Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ______

Directions: Part 1 during the demonstrations. Then pick two of the three stations. The station cards are Parts 2, 3, and 4; each step has one action and a picture described in words, so you can work from the card alone. Part 5 is the repair-or-replace decision sheet.

Station rules: the garment you have is the garment you finish. Nobody touches somebody else's item. The iron has one operator and that is the teacher. Every needle and pin goes back in the cushion between uses.

Word bank in other languages

[Check with a native speaker before printing.]

Part 1: Diagnosis chart

Fill this in during the three demonstrations.

One sentence: which of these three would you rather fix, and why?

Part 2: STATION A, the fallen hem

What you need: the garment, pins, thread that matches the fabric, a needle, snips. The teacher presses the fold if you ask.

Step 1. Find the original crease.
Look at the hem. There is a fold line already there from the factory. That is where the fabric goes back to.
Picture: a pant leg turned inside out with a faint horizontal crease line running around it and loose thread hanging below.

Step 2. Fold the raw edge back up to the crease.
Turn the loose edge up so it sits exactly on the old crease line.
Picture: a hand folding the bottom edge of fabric upward so the cut edge lines up with a crease.

Step 3. Pin it, every two inches.
Pins go in across the fold, heads out so you can pull them as you sew.
Picture: a folded hem held with four pins spaced along it, heads pointing away from the fold.

Step 4. Press it or crease it hard.
Ask the teacher to press it, or squeeze the fold hard between your fingernails along the whole length.
Picture: a thumb and finger pinching along a folded edge, or an iron sitting on a folded hem on a pressing surface.

Step 5. Knot your thread and start inside the fold.
Bring the needle up inside the folded edge so the knot is hidden in the fold.
Picture: a needle coming up out of the inside of a folded edge with the knot tucked inside.

Step 6. Catch one or two threads of the outer fabric.
Take the tiniest bite of the outside fabric, just one or two threads. This is what makes the repair almost invisible.
Picture: a close-up of a needle tip picking up two single threads from the flat fabric next to a fold.

Step 7. Go back into the fold, a quarter inch along.
Bring the needle into the folded edge and travel a quarter inch inside the fold before coming out again.
Picture: a needle traveling inside a folded edge, entering and exiting a quarter inch apart.

Step 8. Repeat all the way around.
Same tiny bite, same quarter inch. Pull the pins as you reach them and put them in the cushion.
Picture: a line of nearly invisible stitches along a hem, with a pin cushion beside the work.

Step 9. Finish off and check the front.
Three tiny stitches in one place inside the fold, knot, trim. Then turn the garment right side out and look. If you see a row of dots, you caught too much fabric next time.
Picture: the outside of a hemmed pant leg, smooth, with almost nothing visible.

Faster option: a running stitch along the hem works too. It shows on the front. That is a choice, not a mistake.

Part 3: STATION B, the split seam

What you need: the garment, pins, thread, a needle, snips, a seam ripper if a knot needs opening. This is the fastest of the three repairs.

Step 1. Turn the garment inside out.
The repair goes on the inside, where the original seam is.
Picture: a T-shirt turned inside out with an open gap in the side seam.

Step 2. Line the two raw edges back up.
Match the edges the way they were before they came apart.
Picture: two fabric edges brought back together along an open gap, matching up evenly.

Step 3. Pin the gap closed.
Three or four pins across the seam line, heads out.
Picture: an opened seam held closed with pins crossing the line.

Step 4. Find where the old stitching still holds.
Look at both ends of the split. The old machine stitching is still there. That is what your new stitching has to grab.
Picture: an open gap in a seam with intact rows of machine stitching continuing at both ends, marked with arrows.

Step 5. Start half an inch before the split.
Knot your thread and start your backstitch in the intact seam, half an inch before the gap begins.
Picture: a needle entering the seam line half an inch to the left of where the gap starts.

Step 6. Backstitch along the original seam line.
Back into the last hole, forward one. Stay on the old seam line so the repair does not change the shape of the garment.
Picture: a solid line of backstitching running along an old seam line, closing a gap.

Step 7. Keep going half an inch past the end of the split.
Do not stop where the gap stops. Overlap the intact seam on the far side too.
Picture: backstitching continuing past the end of a gap into the intact seam, with an arrow showing the overlap.

Step 8. Finish off and turn it right side out.
Three tiny stitches in one place, knot, trim. Turn it and pull gently on the seam to test it.
Picture: two hands pulling on either side of a repaired seam that stays closed.

Part 4: STATION C, the hole

What you need: the garment, a patch square, pins, a needle, snips, plain thread for a hidden patch or bright embroidery floss for a visible mend. Pick one option.

Option 1: the hidden patch

Step 1. Cut a patch an inch bigger than the hole on every side.
Measure the hole, then add an inch all around.
Picture: a hole in fabric with a larger square of patch fabric held next to it, an inch bigger on every side.

Step 2. Trim any loose threads around the hole.
Snip the frayed edges so the hole is clean. Do not make the hole bigger.
Picture: snips trimming loose strands around the edge of a hole.

Step 3. Put the patch behind the hole.
Slide the patch inside the garment so it sits under the hole, covering it completely.
Picture: a patch square visible through a hole, positioned from behind.

Step 4. Pin from the front, through both layers.
Four pins, one on each side of the hole, holding the patch in place.
Picture: a hole with a patch behind it, held with four pins around the hole.

Step 5. Whipstitch or hem stitch around the edge of the hole.
Work from the front. Catch the edge of the hole and the patch behind it, all the way around.
Picture: small stitches running in a ring around the edge of a hole, catching the patch underneath.

Step 6. Finish off inside.
Three tiny stitches in one place on the inside, knot, trim.
Picture: the inside of the garment showing the patch stitched all the way around the hole.

Option 2: the visible mend

Step 1. Choose a patch color you want people to see.
This repair is not hidden. That is the point.
Picture: a pair of jeans with a bright orange patch square held over a knee hole.

Step 2. Cut the patch an inch bigger than the hole on every side.
Picture: a square of bright fabric next to a hole, larger on all sides.

Step 3. Put the patch on the front, over the hole.
Picture: a bright patch lying on top of a hole on the outside of the garment.

Step 4. Pin it down.
Picture: a patch on the front of a garment held with four pins.

Step 5. Sew rows of running stitch across the whole patch.
Use bright floss. Sew straight rows about a quarter inch apart, across the patch and about half an inch into the fabric around it. Every row makes the repair stronger.
Picture: a patch covered in parallel rows of visible running stitches, the rows extending past the patch onto the garment.

Step 6. Finish off on the back.
Three tiny stitches in one place, knot, trim.
Picture: the inside of the garment showing the rows of stitching from behind.

Part 5: Repair or replace?

Use the five-step decision model: name the choice, list options, weigh each against what matters, decide, look back.

Pick two of the four cases. Fill in every column.

Case D is different. Why?

If a garment truly cannot be repaired, what should happen to it instead of the trash?

Exit line: One thing at my house I am now going to fix, and the stitch it needs:

Teacher key

Part 1, the diagnosis chart.

Part 5, the decision sheet.

Why case D is different: the fabric itself has failed, not a seam or a fastening. A repair fixes a break in the construction; it cannot restore a fiber that has worn away.

What happens to a garment that cannot be repaired: textile recycling (some retailers and municipalities take worn textiles), cut into rags for the house or the FACS room, cut into stuffing, or cut into patch fabric and swatches for this unit. The landfill is the last choice, and Lesson 5.14 carries the numbers on what happens there.

Setup reminders for the teacher.

• Prepare the practice garments the day before, including opening seams with the seam ripper, so the damage is consistent across stations.
• Sort items brought from home at the door. Nothing valuable, borrowed, leather, or irreplaceable. Keep two practice garments in reserve for anyone whose item goes back in the bag.
• This period needs the most teacher hands in the unit. If a co-teacher, a paraprofessional, or the tailor guest is ever available, make it this day.
• Score the diagnosis chart for three correct matches; score the repair with the clipboard on the correct stitch and the tug or lie-flat test; score the decision sheet for two cases with numbers used and a defended decision.

Standards checked by this handout: NYS ATPD 2. Production c) and 4. Consumer Resources and Finance a); CTE FCL 4. Buying Goods and Services f); CTE PSI 3. Troubleshooting Process (Reactive) a) sub-lines c. and d.; NYS FACS Standard 2 (Intermediate) PI C; CDOS 3a Thinking Skills; National FCS 3.0 16.4.5 and 16.5.2.