"Cashmere darn", a fine darning technique for twill fabric, from The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885.

Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting with needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2008x2024, 3663 KB) Summary Illustration of cashmere darning for twill fabrics, from S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2008x2024, 3663 KB) Summary Illustration of cashmere darning for twill fabrics, from S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885. ... A twill weave can easily be identified by its diagonal lines. ... Turn of the century sewing in Detroit, Michigan An old sewing machine Sewing is an ancient craft involving the stitching of cloth, leather, animal skins, furs, or other materials, using needle and thread. ... Fabric may mean: Cloth, a flexible artificial material made up of a network of natural or artificial fibres Fabric (club), a London dance club Fibre Channel fabric, a network of Fibre Channel devices enabled by a Fibre Channel switch using the FC-SW topology This is a disambiguation page, a... Knit hat, yarn, and knitting needles. ... A modern machine (Singer Symphonie 300) A sewing machine is a mechanical (or electromechanical) device that joins fabric using thread. ...

Darning also refers to any of several needlework techniques worked in darning stitches: Needlework is another term for the handicraft of decorative sewing and textile arts. ...

• Pattern darning is a type of embroidery that uses parallel rows of straight stitches of different lengths to create a geometric design.

• Net darning, also called filet lace, is a 19th century technique using stitching on a mesh foundation fabric to imitate lace.

• Needle weaving is a drawn thread work embroidery technique that involves darning patterns into barelaid warp or weft threads.

Gold Embroidery Cross-stitch embroidery, Hungary, mid-20th century Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with designs stitched in strands of thread or yarn using a needle. ... Parallel is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. ... Filet lace (also known as Lacis, Filet Brodé and Point Compté) is a Needle lace created by darning on a ground of netting. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... White lace is often used in collars and other fabric borders. ... Drawn thread work is a form of counted-thread embroidery based on removing threads from the warp and/or the weft of a piece of evenweave fabric. ...

Darning cloth

The Beatles made a reference to Darning in their song "Elanor Rigby" when they say that Father McKenzie is 'Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there'

In its simplest form, darning consists of anchoring the thread in the fabric on the edge of the hole and carrying it across the gap. It is then anchored on the other side, usually with a running stitch or two. If enough threads are criss-crossed over the hole, the hole will eventually be covered with a mass of thread.

Fine darning, sometimes known as Belgian darning, attempts to make the repair as invisible and neat as possible. Often the hole is cut into a square or rectangle, following the grain of the fabric. First a ladder of thread is laid down across one direction of the square or rectangle, continuing the direction of the warp or weft threads in the rest of the fabric. Then the needleworker works a ladder of thread at right angles to the first, carefully interweaving the second set of threads with the first. The needleworker is in effect weaving a new piece of fabric. If thread matching the thread of the original fabric is used, the darn blends into the fabric. WaRp. ... Weft or woof is the yarn which is shuttled back and forth across the warp to create a woven fabric. ...

There are many varieties of fine darning. Simple over-and-under weaving of threads can be replaced by various fancy weaves, such as twills, chevrons, etc., achieved by skipping threads in regular patterns.

Invisible darning is the epitome of this attempt at restoring the fabric to its original integrity. Threads from the original weaving are unravelled from a hem or seam and used to effect the repair. Invisible darning is appropriate for extremely expensive fabrics and items of apparel.

In machine darning, lines of machine running stitch are run back and forth across the hole, then the fabric is rotated and more lines run at right angles. This is a fast way to darn, but it cannot match the effects of fine darning.

"Swiss darning" to repair knits

Darning egg, early 20th century

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x790, 687 KB) Summary Illustration of Swiss darning to repair stockinette-stitch knit, from S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x790, 687 KB) Summary Illustration of Swiss darning to repair stockinette-stitch knit, from S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Darning_egg. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Darning_egg. ...

Darning knits

When darning knits, the needleworker can imitate the interlocking threads in the rest of the fabric, or just lay down running stitches as if the knit were a plain woven material. The first is preferable, the second is faster.

Knitted socks require frequent repair (if they are to be repaired rather than just replaced, as is more common in these days of machine-knitted socks). The sock is being rubbed between the foot and the shoes and develops holes or thin spots at the pressure points. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Darning tools

There are special tools for darning socks or stockings:

• A darning egg is an egg-shaped ovoid of stone, porcelain, wood, or similar hard material, which is inserted into the toe or heel of the sock to hold it in the proper shape and provide a firm foundation for repairs. When the repairs are finished, the darning egg is removed.

• A darning mushroom is a mushroom-shaped tool usually of wood. The sock can be stretched over the curved top of the mushroom, and gathered tightly around the stalk to hold it in place for darning.

Pattern darning

Pattern darning is a simple and ancient embroidery technique in which contrasting thread is woven in-and-out of the ground fabric using rows of running stitches which reverse direction at the end of each row. The length of the stitches may be varied to produce geometric designs. Traditional embroidery using pattern darning is found in Africa, Japan, Northern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Mexico and Peru [1]. Gold Embroidery Cross-stitch embroidery, Hungary, mid-20th century Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with designs stitched in strands of thread or yarn using a needle. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Northern Europe is marked in dark blue Northern Europe is a name of the northern part of the European continent. ... Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote: the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Central Europe and Russia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

Pattern darning is also used as a filling stitch in blackwork embroidery. Blackwork Embroidery is normally simply referred to as Blackwork. It is a simple form of embroidery, using black thread on white or off-white fabric. ...

Notes

1. Pattern Darning

References

• S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885.
• Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework, 1979, ISBN 0895770598.
• Reader's Digest Oxford Dictionary p.1001.CS.

External links

• Chapter 11—Darning and Patching from American Dressmaking Step by Step (1917) by Mme. Lydia Trattles Coates

• Pattern Darning by Sally Simon at the American Needlepoint Guild (examples and stitching techniques)

• Swiss darning as an embellishment technique