Sew your own patches!

abeautifulmess.com

First of all, Happy New Year! I'm hoping to get seriously organised for 2013 and have specific posting days, so watch this space for weekly updates!

 I've noticed a few patches turning up on elbows throughout the Winter...


 This tutorial got me a bit excited on www.abeautifulmess.com


And jumpers like this are for sale over on asos.com

So I thought I'd have a go, and came up with these patches!

 This is a great way to update an old jumper or top for yourself, but here I'm going to spruce up a couple of pairs of Daphne's old leggings.

You will need:

• iron-on fusible webbing (This is where I buy mine, eBay! But you can get it in smaller amounts at most haberdashers http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110769893120?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
• patch material (if it's non-fray material that's a bonus!)
• scissors/ pinking shears
• needle and thread 
• iron!
• An hour or two tops!

I used red tshirt material for my heart patches, just iron some of the fusible webbing onto the wrong side of the material, sticky side down.










Then draw the shapes you'd like your patches to be (in reverse if it matters e.g. for letters) onto the paper. Then cut them out!









For the lion patches I thought pinking shears would give a nice mane-y effect.

Peel the paper backing off the patches you have made and have a go at positioning them on your item of clothing. I had to guess where Daphne's knees would be as she was having a nap... If I was smart, I'd have marked the position beforehand...






Once you're happy with the position, iron them on! (read the instructions on your web, but it's really easy)










You can make multiple layers if needed, like I did here for the lion patches. I'm a "wing-it" kind of person, so I just cut shapes out willy-nilly, but for hardcore symmetrical, professional-looking shapes you could look for templates online :)






Then sew around your patches with cotton for a subtle look, or embroidery thread for a more obvious patchy look- that's what I like! You could use your machine to sew the patches on, but it was a bit fiddly for me to do that with teeny weeny leggings... May be easier on one of my own big fat tops...?!

The finished article! Rarr!

Heart patch knees!

 So now I just have to hope I've put these in the right place, it was a bit silly to guess, but that's the kind of girl I am! More pictures to follow of the potentially embarrassing consequences...!

Have a go! x