Mend a small hole in a knit T-shirt by darning

Turn the shirt so the hole is easy to reach and lay the hole over a darning egg or ball (or a smooth, rounded object that fills the opening). Hold the fabric smooth over the curve with your other hand, without stretching it.

With small, sharp scissors, trim away only the frayed, ragged ends around the hole. Cut no sound loop of the knit — a cut loop can run and make the hole larger.

Thread a long darning needle, or a blunt tapestry needle that slips between the knit loops without splitting them, with a fine cotton darning thread. Choose thread that matches the shirt for a quiet mend, or a contrasting color if you want the mend to show. Do not knot the end, and avoid a hard, tightly twisted thread — it makes a stiff darn that will not stretch with the knit.

Starting in the sound knit about 6-13 mm (about 1/4 to 1/2 in) to one side of the hole, run the needle in and out along the knit, taking up one or two threads at a time, carry it in a straight strand across the hole, and run the same distance into the sound knit on the far side. Leave a short tail and work it into the knit as you go — that anchors the thread without a knot.

Turn and come back close beside the first strand, about a thread's width away, and keep laying parallel strands until they span the whole hole. At each turn leave a tiny loop of thread instead of pulling it tight; the loops let the darn shrink in the wash and stretch in wear, while thread drawn tight puckers the whole shirt.

Weave a second set of strands across the first at a right angle, passing the needle over one lengthwise strand and under the next, and reversing that order on each return row so the threads lock into a small web that fills the hole. Keep leaving a small loop at each turn as before.

Finish the thread by running its end 6-13 mm (about 1/4 to 1/2 in) into the sound knit and clipping it close, or by burying a small knot between the layers of the fabric. Do not leave a hard knot sitting on the surface, where it can rub against the skin.

Slip the darning egg out and gently stretch the mend in every direction; the darn should give with the knit. If it feels stiff or the fabric puckers, the strands were pulled too tight — ease them or rework that area more loosely.