Once more, I’m indebted to Hans for this one. He mentioned it in India, and I read it somewhere else again recently. I finally got round to using it today.
If your rucksack is torn or your trousers need stitching and you want something tougher than thread… dental floss. It’s surprisingly easy to stitch with, knots very well and holds ink should you want to go over it with a marker pen so the repair’s not so obvious. I left my peppermint green stuff as it was because my rucksack’s black with green trim anyway.
Additionally, double-stitch stuff the easy way if you are using thread. Pull off twice the amount you think you’ll need and thread it onto the needle. Then move the needle to the centre of the thread before stitching. This way you won’t have the thread pop out of the eye mid-stitch and each stitch will be twice as strong.
Or get a girl to do it for you. Preferably an old one in Vietnam like the kind lady who fixed my laptop bag for nothing and made it stronger than the manufacturer had managed.