There was a time when a tailor or even a good cleaning establishment could mend a hole or tear in an otherwise perfectly good wool garment. The mending was called “reweaving,” and the repair was impossible to see even when you knew where to look. The hole was patched, but the join that holds the patch to the garment was woven into the fabric.

In the past, home sewers could buy kits that included instructions and special “needles” to painstakingly undo moth damage, but this skill is almost forgotten and the needles—fine, miniscule latch hooks—have all but disappeared. Instead of the needles, you can use nylon thread to weave a perfect patch. The samples shown were made with a large-weave fabric to help you see the process, but this method works equally well on finer woolens.

Whether your favorite garment fell victim to moths or got caught in the car door, Kenneth D. King shows you how you can repair a hole or tear so no one will ever know it was there.

From Threads #144, Aug./Sept. 2009.