Darning

I performed actual mending of fabric today! The 320 performed admirably with the special Darning & Embroidery Foot #161236. I found I had to have quite loose needle tension to avoid needle thread breakage, so had the machine set on 2. #161236 is an unusual darning foot: the long upper bar slots into the area where the lever to lift the foot operates - and essentially blocks the lever from being operated. You use a mini-lever near the top of the spring foot to raise and lower the toe to remove or place work.

Singer #161236, the spring foot which came with my 320.

I've never darned jeans before, I think I once darned socks on my mother's Pfaff, but that was a long time ago and nothing but a hazy memory. The jeans in the photo below had been reinforced with a fusible patch, which I zigzagged in place and then darned over. I'm sure it could have been a bit neater, but the result seems like it will give my husband's jeans life for a few more months.

Interesting fact: When you Google "darning jeans" you get a lot of websites that show you how to repair "crotch blowout". What a term!

I used fancy Gütermann Sulky #4022 for my repair, as these premium cotton spools were half-price when I went thread shopping, its a variegated thread in dark teal, mid-blue, deep-blue, grey, dark-grey, and it really blended nicely into the denim.