Fix holes in gauze or lightweight fabric

A friend of mine asked me if I could fix a couple of her skirts. The first one had a ripped lining. Simple to take in a 1/2 inch and sew it right up. The other? I had my work cut out for me.

The gauze-like material had ripped away from the trim, creating holes all over the skirt. Yowza!


I'll admit, it hurt my brain a little, but I discovered a method to fixing holes in lightweight fabric like this woven gauze-type material, that actually seemed to work.



Materials:
Lightweight Cut-away permanent stabilizer
Lightweight Stitch Witchery hem tape
Scissors
Iron
Damp cloth
Parchment paper

In case you aren't familiar with stitch witchery, it is a fabric adhesive. The web-like material adheres fabrics together by using the heat of an iron and the steam created from the protective damp cloth. It is also called hem tape because it is a quick way to hem pants. Turn them under and heat seal the seam. Sticky magic.

Permanent Stabilizer is lightweight, textured, non-woven nylon. It provides stability to stitching on lightweight knits and woven fabrics so they won't stretch out or sag. You may have seen stabilizer on the inside of a shirt that has embroidery on it. It's soft and flexible.

Alrighty then...To cover each hole, I cut a piece of stitch witchery to cover the length of the trim, including the ripped section, and a piece of stabilizer bigger than the hem tape.

I put a big piece of parchment paper under the hole so the stitch witchery wouldn't adhere to the ironing board, and re-used it as I fixed each hole.

It was a little tricky, but with my fingers I carefully maneuvered the remaining gauze strands to cover the hole, trying my best to match the existing weave pattern.

Next, I carefully placed the hem tape across the hole and along the trim line, and the piece of stabilizer went on top of that. I used stabilizer in hopes to secure the gauze to something that would help it maintain its place against the trim.

With a damp cloth placed carefully on top of the hem tape and stabilizer, I pressed down the hot iron on the damp cloth for like 11-12 seconds.

It took some time, but the results were surprisingly good. Hem tape is so sheer and stabilizer is so light-weight that you can't even see it through the fabric. With the gauze fabric against the inner cotton lining, the "fixes" seemed to disappear. 

Needless to say, my friend was thrilled with the results. I'm hoping her skirt continues to hold up for her and they have many more happy years together! xo

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