How to Mend Socks with a Darning Egg (or Mushroom)

I never thought I’d be the sort of person who would mend socks. We live in a world where new socks are readily available, and cheap. So I’ve thrown away a whole load of socks with holes, and some without. But in the spirit of making do with what we have and reducing our waste, I’ve become a woman who darns her socks.

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I wondered at first if I was going a bit mad, and maybe mending holey socks is taking things a little too far in the journey to living more sustainably, but here’s the thing. Most socks these days are made of polyester, which is really just plastic. So throwing away good socks, even if they have holes in, feels like a waste of a precious resource. Putting a single pair of socks in the bin suddenly felt like quite a big deal.

And aside from the environmental reasons, darning is really enjoyable. The lost art of darning socks is slow and meditative, exactly what’s needed in these busy times. Giving new life to something that’s a little worn out is wonderful, especially if it’s a favorite pair of well-loved socks. It’s also an opportunity to get creative. Don’t feel you have to match your thread to the colour of your socks. A contrasting color can make a simple pair of socks even more beautiful. I love to make mending stand out - it’s like a travel stamp in a passport, showing the life the piece has been through.

Oh, and darning doesn’t have to be restricted to mending socks! You can use this mending technique on pretty much any fabric - cardigans, trousers, even underwear. Most importantly, it works really well on stretch fabrics, where other mending techniques (like sashiko) don’t work quite so well.

Tips for Mending Your Socks

Before we dive in, here are a few things to give you the best chance at darning success:

It’s a good idea to catch holes before they get too large. The ones on the sock above were left intentionally to make a good example here, but don’t leave it this long if you can! Small holes are much easier to fix than larger holes. You can even darn over a thin worn area before it develops into a hole.
It’s important to place something inside the sock while darning to create tension around the hole and prevent it from bunching up. The best tool for the job is a darning egg or mushroom, but a light bulb or tennis ball will do the job too. My darning mushroom is from Etsy.
Lots of ‘traditional’ darning tutorials will tell you to use darning wool, which is great for proper knitted socks, but doesn’t work so well for modern synthetic socks. I like to use embroidery floss or a thick cotton thread like sashiko thread. If using embroidery floss, use one or at most two strands - cut the length of floss you need, then gently separate out two of the strands from the bunch. Of course, you can also use wool yarn, especially if you're darning wool socks. Importantly, you want to make sure the weight of the yarn or thread you use matches the weight of the original yarn used to make the sock as closely as possible.
The length of thread you'll need depends on the size of the hole - the larger the hole, the longer the length of thread you'll need to begin with.
Basic darning is done by creating a series of rows of stitching, then passing back over the stitches at right angles (like the second image below). This darning technique will give you a firm, woven ‘patch’, but it won’t have any stretch. If you want to retain the stretch of your sock, try doing your second set of stitches diagonally to the first (like the third image below).

How to Darn Socks

Supplies

You will need:

Old socks!
Darning wool or embroidery thread (use one or two strands)
A darning needle or tapestry needle
A darning egg or mushroom (or a small ball or lightbulb)

Instructions

Turn your sock inside out. Cut away any pieces of fluff or bobbling on the inside of the sock. Put your darning egg or mushroom into the sock so that it creates tension around the hole. You might find it helpful to wrap a rubber band around the egg or mushroom to hold everything in place.
Thread your needle, but don’t tie a knot in the thread. Bring the needle up through the sock, leaving a tail of thread at least 6cm long. You're aiming for your darning to be the same shape as the hole, covering the entire hole and all thinning parts of the fabric and extending at least a cm past the edge of the hole or thinning area.
Make your first row of running stitch, picking up only the backs of the loops on the sock, so that your stitching won’t be seen on the right side of the fabric. Make your rows of stitching the same width apart as the width of your thread. You need them to be pretty close to get a strong weave. Leave a little loop at the end of each row before you go to the next.
Once you've done all your rows in one direction and covered the hole, go back and weave through the first set of stitching, picking up alternate stitches on each row. You can choose to do this at right angles or diagonally to your first set of stitches (see my note above for help on this!)
Once your two sets of stitching are complete, cut any tails of thread and turn your sock right side out. You’re done!

Darning Socks with a Sewing Machine

Socks are traditionally darned by hand, but it is possible to darn them using a sewing machine. You will need a darning foot and a machine where the feed dogs can be dropped. This tutorial by Leah Day is the perfect introduction if you'd like to give that a go. Using a machine does feel like the easy way, but I still prefer to do mine by hand!

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