Procrastination makes the problem bigger.
The idiom itself relates to clothing that has become ripped and requires stitching to repair it. Failing to fix the rip will only cause the rip to worsen, which will inevitably require more stitching and therefore more time to repair -- 9 times more time according to the idiom.
The idiom can be applied to any situation where regular maintenance allows you to spread the cost of that maintenance, rather than allowing faults to accumulate to the point where you have no option but to deal with them all at once, which typically ends up costing more time and money than if you'd dealt with each problem as it arose.
A related idiom is "do not put off until tomorrow what can be done today", although this really means if you have time to do something today, then you'll have more time to do other things tomorrow.
saves nine
Complete this proverb-'a stitch in time saves
"A stitch in time saves nine" IS a sentence!
a stitch
A stitch in time saves nine stitches.The idea is that if you sew it when only one stitch has failed, you can save yourself more work, later.
A stitch in time will prevent a torn seam from losing nine more stitches. I'd better fix the car right now, because a stitch in time saves nine.
A stitch in time saves nine. Meaning: Avoid procrastination.
Dr. Thomas Fuller
A parable .
"A stitch in time saves nine" means that doing needed maintenance all along keeps you from having to do major repairs later. It's not really an idiom, though -- it's just a famous saying.
"A stitch in time saves nine" is an old saying that simply means that taking time in an endeavor will save you from having to do more work later or having to redo the task altogether.
A stitch in time, saves nine.