Our household uses lightweight wool blankets on top of the bedding. It offers a breathable layer year round. However, we’re not ‘easy’ on our textiles. Human feet and dog paws eventually rip right through these blankets. What to do?

First, if you’re proactive, small holes can be immediately fixed by hand sewing, with matching or contrasting wool yarns. This results in a nearly invisible fix. Of course, I recommend this approach! Alas this proactive plan rarely works out for me. I’m often not this on top of repairs! By the time I get to the offending hole, it’s usually much larger than a small invisible hand-mending job.

There are multiple ‘fix it’ steps you can take before giving up on a wool blanket. If your hand sewing and mending skills are strong and you have time, consider using a weaving technique to repair even a bigger hole. If you’re short on time, don’t despair. Here are some solutions:

Hold your blanket up to a window or take it outside. Look at the areas near the holes. Sometimes you will see just a single jagged rip, and this can be repaired by a sewing machine. Other blankets might have clear signs of wear beyond the holes. A pattern of wear in the middle of the blanket may show where your pet likes to sleep or where someone consistently clutches the blanket while sleeping. If the fibres are very weak, a large patch is your best bet. To repair straight or slightly jagged rips, I choose a thread colour that blends in with the blanket. I set up my sewing machine to create a wider zig zag stitch. Hold the rip together with clips or pins, or hold the two edges flat, but close together. Use the zig zag to stitch slowly to close up the rip. There’s no seam allowance here, the two ripped edges should be side by side. Use the zig zag seam to join up the edges. Don’t rely on only one seam. Evaluate where to reinforce the fabric and go back and forth, using repeated zig zags to hold the fabric together. Woven fabric has a warp and a weft- a seam can align with either warp or weft to join the edges.

This kind of mending is a little freeform. You may have to start and stop to firm up the areas where you see weakness or potential new rips forming. When you finish, your stitching should mostly fade into the blanket colours. The fixed blanket is still fragile- it won’t be as sturdy as a new one, but it will still offer warmth for quite a while.

If there’s a big weak patch, with a lot of tearing, look for wool fabric (small scraps will do) that matches or coordinates with your blanket. Make a patch for both sides of the blanket, sandwiching the weak fibres or large tear inside the patch. Before attaching to the blanket, zigzag, serge, or use pinking shears on the edges of your patches. Fold the patches’ edges and iron so that these edges will be concealed. Align the patches so they match up on both sides of the blanket, and pin in place. Using straight stitching and matching threads, sew your patch on both sides at the same time. This blanket will never look new again, but your blanket is now back in service.

What to do if new rips appear alongside a patch? Go back to your first line repairs: small hand mending jobs, or machine zigzag stitching. Eventually, your blanket may break down further. If it’s truly beyond repair, salvage the fabric you can. Remake it into a lap blanket, use it for stuffing or quilt batting, or, if it’s 100% wool, repurpose it as mulch for garden plants.

Wishing you many more seasons of warmth ahead with your mended wool blankets!