Using wool roving to mend clothing is one of my favorite techniques and is a beautiful sustainable practice to extend the life of your clothing. Last year I repaired a hole in one of my favorite knit hats and will be showing you a similar repair for a second hole that I found. This project works best with natural fibers and knit items but I’ve had great success mending other clothing items as long as they are a decent weight and don’t have much stretch. Pants made out of thicker cotton or denim can work particularly well. If your holes are large I’d recommend sewing them shut using a needle and thread (or adding a piece of felt backing) prior to needle felting. The clothing can go through the wash as normal and the patches holds up well as long as they are completely felted.

Materials:

– clothing item that needs to be mended (I’m mending a knit hat)
– wool roving
– felting needle (with holder / needle only)
– felting mat (extra small mat for narrow areas like sleeves and hats/ small mat for all other mends)
– needle and thread (if the hole requires closing before felting over it)

Instructions for mending holes with wool roving

Step 1: How to prepare your clothing for mending

Start by closing any large holes with a needle and thread. If your hole is extremely large, you may require a thin piece of wool felt on the underside. Place your felting mat underneath the area that requires mending.

Step 2: How to needle felt a patch using wool roving

Tear off a small piece of red wool roving and pull the fibers apart. Roll the fibers into a loose ball. Place the roving over the hole and use your felting needle to begin stabbing the wool all over. As you stab the wool, the barbs on the needle will catch on the fibers and the wool will begin to compact and reduce in size. Add more wool roving if necessary if any areas are low. Repeat with white roving for the mushroom’s stalk. Keep stabbing the wool until it looks well compacted and is adhered well to your clothing item. Add tiny bits of white to the red cap for the scales.

How to Wash Clothing mended with wool roving

These repairs will hold up well in the wash (cold wash, delicate cycle only) as long as the patch has been completely felted. I recommend hand washing the mended area with warm or hot water and a little bit of soap the first time to ensure that the fibers have shrunken up enough and then you can wash normally after that.