What should I buy?

[u/Streetquats]

I love browsing this sub. I want to get started on visible mending for some of my own clothes and items. I have no experience sewing and the only supplies I have are sewing needles.

What kind of thread should I buy? Are there different thicknesses or materials that are best? It’s different from yarn right?

Any advice for a starter would be great!! Thank you all

[u/munkymu]

I'd say that to begin mending or hand-sewing you will want some needles, some sewing thread in a variety of colours, a pincushion and some pins, a pair of scissors, a needle threader and either an embroidery hoop or darning mushroom. You can use basic sewing thread to mend split seams, sew on patches and buttons, darn small holes, fix hems and so on. Depending on what kind of visible mending you're interested in you might also want some embroidery floss and/or yarn, and needles big enough for the yarn/floss to fit through. It's kind of difficult to thread a small-eyed needle with a fat thread. You might also want some scrap fabric to use as patches if you don't have old clothes or fabric scraps lying around.

I think that like all hobbies, it's best to start simple, expect to make some mistakes while you are learning, and slowly expand your materials as you become familiar with them and encounter problems you can't solve with the equipment you own.

[u/Streetquats → u/munkymu]

Great advice! I’ve heard of embroidery hoops but not darning mushrooms. I will probably buy one to start- which is preferred? I will mostly be patching up tiny teeny tears in my jeans, car seat, and a few shirts

[u/munkymu → u/Streetquats]

It sort of depends? I've only just started using an embroidery hoop but I have noticed that it doesn't work all that well with thick, stiff fabrics or in places like shirt underarms that are difficult to lay flat.

To be fair I also do not own a darning mushroom, but I do have a very nice smooth rounded rock that does a similar job, and for darning socks I use a small plastic pop bottle. I have found my rock to be very useful in darning small holes in jeans and t-shirts. So I would probably get a small embroidery hoop, or a set of hoops, and then look around your house to improvise a darning mushroom if you can't find one at the craft store. It is much easier to find a small, rounded solid object than it is to find something that will duplicate the function of an embroidery hoop, I think.

[u/Streetquats → u/munkymu]

I love how many people get creative with the darning