Repair

Hands darning a wool garment

A hole in a good sweater isn't the end

When a piece of fine wool is worn year after year, a small hole can eventually appear — from moths, from a bag that's rubbed a little too much in one spot, or from a day in the thorn thicket with the dog. That's part of keeping something for a long time. It's rarely a reason to throw the sweater away.

In most cases a hole can be darned without it becoming visible. And if it's large, or you're fine with the repair being visible — "visible mending" — it can still be fixed in a sensible way.

How to darn a small hole yourself

For holes up to about 5 mm, you can do the work yourself. You'll need:

  • A thin darning needle with a large eye
  • A length of yarn in the same quality and colour as the garment — ideally the repair yarn we include when we ship, otherwise from a yarn shop that carries cashmere or other fine wool yarns. You're also welcome to get in touch with us to ask whether we have leftovers of the relevant yarn.
  • A small piece of card or a darning egg to place under the hole

Method:

  1. Turn the garment inside out and lay it on a table.
  2. Place the card under the hole, so you have a flat surface.
  3. Thread the needle and start about 1 cm from the edge of the hole. Sew small vertical stitches across the hole, parallel and close together.
  4. Now turn the needle 90 degrees and make horizontal stitches across the vertical ones. This weaves a small patch into the hole.
  5. Finish with a knot on the inside and trim the ends short.

The result is a small, firm weave that closes the hole and stops it from growing. With matching yarn, it becomes almost invisible.

For moth holes: freeze the garment for a day first (in a sealed bag), so the larvae are killed before you sew.

Visible mending — a different approach

In recent years, visible mending has emerged as a deliberate aesthetic choice, particularly inspired by Japanese craft traditions such as sashiko (geometric stitching) and boro (patched textiles). The idea is simple: instead of hiding the repair, you make it part of the garment's expression.

A visibly darned hole can be a contrast-coloured weave, a small embroidered motif on top, or a simple row of stitches that follows the knit's structure.

It's an attitude toward clothing we sympathise with: things become more beautiful from being used, and signs of wear aren't something you need to hide.

If you'd prefer professional help

For larger holes, or if you'd like a completely invisible result, we recommend sending the garment to a specialised tailor. In greater Copenhagen, several Danish craftspeople work with fine knitwear repair:

  • Sart Strik — has experience with cashmere and fine merino, and places emphasis on making the patches as invisible as possible.
  • HulHul — specialises in re-knitting holes in knitwear; prices start at 250 kr per hole and 150 kr for hand-woven patches.
  • FRB Skrædder & Rens (Frederiksberg) — hand repair of cashmere and knitwear using the "invisible mending" technique.

Write or call ahead, and consider showing the garment before you decide — the price depends on the size and location of the hole.

Our ambition

We're working toward being able to offer repairs through our producers in Mongolia — especially for our own clothing, where we have access to the original yarn. It's not in place yet, but it's a direction we believe in: that part of selling clothing meant to last a long time is helping it "through life", not just through the purchase.

Until then: write to us if you're unsure about a repair. We and our suppliers know the garments and can often help find the right solution — including when it comes to judging whether something can be saved or not.

Also read: The three fibres · Care and washing · Back to the main page