[Illustration: RIGHT SIDE OF FLANNEL PATCH
Edge cat stitched but not turned, back cat stitched in the same way.]
The worn part of the garment under the patch is cut away, leaving one-fourth of an inch on the three sides. Cut the corners diagonally and turn back the edge quarter of an inch, overcast and press. If this patch is sewed on a lining, the worn part is not cut away. If this patch is used to repair skirts near the band, only three sides are oversewed, the upper edge should be gathered into the band. A large patch is less conspicuous than a small one.
An onset patch may be used for the seats of trousers by shaping the patch like the pieces on the seats of bicycle trousers and stitching on the machine. Heavy cloth will need no inturned edges. The same precautions are necessary regarding warp and woof, pattern, etc.
Darning is usually done with a running stitch, with or without a piece of net or cloth underset. Thread for darning should be as near as possible the size of the threads in the garment. Whenever it can be done, a warp thread of the garment should be used. No sewing silk is fine enough to use without separating the thread and using one of the strands. Never use the thread as it is, as it is too hard twisted. Cotton and linen thread of the finest quality, untwisted, should be used for darning stockings and underwear. Linen may be darned with linen or mercerized cotton. Cotton is preferable.
A long slender needle with a large eye should be used. Darning should never be commenced with a knot, nor finished with a back stitch.
A bias or diagonal cut and a three-cornered tear are the most difficult to repair. If the place is badly pulled and frayed, a piece of the same material should be basted on the wrong side of the material and darned in even stitches. Always darning _parallel_ with the warp threads and the woof threads. In the diagonal tear, as the threads are cut diagonally, to prevent drawing apart, the darning threads must cross each other.
The stitches around any darn should not end in a stiff even line; this makes a hard edge which does not wear and is unsightly, and uncomfortable if on underwear.
[Sidenote: Darning a Three Cornered Tear]
The three-cornered tear may be darned in two ways. Begin by darning diagonally through the center, darning back and forth towards the end of the tear until one-half has been finished; then begin at the center and work in the opposite direction. At the corner, the stitches should form the shape of a fan. The other method, which is the stronger, is done by darning a square in the angle, first with the warp threads, then with the woof threads and finishing each end across the tear.