to patch or not to patch...

sometimes, i'm very conflicted about patches... i mean really, the reason why you have to patch something in the first place is because it's usually something so well loved that you wear it too much... and in a sense, that's something i don't mind showing off... with pride. :)

however, as a mom, i wonder what other moms must think of my children running & screaming willy nilly on the playground with their wonderfully scabby knees poking out of their well loved & holey jeans... (click on pics to enlarge)



most times, i err on the safe side (& maybe to ensure a playdate invite) and make patches... so i thought i'd share my method... just in case you want to try it out....

it's near valentines day so, i made a heart patch for paloma's pants. and for the porkchop... what else? a train. :)

first off, i don't throw old jeans away for this very purpose... the thin man has offered up many of his *holey* (a hole the size of a pencil eraser) jeans to the fabric stash... which i am eternally grateful... personally, i don't mind when the blues don't match... well, it IS a patch, so it's not going to be invisible... :)

i start by cutting out the shape of the patches... i used a plastic lid to cut out the circle for porkchop's train... and ye olde "fold, eyeball & cut" for the heart shape:



for paloma's patch, i decided i'd embellish it with a small daisy chain machine embroidery... you'll see the pic later...

for the porkchop's train patch, i googled & printed out a silhouette of a train... you may or may not have to size it up or down... using a lightbox or just taping it to the window, trace/transfer the image onto a contrasting fabric using a water soluble marking pen... (as a side note, the *proper* way to do this would also require you to add some interfacing to the back of your contrast fabric BEFORE you trace/cut... i was too lazy to do so... :) but it does help with any future fraying...)



after you trace the image, cut it out...

at this point, i started to embellish the patches. i machine embroidered the daisy chain around the heart. and i zigzagged the train image to the patch and also added a stitch that looked like a monorail track around the outside.

to attach the patch to the pant, you will need to use a seam ripper and rip out the OUTSIDE seam & merrowing/overlock stitch of the legs... only about 3" from the midpoint of each hole. this should give you enough room to maneuver around...



i pin the patch on top of the hole and attach it with a zig zag stitch all around the outside of the shape... when the patches are in place, resew the outside seam and re-overlock/merrow it if you have a machine - you can also just zig zag over it too... and before you know it, you're done! :)



when the kids get home, i'll make sure to update this post with a pic of them wearing their patch improved jeans! :)

thanks for coming by & reading!