When I was asked if I’d like to review a fabric glue called ‘sew simple’ that “will help you make permanent repairs , additions and alterations to clothing, curtains and covers – without sewing,” there were two attractions:

1) My 5 year old had brought home her muddy forest school kit and P.E. kit for half term and I knew that I should make a better attempt at labelling them. Too many gloves and hats were ending up in the black hole of the school cloakroom. I had some sew-in name labels but had tried the lazier option of a marker pen, which had inevitably faded.

2) I love the ‘make do and mend’ philosophy, hate waste and throwing things out just because of a minor tear. But I’m pretty hopeless at sewing.

So I decided to try this ‘Glu & Fix’ product from Bostik on name labels first of all. The tube of glue has an easy to use screw on spreader nozzle so even I couldn’t be too messy in applying it.  After spreading, you have to wait a minute, then press the two surfaces together and allow to dry before rough handling.

I glued name labels onto a sweatshirt, jogging bottoms, waterproof dungarees, a t-shirt, tights and inside wellies in this way. It seemed dry within a few minutes. Having forgotten about the pile of clothes for a few hours, I then put everything except the wellies into the washing machine and washed them at a regular 40C wash. They seem well attached, were fine after ironing and my daughter gave her sports kit some testing out yesterday as her first day back at school was ‘Sporty day’. She came home in them, and again, they seem pretty secure.

The instructions point out on the sew simple packet that this glue product doesn’t work on 100% nylon or polyester fabrics and “It may damage some delicate fabrics – test on a small area first.” The school uniform items I used included some with a polyester mix and they seem fine. As for mending delicate fabrics, I fear my clumsiness may cause more damage than the glue! But for the more adept, sew simple could be worth trying on trickier mends.

According to the packaging, sew simple is “perfect for hems, turn-ups, labels, badges and patches.” I’ll definitely be trying it on lttle tears and rips on clothes from racing around in the playground or garden. From my experience so far, it seems a very quick and effortless way of mending – which if like me, you’re not exactly a seamstress, has to be a good thing.

Many thanks to Bostik for sending me Sew Simple to review.