How to Darn With Sewing Machine

Trim any loose threads from the hole you're patching in the garment. Place a piece of backing fabric behind the hole. This backing fabric can be similar weight or lighter to the garment itself, or you can use a lighter, tear-away product made especially for machine darning. Pin the backing piece around the edges with straight pins.

Set up your machine. Wind the bobbin thread and load the bobbin. Thread the machine properly. Set the machine for a medium straight stitch.

Remove the regular feed plate and replace it with the darning plate. This special plate allows you to move the garment in a precise manner because it takes the feed dogs out of play. On some machines, you may just turn the feed dogs off.

Sew a row of stitches all the way around the outside edge of the hole you're getting ready to darn. Remember, you must guide the material since the feed dogs aren't working. Remove the pins.

Start sewing forward and back across the hole in the garment. Sew each row close together.

Examine the hole. If the darning looks good and looks like it's going to hold, you can stop. If the hole looks like it can use some more work, repeat Step 5, going across the stitches at a right angle.