# crochet repair! It IS possible!



## Jessica-Jean (Mar 14, 2011)

http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com/sewtakeahike/2008/02/repairing-a-cro.html


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## jemima (Mar 26, 2011)

Lots of patience and very clever but well worth it in the end.


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## cheecat (Dec 30, 2011)

Great info, thanks for sharing


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## mmMardi (Jun 26, 2012)

Thank you for sharing the link. I have some family pieces that need repairing, but kept putting them off because I wasn't certain what to do.


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## dunottargirl (Oct 29, 2011)

I had a pretty crochet baby blanket and mice got at it. Luckily most of the damage was on the edges, but with careful thought I managed to undo the damage and just fill in the gaps. I have even fudged trebles when I found mistakes in anothe blanket.


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## JuneS (Nov 3, 2011)

I have been able to repair torn doilies and crocheted tablecloths almost invisibly. I have a collection of old thread. Once I had to tie colored thread to the places where I put I a repair so I could find them! Usually it isn't hard to figure out what stitch pattern you need to replicate, getting your tension to match is the biggest problem. My cousin once decided to wash a tablecloth that had been crocheted by our grandmother in 1919 in her washing machine in hot water and bleach!!!! A fourth of it disintegrated and there where holes everywhere. Took me three months and the only way you can tell the repairs is that the thread is a little shinier.


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## Jessica-Jean (Mar 14, 2011)

JuneS said:


> I have been able to repair torn doilies and crocheted tablecloths almost invisibly. I have a collection of old thread. Once I had to tie colored thread to the places where I put I a repair so I could find them! Usually it isn't hard to figure out what stitch pattern you need to replicate, getting your tension to match is the biggest problem. My cousin once decided to wash a tablecloth that had been crocheted by our grandmother in 1919 in her washing machine in hot water and bleach!!!! A fourth of it disintegrated and there where holes everywhere. Took me three months and the only way you can tell the repairs is that *the thread is a little shinier*.


Probably the shinier thread is mercerized; it does make cotton thread shinier than non-mercerized. 
Still on speaking terms with that cousin, are you? ;-)


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## JuneS (Nov 3, 2011)

Nope! She pestered me about every other day while I worked on it because she was afraid I would keep it. I don't have any keepsakes from my grandmother, but that isn't me to steal one. Grandma Dostal died 10 years before I was born. My cousin is 14 years older than me. I did keep a picture of it on my dining room table though, keepsake enough.



Jessica-Jean said:


> JuneS said:
> 
> 
> > I have been able to repair torn doilies and crocheted tablecloths almost invisibly. I have a collection of old thread. Once I had to tie colored thread to the places where I put I a repair so I could find them! Usually it isn't hard to figure out what stitch pattern you need to replicate, getting your tension to match is the biggest problem. My cousin once decided to wash a tablecloth that had been crocheted by our grandmother in 1919 in her washing machine in hot water and bleach!!!! A fourth of it disintegrated and there where holes everywhere. Took me three months and the only way you can tell the repairs is that *the thread is a little shinier*.
> ...


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## Jessica-Jean (Mar 14, 2011)

JuneS said:


> Nope! She pestered me about every other day while I worked on it because she was afraid I would keep it. I don't have any keepsakes from my grandmother, but that isn't me to steal one. Grandma Dostal died 10 years before I was born. My cousin is 14 years older than me. I did keep a picture of it on my dining room table though, keepsake enough.


I'm the eldest of my generation in the family. Thanks to one divorce and irascible males (step-father/uncle-in-law/uncle), no such problems for me. 

Glad you could repair it and even gladder you got to keep a photo of it. :thumbup:

I haven't tried repairing crochet ... yet.


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## Thea (Sep 1, 2012)

My sister asked me to repair an old tablecloth made up of about 100 motifs. It was an heirloom from her mother-in-law. 

One corner got damaged and involved about 6 motifs. I think I must have sat looking at this for about 3 months before I finally plucked up the courage to have a go at repairing it. 

Fortunately I found some thread called "tobacco twine" which was almost the same thickness and colour as the thread used in the tablecloth. I spent some very nerve-wracking hours teasing out the broken threads and then doing the repairs to each motif. 

When I finally finished and gave it back to my sister she asked me where the repairs were done because she couldn't see them. Do you know how relieved I was to hear that!! Whew!!


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## Jessica-Jean (Mar 14, 2011)

Thea said:


> My sister asked me to repair an old tablecloth made up of about 100 motifs. It was an heirloom from her mother-in-law.
> 
> One corner got damaged and involved about 6 motifs. I think I must have sat looking at this for about 3 months before I finally plucked up the courage to have a go at repairing it.
> 
> ...


Kudos! :thumbup:


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## Thea (Sep 1, 2012)

Jessica-Jean said:


> Thea said:
> 
> 
> > My sister asked me to repair an old tablecloth made up of about 100 motifs. It was an heirloom from her mother-in-law.
> ...


 :mrgreen: Thanks Jessica. I still get a shiver down my spine when I think of that tablecloth :shock:


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