I have this super cute cardigan from J. Crew with a hole peaking out from the elbow. At first it was just a little guy, but it quickly grew into a small crater on my sleeve. You see, I really like this cardigan, and I didn’t want to throw it out just because of a little hole. Fortunately, grandpa patches on sweaters and cardigans are in right now, so I decided to sew some patches on the sleeves to cover up the hole! The supplies I used were a needle, thread, scissors, pins, a Sharpie marker, and for the patch I used material cut off from an old pair of pants that have a hole in the knee.
I began by taking the material for the patch and my silver Sharpie and I drew an oval on the cloth. (My patches are roughly 5 1/2 inches long, roughly 3 inches wide- you can make yours any size necessary.) After drawing the oval patch on the material, I cut it out, and used it to trace the second patch so it is equal in size to the other sleeve.
When I was satisfied with the shape, size and equality of appearance of the patches, I used pins to fasten the patches onto the sleeves (making sure to cover the hole, of course). I tried on the cardigan, and looked at the sleeves in front of a mirror to make sure they were even. I had to do some adjusting of one sleeve to even it out.
I used a needle and thread to stitch on the patches by hand. The stitch I did was overhand. I’m so happy I was able to revive my holey cardigan!
And that, my friend, is the hole truth on how to repair a cardigan.
xo,
Maggie
