Hi all! I was asked to repair a vintage (or older?) bedspread, and some areas do need a somewhat sizable amount of crochet with new thread… I took a trip to JoAnn’s but they have such limited colors and styles of thread… high luster, stark whites or creams (nothing “antique”), etc. that are just too big of a difference from the look of the old cotton. Any advice for finding a somewhat closer thread?
You could try dyeing some cream thread with tea to get that antique look.
Great idea! I will try that out – thank you.
Maybe a damaged vintage doily will turn up, that could be repurposed as thread for the repair of the spread.
Oh my gosh!! Stroke of genius. I know several shops I can poke around in for something like that. Thank you @Carlota !
@SushiRolag This question is about repairing crochet. Is there a way to needle weave crochet to fill in missing stitches? I am pretty sure I could do this for knitting, but I have not tried it on a crocheted piece. I have an old crocheted rag rug that I want to repair by replacing the missing stitches and I wonder if it can be done. I am guessing that this is done all the time, but have your found any references in doing your spread repair?
What a great idea! Hadn’t seen that tip before. Brilliant!
Hi @Carlota 
– Yes! You are absolutely right. About 1/2 or more of the holes I will definitely just needle repair – or at least, that’s my plan and hope. I don’t think there’s any way anyone would notice in the most dense areas (rows and rows of crochets butted up against one another). However, there are some patterned areas that are [ double crochet - chain space - double crochet ] where I don’t think I can do anything but remove a section of the row and re-crochet. I’m not sure there’s any easy way to duplicate a double crochet with a needle? – Because I’m a newbie and there is a dearth of good information on this, my plan is to crochet a granny square that duplicates most of the areas of the pattern, then go in with a pair of scissors and destroy it in a few places, then take a contrasting color thread and practice fixing it different ways. Then I’ll know how to approach the real thing. If anyone knows of any great resources for learning crochet repair I’d definitely want to learn from those!
The other thing I’m noticing with this is that I don’t think I can secure some of the compromised areas without frogging more of the crochet so that the loose ends can be secured. So some areas that look like small holes may become bigger holes before they can be repaired.
@SushiRolag - That is a great idea on the granny practice square! I think that is what I will do before I attempt my repair. I think you are right about areas that may need to pulled back further in order to secure the ends. I say this never having tried to repair crochet. I repaired a lace piece once with quilting thread and it was mainly just doing something similar back and forth catching what I could catch. The result was great and I could not see the repair so I know these things can be done with very little experience if one is patient.
@Carlota that is SO TRUE. i love any project like this where you have to stop and think for a second about how the work is constructed and what the thread or yarn is actually doing.
every time i force myself to think about the construction details, i find that later on in some other project i know exactly how to solve a problem or make an adjustment, and it’s because i have already done the thought work on it. i am SO impressed that you repaired a lace piece without having done it before!! that would definitely be beyond me!!
I love vintage stuff, but be careful if you want to unravel a piece to reuse the thread. While the crocheted or knitted piece may look fine, the thread may have weakened over the years, and it may not be strong enough to stand up to the repairs and stresses of use.
@SushiRolag It can be done! I’ve used undyed thread to repair an antique tablecloth that candle wax dripped on and made holes. I drew a chart of what I thought I wanted to do and then tried it first, much like you are thinking of doing with your practice square. I frogged a number of stitches so I could insert my new piece and that worked for me.
I found this for repairing rows of dc and even if you don’t have that, you may get some ideas.
http://girlsunscripted.com/2017/06/how-to-fix-a-broken-stitch-without-frogging/
@Carlota Glad it was somewhat useful. Here’s one more link that might be helpful depending upon how big a section you’re repairing.
https://byrobin.blogspot.com/2015/07/vintage-crochet-granny-square-repair.html
@pinesprairie It surely is satisfying to see that repair done so cleverly and beautifully. Very inspiring, and so I thank you for the second link, which I am also saving. Now I will have to get out my little rug and see what can be done.
@pinesprairie I echo @Carlota 's thanks! very helpful links and you are right, i really should draw a chart and plan it out first. yes there are tons of rows of dc with holes so i will definitely use that. also, your use of undyed thread makes me think… why don’t i ask some of the cotton spinners here if i could buy some undyed laceweight homespun from one of them?? then i could very lightly tea stain it and go from there.
@SpinsterJulieB well taken. and now that i think of it, i wonder if successfully frogging an old piece would be really impossible, like when you want to use an old sweater for a sock blank but you just can’t get long contiguous areas to unravel without breaking.
