163. Run Patch.
The Run Patch (Fig. 163).—Prepare the hole exactly as for the sewn patch, and crease down a turning as a guide to the stitches. Cut out a fresh piece to fit, allowing ¼ in. on each side. Fix it in place, and run carefully on the wrong side, taking care not to pucker in the least, and letting the stitches be closer together at the corners. Make the seam neat by felling which will set without mitreing the corners.
The Darned Patch is frequently employed, when short of scraps, for mending or strengthening play-room knickerbockers, carpets, or any rough fabrics. The small bit, or even a piece of another material, matching as nearly as possible in colour, may be placed under the hole, then secured, and almost concealed, by rows of neat darning.
The Seamless Patch is very similar to the preceding, but the darning, instead of covering the weak part, merely surrounds the edge. The repair often appears in sheets, towels, &c., wherever, from scarcity or frailty of stuff, a seam is undesirable. Cut a piece of the same material a little wider than the hole itself; tack it upon the wrong side of the fabric, letting the edges of piece and hole overlap. When both have been pared, secure the patch to the stuff on the right side by darning backwards and forwards about 6 stitches in height. Leave regular loops, and see that the needle takes in both upper and under surfaces. The darning crosses at the corners, thereby giving them additional strength. With the exception of the corners, neither rows nor stitches should be as close together as in ordinary mending.
The Buttonhole Patch surpasses the seamless patch in neatness and flatness, and is reserved for the best linen in cases of accidental burns, stains, &c., where the damage cannot well be rectified by darning. The patch is very valuable in stockings, and has recently suggested an excellent plan for seaming petticoat bodices without the slightest ridge, thus facilitating the perfect fit of the fashionable corsages. To make it, cut out the worn part and prepare a piece, identical in material, and of the exact dimensions of the hole; work separately the edges of patch and hole in close buttonhole stitch, with embroidery or flourishing thread. Secure the piece to the fabric by 2 or 4 pins at the corners, and sew it on by passing the needle from the loop of each stitch over the opposite one.
The Flannel Patch.—There are three ways of mending flannel. In the first fix the piece exactly like the seamless patch, then herringbone all round on the right and wrong side, letting the upper row of stitches exactly cover the under one. For the second process, commence as for the run patch, but, instead of felling, herringbone the turnings. In the third and lightest method, crease the 4 sides; manage the corners as already described; set in the patch so that the former exactly correspond with those of the material; then herringbone the edges of the renewed part and hole together. Flannel patches are equally well adapted to the repairing of old quilts.
164. Flannel Strengthening Patch.