# Slides 5.9: Repair Clinic, Hem, Seam, Patch

Slide outline for Lesson 5.9, one day, thirteen slides. Slides 4 to 9 are the three demonstrations and they run about two minutes each; the slides are the step reference students look back at while they work. Slides 10 to 12 are the repair-or-replace decision, which is the graded thinking of the period.

## Slide 1: You are the tailor today

- Lesson 5.9
- Three stations, three repairs: a fallen hem, a split seam, a hole
- You pick two
- First you diagnose, then you sew, because picking the right repair is the harder skill
Image: three garments laid out, a pant leg with a hanging hem, a T-shirt with an open side seam, and jeans with a knee hole.

## Slide 2: Do now, diagnose these three

- For each picture: what is the problem, in your own words?
- Then guess how long each one would take to fix
- Three minutes
Image: three photographs, a pant hem hanging with thread trailing, a T-shirt side seam open at the underarm, and a knee hole in jeans.

## Slide 3: Shorter than you think

- A hem: 10 to 15 minutes
- A split seam: 5 minutes
- A patch: 10 minutes
- These pants cost twenty-six dollars new. They are in the rag bin because of a hem.
Image: a pair of pants held up with a thrift store price tag still attached.

## Slide 4: Station A, the fallen hem, steps 1 to 4

1. Find the original crease. The old fold line is already there.
2. Fold the raw edge back up to the crease
3. Pin it every two inches, heads out
4. Press it, or crease it hard between your fingernails
Image: a pant leg inside out with a faint crease line, a hand folding the edge up to it, and four pins holding it.

## Slide 5: Station A, steps 5 to 9

5. Knot and come up inside the fold, so the knot hides in there
6. Catch one or two threads of the outer fabric. The tiniest bite. This is what makes it invisible.
7. Go back into the fold and travel a quarter inch inside it
8. Repeat all the way around, pulling pins as you reach them
9. Finish off inside the fold, then turn it right side out and look
Image: a close-up of a needle picking up two single threads from flat fabric next to a folded edge.
Notes: A running stitch works too and shows on the front. That is a choice, not a mistake. Say so.

## Slide 6: Station B, the split seam, steps 1 to 4

1. Turn the garment inside out
2. Line the two raw edges back up
3. Pin the gap closed
4. Find where the old stitching still holds at both ends of the split
Image: a T-shirt inside out with an open side seam, pinned closed, with arrows pointing at the intact machine stitching on both sides of the gap.

## Slide 7: Station B, steps 5 to 8

5. Start your backstitch half an inch BEFORE the split, in the intact seam
6. Backstitch along the original seam line
7. Keep going half an inch PAST the end of the split
8. Finish off, turn it right side out, and pull on it to test
Image: a solid line of backstitching running along an old seam line, extending past both ends of a closed gap, with two arrows marking the overlaps.
Notes: The overlap is the whole trick. A repair that starts and stops exactly at the split reopens within a week.

## Slide 8: Station C, option 1, the hidden patch

1. Cut a patch an inch bigger than the hole on every side
2. Trim the loose threads around the hole. Do not make the hole bigger.
3. Put the patch behind the hole
4. Pin from the front, through both layers
5. Whipstitch or hem stitch all the way around the edge of the hole
6. Finish off inside
Image: a hole with a patch visible behind it, pinned, then stitched in a ring around the hole's edge.

## Slide 9: Station C, option 2, the visible mend

1. Choose a patch color you want people to see
2. Cut it an inch bigger than the hole on every side
3. Put it on the FRONT, over the hole, and pin it
4. Sew rows of running stitch across the whole patch in bright floss, a quarter inch apart, going half an inch past the patch into the fabric
5. Finish off on the back
- A visible mend is a repair you are not hiding. A lot of people now prefer it.
Image: jeans with a bright patch covered in parallel rows of contrasting running stitches.
Notes: Have one of these made ahead in a loud color. Students choose it once they see one.

## Slide 10: Repair or replace? Four cases

| Case | Damage | Repair time | Repair cost | Replace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Pants, fallen hem | 12 min | $0.05 | $26 |
| B | T-shirt, split underarm | 5 min | $0.05 | $8 |
| C | Coat, torn pocket lining | 20 min | $0.40 | $60 |
| D | Leggings, worn thin and pilled, no tear | ? | ? | $14 |
Image: the four items laid out with price tags.

## Slide 11: Run it through the five steps

1. Name the choice
2. List options
3. Weigh each against what matters
4. Decide
5. Look back
- The same five steps from Unit 0. They work on a garment the same way they work on anything else.
Image: the five-step decision model poster from Unit 0.

## Slide 12: Case D is the important one

- Worn-thin, pilled fabric has no repair
- There is nothing to sew together; the fiber itself is gone
- Sometimes the right answer is that it cannot be fixed
- Then: rags, textile recycling, stuffing, or patch fabric. The landfill is the last choice.
Image: a pair of worn leggings being cut into strips with fabric shears.
Notes: Let students argue for repairing it first, then land it. Knowing when a thing is finished is also a skill.

## Slide 13: What a tailor charges

- A tailor charges about twelve dollars to hem a pair of pants [Sal: call one and use the real number]
- The materials cost five cents
- So what are you actually paying for?
- Five-minute warning: needles and pins back, count out loud, initials
Image: a small tailor shop window with a price list in it.
Notes: One student per station holds up a finished repair and names the problem and the stitch. Collect the handouts; the diagnosis chart and the decision sheet are the graded record.