Patch it up, Part 2

Since I first blogged about it a few years ago, I've been all about decorating my old, boring stuff with fun, festive patches and appliqués! It's a great way to refresh your wardrobe while still reducing your consumption.

Sometimes I get super-creative and make my own appliqués from scratch (see my llama shirt post for an example), but mostly I just use embroidery patches that I order cheaply online and embellishments I've harvested from other garments. Call me lazy, but I haven't been doing much in the way of really ambitious refashions lately, so I figured I'd share a few of my more recent low-effort projects—who knows, maybe if you've been feeling lazy like me, an easy appliqué would be just the thing!

The puppy

My dog's "great aunt" gifted him a homemade dog bed with a puppy face on it when he was just a young 'un. Of course, being a young 'un, he ate most of the dog bed. I salvaged the cute puppy face before it was demolished.

Its eyes weren't filled in, so I colored them with black crayon and ironed them to set the color (Warning! I don't know how this will hold up in the wash). Then I lightly glued the face to a plain sweatshirt to hold it in place while I hand-stitched it on. 

 

 

All done! A fun shirt I can wear to the dog-themed events I love to bring my "son" to! You can tell he's thrilled about the idea.

The Peacock

I used basically the same process on a sequined peacock patch that I bought online, attaching it to a well-loved black dress. This time I omitted the stitching and just glued the peacock on (with water-soluble fabric glue). 

 

 

 

When I was done "peacocking around" in the dress (after just one wear—turns out the appliqué was too heavy and was deforming the neckline), I washed out the glue (it took a long soak and a few washes to get it all out of the dress), and now I can use the peacock again in perhaps another project.

 

That's my favorite thing about appliquéing: the pieces that you use can be easily separated and used again.

The Suitcase

For example, a few years ago, I gussied up some old combat boots with embroidery patches.

They lasted about a year, but eventually the faux leather deteriorated to the point where even the patches couldn't hide it...so I washed off the glue and reused the patches on an old suitcase. Now my nondescript black luggage is easily recognizable at the baggage return!