All you really need is a little plastic thing of needles ($1), some pins ($1), thread (varies but even good cotton thread isn’t that much), scissors (where you might actually consider investing a little - do not use these scissors for anything else, and consider a rotary cutter if you really get into it), and fabric.
Fabric might seem like the pricey part of the equation, but consider how much a thrift store is going to charge you for a duvet or a pile of t-shirts! I have something like 30 t-shirts I spent maybe $5 on several months ago, and I’ve been working through that pile for a while.
You can turn a t-shirt into a pillow, a reusable bag, use the scraps to patch clothing, make dolls, quilts… The bits that get to be so small to be unusable for a scrap quilt you can use to stuff things.
It takes a lot of time compared to machine sewing, but it’s an activity that can be done while watching a tv show.
I’ve thought about learning to sew by hand for just this reason - to make minor repairs and save some money and create less waste. Does anyone have recommendations for a kit or which items to buy to get started?
Well, a sewing needle, needle pins, some thread and a project.
Sewing kits are okay, but usually very low quality and with a lot of junk (looking at you, mini-foldable-scissor)
You can get lucky thrifting and get huge amounts of high quality thread for no money. You probably know someone who has a lot of sewing stuff who would love to hook you up.
Otherwise, just buy what you need for the project you are doing.
Use cotton thread for cotton fabric, poly thread for synthetics. Match the thread with the fabric.
If you mainly repair stuff, buying supplies will save more than you spend pretty quickly.
I’m 33 and I have been doing minor repairs since I can remember. Sewing buttons on or holes shut. Or making tiny clothes for barbies, looked awful, but worked. There are special ways of hand stitches for different purposes, but in most cases it’s a trial and error approach that in 90% of cases won’t end in “error”. You’ll figure out what feels better (like one yarn or double yarn) very fast.
But only at age 32 I invested in a cheap seam ripper. It always seemed excessive since you can basically just use sharp little scissors for that. I was wrong. I fucking love my seam ripper and I use it as a scissor now. This is so satisfying I would never ever let anyone rip any seam open for me. That’s the orgasm of sewing.
Also, you might want to use a threading aid (edit: is it called a needle threader?). Some thread is just a bitch.
Little side note: when choosing a thread to repair, try to go muted. If you have a green piece of clothing and a light green, dark green, and grey thread, very likely the grey thread will be the least noticeable, unless the green is the same shade. If in doubt go darker. For white thread I recommend going off white - unless you have a lot of white clothes, most of white stuff is off white (i.e. not crisp paper white). Some people say 100% cotton thread breaks easier than blend or polyester. So far I haven’t had any bad experience with cotton threats though.
I often do the opposite, pick a bright color that is not the color of the base material, to make the repair stand out more.
I do that too! But it depends on the repair. If I just fix a seam or a tiny hole in a shirt (you know, the ones that you need 2 stitches for) then it won’t stand out and look cool but just look out of place to me.
But I agree, in general visible mending is nicer and easier.
I’ve been repairing my own clothes and furniture for myself and my wife for years, and I haven’t so much as watched a YouTube video. When you do a bad job, just take the thread out and try again.
Needle and thread. Maybe a seam ripper. No kit required.
Are there different sizes or gauges of needles? Common colors, materials, etc. of threads?
If you’re mending you don’t need to overthink it. You really only need a thick one if you’re like trying to pierce through layers of jeans. Yes get color thread to match whatever you’re sewing. Get grey, black, white, maybe brown and that covers most things unless you really want to make it completely invisible.
There are, but if you get the little plastic thing of assorted needles you’ll be fine. Maybe $1 from Walmart.
I’d grab black cotton thread to start out with (“mercerized” is going to be the better stuff). For mending, it’s usually either about hiding your stitches so they aren’t seen at all, and it doesn’t matter, or picking something that matches what you’re fixing.
The thread that comes with kits is usually crappy polyester that will break if you look at it funny - it’s only really useful for “basting” (sewing something together temporarily to hold it in place while you do the more permanent sewing.) The other things in kits (pins, seam rippers, tiny scissors) are usually okay though.
Fixing buttons is a good project to practice on IMHO. Lots of clothes hide an extra button somewhere on a tag inside, but you can also get a nice plastic jar of mixed buttons at the dollar store usually.
Really, don’t overthink it. Even ugly stitches will hold stuff together if you put enough of them on.
I bought one of these once. Dumped them all out and wrapped in packaging tape. Its super small and a lifetime of needles. I break maybe one every other year.
Hey, that’s the one I bought a while back! It was actually an accidental purchase because I wanted dull needles for darning but now I end up using these needles over my old ones. They are quite nice, have good sizes, and there is at least one darning needle!