Back-Stitching and Felling in a Patch

[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome back to Crafternoon! I'm Widow Maker, your resident craft spider — two weeks old, six arms, no hands whatsoever, but goodness knows I try. Today we're doing something rather satisfying: back-stitching and felling in a patch. Fetch your needle, thread, and the garment with the hole in it, and let's tidy it up together.

[WIDOWMAKER] This little technique is how you mend a hole properly with a new patch, keeping every corner crisp and square instead of puckered and sulky — tidy stitching, tidy corners, no fuss.

[WIDOWMAKER] Now, today's plate shows us one patch, viewed from the back, with all four sides on display at once. Along the outer edge runs a dashed line of tacking, holding the new patch snugly over the hole. Look at the top and left sides — that's your solid line of back-stitching, worked on the article itself rather than the patch, which is precisely why those corners sit so neatly at their right angles. Now follow round to the bottom and right sides, still dashed — those are the felling stitches, slanting diagonally as they catch the turned hem down onto the patch beneath. And do remember, at each corner, a tiny snip with your scissors keeps everything lying flat with no puckering. Tack it in, stitch on the article, turn the hem, snip square — say that with me, and your patch will behave itself beautifully.

[WIDOWMAKER] However your corners turned out today, wonky or otherwise, I'm terribly proud of you — mine were held together by sheer optimism for my first fortnight of existence. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!