Sometime during the course of your undergrad, you’re bound to rip a seam (hopefully not because of the freshman 15) or lose a button on a piece of clothing. You might think your only options are to pay a tailor $20 to fix it, wait until reading week for your mom to do it, or just throw it away. But instead of spending unnecessary money or getting rid of your favourite shirt, you can most likely fix it yourself with just a sewing needle and some thread. Don’t let hand sewing intimidate you; the basics are much easier than you think. Simple sewing kits are available at any pharmacy or grocery store.

What you’ll need:

A basic sharp-pointed sewing needle. Medium sizes should work with almost all fabrics.

Coloured thread that matches the garment you’re fixing. If you can’t find a colour that matches exactly, pick one that’s slightly darker, not lighter.

Sewing a ripped seam:

1. Cut a piece of thread approximately 18-24 inches long, depending on how large the rip is. Thread the needle by dampening the thread with your tongue then passing it through the tiny hole at the end of the needle. Pull three to four inches of the thread through the eye and tie a knot at the end to prevent it from slipping back through the needle.

2. Turn the garment inside out so you can see the seam. Pull both sides of the fabric together and insert the needle a quarter inch from where the rip begins. Pull the thread through until there are four inches left at the other end and tie a knot. It doesn’t matter whether you work from left to right or right to left. For this explanation, however, we’ll assume you’re working from left to right.

3. To sew a seam, use a back stitch, which is quite strong. Once the thread is tied in place, pull the needle over the top of the fabric and pull it through both sides of the fabric a quarter of an inch to the right. Pull the thread all the way through.

4. Now, repeat wrapping the needle over the top of both pieces of fabric, but this time insert the needle an eighth of an inch in the opposite direction, back to the left, and pull the thread all the way through. The stitches will now overlap each other.

5. Repeat this process, a quarter to the right then an eighth of an inch back to the left, until you reach the end of the rip.

6. To finish and secure the seam, make a few small, basic stitches by pulling the needle in and out of the fabric but not pulling the thread all the way through. Run the needle underneath these stitches and tie a knot.

Sewing on a button:

Cut a piece of thread approximately 24 inches long. Threading the needle for a button is a bit different: pull the thread through the eye until both ends are the same length (12 inches on each side of the needle). Tie a knot where the two ends meet.

Hold the button in its proper place. Starting on the underside of the material, push the needle through the fabric and through one of the button holes. Pull the thread all the way through so the knot is snug against the fabric.

Push the needle through the other button hole and fabric, then pull all the way through.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 four or five times.

End with the thread and needle on the side of the fabric opposite the button. Tie a double knot, remove the needle, and trim the remaining thread.