In this video, I’m going to show you how to strengthen worn-out fabric with a visible mending technique called Kantha embroidery. My kimono/dressing gown/robe/cape/whatever-you-want-to-call-it from Sissel Edelbo needed some extra strengthening at some worn-out areas on the fabric, as well as on some of the seams.
As my garment is made of recycled saris I though the perfect visible mending technique to strengthen the fabric with would be Kantha stitching. This is because when you do Kantha embroidery you stitch together layers of old saris by hand with a running stitch.
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My kimono is made of fabric from old saris and because it was made from recycled saris I found that after a while it needed some extra strengthening at the seams, as well as in some worn-out areas. For inspiration, I looked at both the Japanese Boro-technique and Kantha embroidery, or Kantha stitching as it sometimes is also called, as two possible solutions to this problem.
Kantha embroidery is a technique that comes from West Bengal in India. From what I understand from my research Kantha has been around for over 500 years. It was started as a technique to recycle and reuse old saris and other pieces of clothing and stitch them together in a layer with a running stitch. Because Kantha embroidery is only simple running stitches it’s the perfect embroidery technique for beginners.
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To do a visible mend with Kantha embroidery you will need:
- Embroidery floss
- Embroidery scissors (or any small scissor to snip threads with)
- Embroidery needles
- Light-weight cotton or silk fabric (but any natural fibre of your choice will do)
- Thimble (optional – but recommended)
- Tailor’s chalk (optional)
As traditional Kantha uses layers of old silk saris I looked around in thrift stores for ages for a suitable silk fabric to use for this project. But I couldn’t find anything that I liked so I went with lightweight black cotton in the end.
I did cut out the cotton fabric in different sized patches to cover the worn-out areas on the inside of the garment. I made my patches around 1 to 2 inches (2,5 – 5 cm) wider than the worn-out areas so that the patch can be attached to a strong fabric.
Once I had cut the patches I folded the edges inward, around 1/4 inch (6 mm), and pressed with an iron to create a crisp folded edge. Then I pinned the patches inside the garment onto the worn-out areas.
It’s time to get started! Measure out how much embroidery floss you will need by cutting an arm length’s worth and then separate the strands. I used 3 strands in my project and decided to do a mixture of turquoise and black running stitches on my first patch. You can combine colours like me, or just do a single colour of embroidery floss if prefer.
Thread a needle with your embroidery floss and tie a knot at the end. Start at one end of the patch and bring the needle in between the patch and the garment to hide the knot.
I found it helpful to stitch from the wrong side first to fasten the patch close to the edge, but you can also mark the edge on the right side of the fabric with some tailor’s chalk if you prefer to work from the right side.
Make running stitches by weaving the needle up and down through the fabric. You can create up to 3 to 5 running stitches at the same time before pulling the needle through completely prior to making the next stitch. Continue to create straight running stitches from one side to the other of the patch. If it helps you can mark straight lines across your fabric with some tailor’s chalk. I decided to live riskily and just eyeball it! 🤪
Before continuing to cover my whole patch with running stitches I decided to attach all the patches on one side with running stitches. I did this to reduce the number of pins in the garment and make it nicer & easier to work with.
Later on, I decided to also stitch along all of the edges, not just on one side, on the wrong side of the fabric. I did this to protect my hands from all the pins, to prevent the pins from getting caught into other parts of the garment and to make sure that the patches lay flat whilst sewing. Once I had done so I turned around the work and continued to work from the right side again.
To create that distinct wavy and wrinkled look on many Kantha-stitched pieces I stitched the stitch under the fabric slightly shorter than the one above.
In Kantha stitching, you can either do steeped running stitches, which means that stitches are placed on top of each other, or you can do like I did and make aligned stitches. This is where you will have the stitch in the next row in the previous row’s stitch gap.
Or at least I tried to do this in this project… Sometimes it ends up being both steeped and aligned stitches. Oh well!🙃 What I love about Kantha stitching is that uneven stitching is part of the whole look.
Something to also bear in mind if you do make closer and tighter stitches, as I did in this project, is that you will create a stiffer fabric compared to if you make looser and longer stitches (which will create a softer fabric). Either option is fine just be aware of how you want your garment to turn out!
And this is how the first finished part of my repair looks like! 👆🏻😍
Now I’m gonna strengthen the other side around the seam. I decided to make one half in black and the other half in turquoise. On the torn sides seams I tried to strengthen them by folding a bit of fabric over the torn seam and pin in place. Then I stitched with running stitches over the seam to keep the fold in place. I found making a single straight stitch was easier here than making several running stitches at a time.
Then I used this method again to strengthen the seams at the top of my sleeves by pinning the fabric from the garment over the torn seam, covering the seam area with a patch attached on the wrong side and then stitch in place with running stitches.
And this is how my shoulders turned out!👆🏻😄
I felt that I also needed to strengthen the middle part of my belt to create a more even look. I decided to hand stitch the two pieces together. I folded one side of the seam over the other and pinned it in place, and then I whipped stitched it in place with normal sewing thread on both sides.
Then I pinned a piece of brown bias binding over the seam. I stitched the bias tape together at the back of the belt with a whip stitch. Using one strand of a slightly thicker caramel-coloured embroidery thread I fastened by tying a knot, which I pulled inside the bias binding, and then I started to create running stitches vertically along with the bias binding. I decided to also do running stitches in the brown area that was still showing through as I thought that will make it look like a more ‘complete’ look.
After attaching all my patches I discovered that some smaller areas on my kimono were a bit worn-out as well, so I decided to strengthen them by ironing on some fusible interfacing. However, one of the areas which I attached fusible interfacing to did need some extra strengthening after all so I made a couple of rows of running stitches back and forth over this area.
And now I am finally done! 🥳 Eventually, I plan to have Kantha stitches all over this piece, but first I would love to find a beautiful printed silk (thrifted ideally!) to use as my lining fabric.
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I really hope you found this tutorial helpful – feel free to leave a comment below in case you have any questions!
If you did repair a garment with Kantha stitching your jeans using the tips I shared with you today do not forget to tag me on Instagram @missmatti using the hashtag #mendwithmatti
