Cover a Stain with a Decorative Quilted Patch

Measure the stain at its widest point in each direction and note the two numbers. Choose a scrap of firm cotton for the patch, the same weight as the garment or a little lighter, from your bag of saved cloth.

If this garment gets washed, wash and dry the patch cloth the same way before you cut it. Cloth added to a wash garment without shrinking it first will pucker the fabric around it the first time it is laundered.

Cut the patch so it reaches 3 cm (1 1/4 in) beyond the stain on every side. For a stain 4 cm (1 1/2 in) wide, cut a 10 cm (4 in) patch — the stain's width plus 3 cm (1 1/4 in) at each edge — and size the length the same way. That margin has to cover both the edge you will fold under and a band of sound cloth around the stain for the stitches to grip.

Fold one edge under 6 mm (1/4 in), fold it under the same amount again to bury the raw edge, and press the double fold flat; repeat on all four edges. The two folds take up about 1.2 cm (1/2 in) at each edge, so the finished patch still reaches about 1.8 cm (3/4 in) past the stain all around. This turned edge keeps the patch from fraying in the wash.

Center the folded patch over the stain, folded edges down, and pin it around all four sides. Baste through both layers with a line of long running stitches across the middle each way, so the layers cannot shift while you quilt.

On the right side of the patch, mark straight stitching lines with chalk and a ruler, 6 to 10 mm (1/4 to 3/8 in) apart, and carry each line 1 cm (3/8 in) past the patch edges into the sound cloth. Cross the lines at right angles for a square grid, or add a second set on the diagonal for diamonds, so the stitching catches every folded edge.

Thread the long needle with strong, soft cotton in a contrasting color and work rows of running stitch along the chalk lines, through all the layers. Make four to six stitches to 2.5 cm (1 in): surface stitches about 4 mm (3/16 in) long with gaps of about 2 mm (1/16 in) between them, and load several stitches on the needle before drawing the thread through to keep the row straight.

Keep the work flat and leave each row slightly slack — after finishing a row, smooth the patch and leave about 3 mm (1/8 in) of ease in the thread, because thread drawn tight over many rows puckers the whole patch. At the end of a row leave a loop of thread about 3 mm (1/8 in) at the turn — it is ease for wear and washing, not decoration. Start and finish each thread with a knot the size of a pinhead, pulled through to sit hidden between the layers. When every row is stitched, pull out the pins and both plain-cotton basting lines — the quilting grid now holds the layers — and press the patch once under a damp cloth. Worked in contrasting thread in even rows, the finished patch reads as a decoration rather than a repair.