Help with repair

Vintagiality

Vintagiality

VFG Treasurer
Hi,

First of all Happy Holidays to all!

I got this 60s shift dress which I absolutely love. It was a bit dirty but otherwise in great condition so I washed it with some gentle soap. When it dried I was so disappointed to find out that there must have been a dry rot spot or something (I did notice a very faint discoloration there before I washed it). So now I am looking for ideas on how to save this beauty. I was thinking of either getting fabric from the seam and trying to patch it but I am not sure how obvious it would be or putting some sort of faux sash at that level. Any thoughts?

Thank you
Victoria
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My guess is that it's either a clothes moth (unlikely as cotton is not their preferred munch) or a cigarette burn or food that has rotted through the fabric, but either way I would match the green colour to a thread and gently darn from the underside, concentrating on the green bits. If you need white thread to fill those holes, do that too.
 
Ah, thank you: I couldn't tell from your pic how large the hole is. That makes a difference. You could still darn but yes, back it onto a fabric and darn through both layers for strength.
 
As always, Nicole is giving excellent advice. You can usually find threads to use from the hem turn under or sometimes from seams. After mending, lightly touching up with a matching fabric pen sometimes helps to blend in. Touch up very lightly, you can always go back if it is too light. Good luck.
Marian
 
I think a chemical spill (perhaps perfume?) of something that later reacted with your washing agent to dissolve the cotton.
Give the size of the hole I would do a replacement square seamed repair using fabric from the nape of neck facing if the pattern there matches (ideally you would replace the facing with something of a similar weight so it still does it's job of stopping the edge turning out).
This involves marking a square around the hole, making two cuts across from corner to corner in an X shape and after stitching in the replacement square trimming them down to a small seam allowance which you then stitch down. It is of course much trickier to pattern match, but then again often less noticeable in a busy pattern. If you're not a confident seamstress do get a professional to do it. From a vintage sewing guide I have:
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Thanks Melanie for the advice and for the sewing guide images. I tried darning but I am not good at sewing at all so it looked awful. I think I am going to go with a replacement square. The inside of the bottom hem which is pretty large ~3" has a matching pattern so I was going to cut one from there. This is probably a stupid question coming from a non-professional but does the square go on the outside or is it placed on the inside of the fabric and then stitched onto the top outside fabric?
 
You need to match the pattern from the outside first,unless you can see it on the reverse, pin this to the outside of the garment. From the inside and outside mark the square in chalk on the donor piece and carefully cut diagonally from the outside edge to the corner point of the chalk square (if unsure don't cut too close, you can always snip it later when sewing, but not undo it! The length of these snips is important to the look of the final repair). Place the donor square behind the garment and pin the seam allowances of the donor square and garment hole together. Machine stitch the four sides around, leaving the needle in at the corners as indicated and just lifting the presser foot. Press seams outwards. Inspect the replacement square - if it's pattern matched well and not puckered at the corners, move on to sewing the seam allowance down around the original square seam. You might try invisible thread on yours since it is a thicker weave and two coloured. If the replacement didn't look neat though it's worth unpicking and doing again to make it look good.

Keep in mind the donor square will need to be larger than the square around the hole by the seam allowance amount. The guide above is for dress weight cotton poplin - they have folded the seam over on the back before sewing the line through again which would be too bulky in your fabric, so I would suggest binding the edges by hand casting instead to prevent fraying.
If you can't get a large enough piece inc. seam allowance from your donor fabric areas you might look at a smaller patch from the reverse, pattern matched and hand tacked on, but it may be a bit bulky in this fabric.
 
It is a tricky repair - but looks ace when done well. If you can get help from a sewing neighbour or friend do. It's worth taking time and advice on.
 
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