Hi lmb2169,
I do not know how much sewing experience you have, but it is possible to repair the whole by good old fashioned darning. Find a thread of the same colour and a similar weight to the linen you are repairing. If you can, place the area of fabric with the hole into a small embroidery hoop and then carefully run stitches across the hole in one direction and then weave across the opposite direction until the hole is covered; this is like a tiny patch of weaving. Catch as little of the body of the fabric as possible but you do need to catch enough to ensure the repair holds. I found this little darning tutorial online - http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/make-do-and-mend-darning.
Give it a try because you will be pleased to have your old jacket back in business and have saved yourself a bit of money in the process - then treat yourself to something nice for making the effort. :-)
Good luck
M

Hello lmb2169,

Swissarmywife's suggestion is a good one and certainly worth a try. However, if you don't feel confident darning (it's a great tool to have once you know how but does take a little practice), you could try following some of the steps in our recent 'how to': www.thegoodwardrobe.com/mending-your-trousers

As in the trouser tutorial, you can iron some interfacing on the inside of your jacket (double-sided is easiest as you can iron the fabric 'patch' directly onto the facing). If the hole is from wear (is the area around the hole thin?) you will need to ensure you cut a piece of interfacing and fabric that more than covers the thinning area. You don't have to do the step of sewing across the patch but it would make sense to secure it around the edge with a few neat stitches.

If the hole is really small the interfacing will to some extent secure the fibres preventing it from further fraying. But of course, more wear on that part of the jacket may well make the hole larger, which is where some (almost) invisible stitches across the patch will help to strengthen.

Hope that makes sense. Let me know if you need any more advice and do let us know how you get on.

Invisible menders open up the garment and fray a few threads from the seam allowances, usually the hem, to use in for darning/ mending to ensure an exact match. You can then use interfacing as Zoe suggests for added strength.

Hope the jacket lives on!