This is the variation I use when I’m short on time. It’s slightly less stable than a proper running stitch darn, but for garments that don’t take a lot of hard wear, or garments that you find a hole in half an hour before you need to wear them, it’s perfectly practical.

The process is almost identical to the running stitch darn, but instead of working a few running stitches at either side of the hole, you work a line of backstitches around the hole to stabilize it, and make a single perpendicular stitch at the end of every pass across the hole, just to the outside of the stabilizing stitches. The motion is very similar to ladder stitch, though you leave the “ladder” lying open across the fabric, rather than cinching it up to close the hole, which would pucker the garment.

Photos by Caitlin Wilson