Modern Day Patches

We have lots of clothing holes around our house - mostly focused around the kid's knees and my elbows.  Thankfully, patches have made a huge comeback so I get to pretend I'm being hip, while really just saving money by not having to buy new clothes for everyone! First we'll deal with the knees (or butt or back pocket....all those places the jeans seem to give out first).  Start off by making your patch.  Unlike the patches our grandmothers made, don't try to match the fabric - find something fun and interesting.  Plaid patches are huge right now and for the kids, I love finding fun graphics.  Cut your patch fabric slightly larger than your hole.  Cut the same size piece of some sort of backing fabric (anything you have laying around will do) and some double sided, self-bonding interfacing.  Sandwich the interfacing between the two pieces of fabric and use an iron to bind them all together. Now you may have to do a little doctoring on your hole.  The one in my jeans was actually a rip, so I had to rip away the flap which made it officially a hole - one step backward to make two steps forward is the way I look at it.  Slip your patch under the hole and pin it in place.  First you want to secure the patch, and for that I used just good old needle and thread.  Stitch around the outside of the hole and, obviously, through your patch.  Now you can start having some fun.  I used yard on my jeans and did a big stitch all the way around, added some diagonal stitches over it and then added a little piece of felt stitched off to the side. For Coco's jeans at the top of the post, I used pink embroidery floss to stitch all around the patch and then added little stitched stars above and below.  Go ahead, let those creative juices flow!!!!  For my elbows, it's a much simpler process.  Pick you elbow patch fabric.  I like using now raveling options like felt, suede, or leather, just because it looks neater.  Cut your patch - ovals are a classic, but I really liked my little hearts as well.  And then stitch them in place.  I used yarn and a big stitch to create a graphic element in some and in others a smaller continuous stitch with embroidery floss for a more subdued look.