Darn it!

This post will be old-hat for some experienced clothes menders, but I am just learning, as I haven't really needed to do this before.
My mother in law recently fixed up some things for us - the knees of some denim jeans that my little boy had worn through but otherwise fit him fine, plus a t-shirt of mine that I disastrously caught on something and tore the day after I bought it! Darn it!

Finished product - iron-on patch stuck on top of darning. I later hand sewed around the edges to secure the patch, which started coming off not long after it was stuck on.

A closer view of my MIL's handiwork. She kind of wove the cotton in and out in one direction, then perpendicular to it.

These jeans will fit him for a while yet, so that's hopefully a fair bit more wear he will get out of them. This has inspired me to fix up a few other things too, and now that my son is doing things like skidding on his knees on astroturf and real turf, I'm sure the skill will come in handy.

Hubby bought some new shorts and virtually the next day, a rivet that was attached to a front pocket for decoration came off and left a hole around 8mm in diameter! You just can't get quality clothes these days... Shorts instantly looked old!

To darn this small, circular hole, I just stitched around the edges like spokes on a wheel, moving around in a circle. Then I sewed one of the spare buttons over the top on the outside to hide it:

You'd never know there was a hole there!