Darning Techniques | How to Darn
Darning techniques.
If you are somewhere remote and need to make a repair, you can often do so by using a needle and thread, and a technique called darning.
Darning is a way to join two ripped areas together. Take care with lighter fabrics as the stitches may pull through the fabric. Ensure you leave enough fabric between the rip and the repair thread, or alternatively for ultralight fabrics, a patch repair using tape may even be a better option.
If you need to stitch a down or synthetically insulated jacket, make sure you only stitch through a single layer. This could be the outer or the inner depending on where the rip or tear is. Doing it this way will make a professional repair from our Service Centre a lot easier if you choose to send it back to us after your trip.
How to darn.
Start by making sure you have enough thread on your needle. Thread that’s too short will make the repair tricky, and you can always trim a longer piece if needed.
Insert your needle about 5mm beyond where the rip starts and 5mm down below the bottom of the rip.
Bring the needle up about 5mm past the top of the rip, leaving a small tail of thread showing on the outside.
Cross this tail end of thread over and hold in place with your thumb. Then repeat the stitch, starting to encapsulate the tail end of thread in your stitching.
To make this extra secure you can thread your needle through a loop you’ve created as you are stitching. This will form a small knot holding the stitching in place.
Continue the process of wrapping the tail end of thread into your darning and you should start to see the fabric pinch together and overlap, closing the hole. Snip the excess tail once it’s about 1cm inside your stitching.
Once you get to the end of the hole, start to double back on yourself overlapping the stitching you’ve just done. Try not to make this too close to the other stitching on fine fabrics as this could weaken the area.
If you are repairing a waterproof shell, it’s important to seam seal over the new stitching to keep the area waterproof. Apply enough to cover the stitching and about 5mm around the area.
Field darning techniques.
How to back stitch.
To repair a seam, a back stitch or running stitch is always a good option. A back stitch is stronger and better for areas which may come under tension.
Start your stitching about 1cm before the seam has come undone. If this is on a hem, for example where the stitching doesn’t go through to the outer fabric, make sure you only sew the layers you need to reconnect.
To hide the tail end of the thread, pull this through just enough so it stops before it disappears into the fabric.
Where your needle has exited the fabric, go back through a tiny amount of the top fabric to form a loop of thread. Pass your needle through this loop to secure the stitch.
Then place your needle back through at this point and bring it back up about 5mm further along the seam to be repaired.
Repeat the process of backstitching along the seam.
At the end of the repair, replicate the process of knotting you did at the start and then thread the excess back into the garment to hide the raw tail end.