk crafts

Took my scarf experiment off the loom today! It's a special scarf because I dyed the wool myself using natural dyes. I still need to tie off the ends, but in the meanwhile enjoy some close-ups from both sides:

I patched yet another big hole in my reckless partner's sportswear and decided to document how I did it! I used an embroidery frame to help keep the fabric in place, but it can be done just as well without one. Other supplies are just a needle and some yarn. Here I'm using three strand embroidery floss.

I start by securing the fraying edge. Just stitching around the egde, all around the hole! If the edge is not straight, the parts sticking out will fold a bit when you tighten the stitch, but that's fine.

Here is the first step finished. Next, I stitch the two edges together!

There are a few different ways to do it, but the idea is to use the stitches around the edge to pull the two sides together with a ladder stitch. (This means that there's no tension on the fraying edge, just around it on the intact fabric!) I put the needle through two stitches on one side, then two on the other side and so on, always taking either the next two stitches or one previous and one new. Pull tight!

And voilà, the tear is fixed!

And here's another example with matching colours and finer thread.

Got around to darning the holes in my sock heels! Now they're ready to wear in my favourite boots next winter too.

Before and after: replacing a torn belt loop on old jeans. And progress pictures with tutorial in alt.