Nóóóó! A shop hook in one of those sophisticated jumpers or cardigans you love so much. A classic when you get stuck behind something with a garment. Our do-it-yourself expert Melanie shows how to fix this quickly and neatly. From now on, a shop hook in clothes is no longer a problem for us!
Minor clothing repairs
Repairing your own clothes is not only better for the planet, it also makes you a richer person yourself. You save a beloved item of clothing - because why did it break? It must have come óbecause you loved wearing it so much and you literally save yourself money, because that trip to the shop or tailor is no longer necessary. You fix it yourself for another round of wearing pleasure. So put on a nice podcast or playlist (tips for this we also have) and get to work on small repair jobs. This time we will work on a shop hook in clothes. Really, anyone can do this!
Sin! Far too many broken clothes in the wardrobe
A survey by UK textile organisation WRAP has found that 30% of people have garments hanging in their wardrobes that they no longer wear, simply because they need repair. Bummer! In France, the government is going to help people. Here, you get (up to) 25 euros discount on repairs (and pay an extra tax for a fast fashion purchase) in the hope that it will encourage people to repair clothes more often. In the Netherlands, we have to make do with initiatives such as United Repair Center, mended.eu (send in your repairs and get it returned fixed) or the local tailor - which we absolutely welcome, but more is always better.
Source: wrap.org.uk & change.inc & volkskrant.nl
Shop hook in clothing
A shop hook is a tear in woven fabric in the shape of a right angle. A completely vanished rectangular section of fabric due to tearing is also called a shop hook, according to Wikipedia. The tear occurs because force is applied to one point of the fabric. As a result, the tear has the shape of a right angle. Once the tear is created, it can quickly become much larger, because each individual thread of the fabric is weak in itself. In short, you should not stick around with a shop hook.
Repair shop hook in clothing
Tools
- fusible web(or a piece of fabric and fabric glue or repair cloth)
- needle and thread
Instructions
- Fuse a piece of fusible interfacing to the inside of the shop hook. To do this, follow the instructions of the fusible web. You can get this in different types and thicknesses, including for stretch fabrics.
- You can also use a piece of fabric with fabric glue. But be careful, with thin fabrics the glue can stain, spread the glue well on the piece of fabric first.
- Special iron-on repair cloth is also available in various colours. You use this just like the fusible web.
- For extra strength, you can still sew over the tear with a thread in the colour of the fabric at the front. (Or using the sewing machine with a dense zigzag stitch)
Left: help a shop hook in your beautiful jeans! Luckily, you can easily fix this yourself with the instructions above (top right photo) or with the ladder stitch (bottom right photo).
Solving shop hook in clothes with ladder stitch
You can also solve that pesky shop hook with a ladder stitch. The instructions for the ladder stitch can be found here. As an only addition, it is then smart to smear some extra fabric line on the edges to prevent the fabric from fraying further. Sew as close as possible to the edges of the tear for the best results.
Get started with a no buy clothing style
Repairing clothes is great, but what do we do with all those other garments lying unused in the back of the closet? We get you started with the No Buy Fashion Guide. Over a hundred pages of cool ideas on how to look nice without even buying anything. Nothing. Nope. Nada. Not even second-hand! For 9.50 euros you will have it delivered straight to your inbox and thus on your tablet or mobile phone!
Will you also join this fun community? Read this guide too and discover lots of original ideas. Because so many cool clothes are already out there! Order the No Buy Fashion Guide from our webshop!
More durable repair tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Would you like to turn that crack or shop hook into a work of art? Then try Sashiko mending.
- Help, your knot is off! Read how to sew these back on here.
- Do you have too wide trousers that keep getting stuck in your closet? We have tips for this too.
Photo credits: main image centre: Pavel Danilyuk (Pexels), other photos: Melanie de Oliveira.
