All clothing develops blemishes and worn areas as they age. Tears and rips can be the most frustrating part of caring for an older shirt. Older shirts can also stand out for their unique design or perfectly worn-in character, which makes them difficult to part with, even if torn. However, as long as you are not bothered by a less-than-flawless shirt, you can undertake the repairs yourself, fixing the rips before they get any worse and prolonging the life of your shirt.

Pull the edges of a rip together and hold them in place using safety pins.

Sew the edges together using a needle and thread. Remove the safety pins.

Apply iron-on patches to tears on the elbows. Apply a patch to each elbow even if there is only a tear on one elbow. This will make both arms match. Apply the patch after sewing the edges of the tear back together.

Place the patches on each elbow and iron them in place. Once the patches have cooled, you can further secure them by sewing along the edges of the elbow patches.