Visible mending: a beginner's guide
Repairs left on show on purpose: patches, running stitch, darns and embroidery.
- Visible mending decorates the item and shows it's been mended.
- Main styles: sashiko running stitch, boro layered patches, visible darning, and embroidery over small holes.
- Boro places a patch (often behind the hole) and stitches it down with rows of running stitch over the worn area.
- Embroidery such as French knots or a woven wheel suits tiny holes under about 6 mm.
Watch
Learn The Basics of Visible Mending | Made by Me | Better Homes & Gardens (3:45)
By Better Homes and Gardens · Open on YouTube
Chosen from its title and channel: a 3-minute video from Better Homes and Gardens on the same topic as this guide. Embedded from YouTube with credit; we don't host it. It only loads when you press play.
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Sources
All checked November 1, 2026. We read these; we did not test the products ourselves.